The Grindrite Story
In the year 2000 WINTERSTEIGER took over Grindrite, a small US company from Vermont. Grindrite was well-known for its unique inline machine design for servicing skis and snowboards, as well as for its innovative marketing campaigns. The team quickly developed into a valuable part of the WINTERSTEIGER Group.
Innovation: Compact Service Machine.
Grindrite invented the space-saving concept for an inline grinding machine, in which the two processing modules, grinding stone and belt, are arranged one behind the other. The first generation of the “Grindrite 21Hundred/WINTERSTEIGER SBI” built by WINTERSTEIGER was based on ideas created with the help and vision of the former Grindrite team. The innovative machine design became a fixed part of the product range in the 1990s and is still successfully in use today.
The inline service machines filled the gap for a need for a ski service machine for the rapidly growing snowboard market. The Scout automatic ski service machine, a stand-alone grinding machine for smaller shops, was also realized with input from Grindrite.
Grindrite grows with the snowboard boom of the 1990s.
Grindrite grows with the snowboard boom of the 1990s.
In addition to innovative machines, Grindrite used innovative marketing to stand out from the competition and the shops were presented in prestigious newspaper advertisements to attract motivated and more well-informed customers. The concept proved to be a complete success. The strategy won Grindrite a dominant market share in the USA with a fanbase made up of young, passionate riders and professionals in the booming snowboard segment, who were followed by skiers.
Grindrite brought a talented and committed team to WINTERSTEIGER, many of whom are still active today, 23 years later. With Grindrite, WINTERSTEIGER USA became a more fast-paced, creative and successful brand.