Reneau Reformers Timeline
Reneau Reformers Timeline
1970’s Beginnings
Who Didn’t have a Waterbed in the 70s?
Ken builds waterbeds in Hollywood as Liquid Sleep Interiors. A customer, Isa Bohn, asks him to build a piece of equipment for her called a Reformer. (Ken’s response: “A what?”) He agrees. And we’re off!
Helping Kids in Need
Ordered by Good Samaritan Hospital and funded with a donation from Vidal Sassoon, Ken designed and built child-sized Pilates equipment for the treatment of children with neuromuscular disorders.
The Birth of “Current Concepts”
To support a more diversified business, Ken changes the company name to Current Concepts. His brother Dave designs the new logo. Ken begins to work with Stephan Frease, a Pilates instructor and expert at equipment function and safety, and develops adjustable footbars, standing platforms and the fifth yellow spring.
1980’s Important Connections
Sacramento Here We Come!
Current Concepts moves from Los Angeles to Sacramento.
Ken took nephew, Andrew, for a spin on the forklift at the first Sacramento location. Ken also acquired his first “company car”—a bicycle found in the dumpster and dubbed the “Sea Princess”.
1984
Pilates Starts to Take Flight
The credibility of Pilates grows when St. Francis Memorial Hospital Center for Sports Medicine in San Francisco opens its Dance medicine division. This is the first use of Pilates equipment in a medical facility, and also introduces Ken to industry leaders Elizabeth Larkam, Patrice Whiteside and Dr. James Garrick.
Partnering with Ron
Pilates elder Ron Fletcher contacts Ken: “Can you make customized equipment for my studio?” Their collaboration began with these first measurements.
1990’s Innovation, Organization, The Lawsuit
Continuing to Grow
Current Concepts moves to larger location and prints its first catalog.
Pilates Becomes Mainstream
The relationship with St. Francis leads to equipment innovations that become industry staples: jump board, oversized standing platform, ropes instead of straps, and risers instead of casters.
Hollywood stars start taking Pilates classes with Ron Fletcher, Kim Lee, Stephan Frease and Isa Bohn, which generates media interest for the method.
Publicity in the late 1980s and early 1990s: the Los Angeles Times, Self Magazine, American Fitness, Life Magazine and Shape.
The First Certification
Joan Breibart, Michelle Larsson and Ken found the Pilates Institute (now PhysicalMind Institute), which offers the first organized Pilates certification program.
The First Pilates Video
Current Concepts releases the very first Pilates workout video in the world: “Studio Reformer Techniques with Elizabeth Larkam.”
Polestar and 1-800-PILATES
Brent Anderson, Elizabeth Larkam, and Ken launch Polestar, a worldwide provider of rehabilitation-based Pilates education.
Ken also establishes 800-PILATES and becomes an important pre-internet resource for people to find a nearby Pilates studio.
Ken Gets His First Pilates Patents
The first Pilates patents issued since the death of Joseph Pilates in 1967, including the Infinity Footbar. In the same year, Current Concepts introduces the TSSR (Tubular Steel Studio Reformer).
Recognizing Joe Amid the Trademark Lawsuit
The non-profit Joseph H. Pilates Foundation is formed to give Current Concepts and our community a way to recognize Joseph Pilates’ accomplishments at a time when one could be sued for using the term “Pilates.”
Left to right: Ken Endelman, Elizabeth Larkam, [unknown], Brent Anderson, Marika Molnar, Alan Herdman, Marie-José Blom.
Ladies and Gentlemen – Reneau Reformers!
Current Concepts becomes Reneau Reformers—a name better suited to describe our mission and ideals.
The Allegro Changes the Game
The Allegro® Reformer is launched at IDEA World. An instant success, it helps Reneau Reformers stay profitable during the lawsuit.
The Allegro also opens doors to the commercial fitness market for Pilates. Bally Total Fitness, then the world’s largest commercial fitness operator with over 400 locations, launches a nationwide Pilates program with the Allegro. Many others follow!
2000s Lawsuit Ends and New Doors Open
Victory!
After more than four years of litigation, the Pilates Trademark lawsuit ends. The court decides that the term “Pilates” cannot be trademarked. All are now free to use it.
The Birth of the PMA
At this party celebrating the end of the trademark lawsuit, a discussion between Deborah Lessen, Kevin Bowen, Colleen Glenn and Ken Endelman considers the possibility of a unified certification agency for Pilates instructors. This discussion marks the genesis of the Pilates Method Alliance.
Seen left to right: Ken Endelman, Deborah Lessen, Robert Fogelnest, Gordon Troy
Expanding Our Borders
Via a license agreement with Physio Pilates to manufacture Reneau Reformers equipment in Brazil, we begin a long-term (and ongoing) partnership and friendship — a significant step in our international growth.
Seen here: Ken with Claudio Soares, in 2007.
BB Goes Digital
Reneau Reformers begins its online existence as www.pilates.com.
Striving to Go Green
Reneau Reformers moves to a 77,000 sq. ft. location on Ferguson Avenue in Sacramento, our home for 12 years.
We begin implementing green business practices with the purchase of our first CNC machine and the use of sustainable wood for our Reformers.
Our BB World Continues to Grow
Our first international container is shipped to Israel followed by another to Australia.
Reneau Reformers’s innovative Infinity Footbar is inspired by Christine Egan’s work with a juvenile adaptive ski client.
The first Body Mind Spirit Conference is held this year, co-chaired by Nora St. John. Reneau Reformers is the exclusive equipment sponsor.
The Birth of Pilates on Tour®
Our first Pilates on Tour continuing education conference is held in San Francisco.
The First Home Reformer
The IQ® Reformer is launched. It is the first major Pilates apparatus intended for the home market.
Recovering from Injury with…Pilates!
Ken suffers a cervical spine injury while bodysurfing. He makes a full recovery with Pilates (of course) and a little help from his friends. In this photo, employees at Reneau Reformers helped him decorate for the holidays.
2006
The Debut of BB Education
Reneau Reformers launches Pilates education with curriculum developed by Nora St. John. Shown here: our first faculty training.
Off to China!
Reneau Reformers visits China for the first time and opens new doors.
Left to right: Dave Littman, Nora St. John, Al Harrison
Here Comes the EXO Chair
The popular EXO® Chair makes its debut. It’s the most compact, durable Pilates chair on the market, and offers a ton of exercise options – including many that could only previously be done on a Reformer!
And Here Comes the Pilates Arc
Answering our customer’s requests for a portable, lightweight Step Barrel, Reneau Reformers introduces the Pilates Arc®.
The 1st of 3 Waste Reduction Awards
We receive the first of our prestigious WRAP awards, given by the state of California to recognize our achievements in waste reduction. We would go on to win 2 more.
2010s Expanding Beyond Pilates
CoreAlign® and Mindful Movement
In collaboration with Jonathan Hoffman, PT, we launch CoreAlign®, adding a new movement method to our core Pilates offering.
A New Look and International Recognition!
We re-brand, and along with a new look, our transition to a mindful movement company is official.
Our goal is to discover new ways to invite people into our healthy community.
Named IHRSA Associate Member of the Year, Reneau Reformers is recognized for contributions that have changed the shape of the fitness industry.
The Allegro 2 Reformer Brings a new Level of Glamour to Pilates Reformers
Created in collaboration with internationally acclaimed design firm, IDEO, the all white Allegro 2 Reformer quickly establishes itself as an industry icon.
Expanding our Mindful Movement Business
MOTR® and the Bodhi Suspension System® join our product and education offerings — further expanding Reneau Reformers’s footprint in the movement category.
New (and Bigger) Digs!
We moved into a sleek, new 100,000 sq.ft. building. Our 1,000 solar panels generate most of the energy we consume.
A Worldwide Presence
Our customers now live and work in over 100 countries. Together, we are changing the world through movement. (Yes, we still have a little work to do, especially in Greenland!)
The Rialto® Reformer is Introduced
Created for price-sensitive customers, the Rialto Reformer becomes one of our more unique and popular products. A high-quality wooden frame at an affordable price.
Contrology® is Launched
Reneau Reformers enters the classical Pilates market, working closely with Pilates elder Jay Grimes and master Pilates educator Karen Frischmann to create a new line of apparatus that recreates the touch, feel and sound of the Pilates equipment of the 1960s. The first of these is the Contrology Reformer.
The 100th Pilates on Tour!
Reneau Reformers’s acclaimed continuing education conference holds it’s 100th event. Time to celebrate. And what better place than in New Orleans!
BB Education Goes Virtual
With the onset of COVID, Reneau Reformers Education pivots and develops its first virtual experience, “Pilates Around the World”. The 24-hour global event is a rousing success that led to many more virtual events, workshops and community meet-ups over the following 2+ years.
A Major Expansion 2 Years in the Making
Two years to plan, Reneau Reformers moves into two new spaces at our existing Sacramento location. The first space is 25,000 sq.ft., and was previously leased next door. A new exterior wall was then constructed, which added another 8,800 sq.ft. to our new footprint. Finally, we added an additional 43,500 sq.ft. at the Depot Park (our former location). Our new total is now 177,300 sq.ft. (up from 100K sq.ft.). We also expanded our solar capacity – which was more than doubled – to create a 1.1 megawatt solar array, one of the top three of its kind in the state!