From Le Trait (Seine-Maritime), the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games may seem far away. Even a little abstract. And yet, for the entire Pallini team, whose historic headquarters are located in this commune on the banks of the Seine, these two events are on the contrary very concrete.
Because for the French brand of weightlifting and bodybuilding equipment, created in 1992 by a fitter-mechanic who loves cast iron, these two events are great opportunities. The robustness of its products already makes it a benchmark in its field.
“For two or three years, we have reoriented ourselves towards everything that concerns physical preparation, even if we remain specialists in athletic strength”, recalls Jason Lorcher, former professional ice hockey player with the Rouen Dragons. He arrived in the company at the turn of the 2020s to support Franck Collinot, a weightlifting figure who had led, as coach of the French Olympic teams, the French athlete Vencelas Dabaya to a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Every new salesperson is first and foremost an accomplished athlete
“I bought Pallini that year, but we needed a second wind and new skills, particularly commercial. That’s what Jason brought,” assures Franck Collinot, whose company employs around twenty people, particularly in his workshop. And each salesperson recruited, like Matthieu Latard from the world of professional basketball, is first and foremost an accomplished sportsman, capable of talking about high-level performance before releasing his order book.
“Here, we can design the five-legged sheep that meets the demands of athletes or their trainers,” continues Franck Collinot, proud to manufacture almost all of his products in Normandy. Today, players from prestigious Top 14 rugby teams, such as Toulouse, La Rochelle or the Racing Club de France, train on Pallini. “For us, these are showcases, but it is also all the small associations or municipalities that make us live,” recalls Jason Lorcher.
The French rugby team and the Olympic rowing teams are clients
With the prospect of two major international sporting events, requests for weight training equipment have multiplied. “Today, high-level sport requires very specific physical work. We will, for example, install the equipment on which the players of the French rugby team will prepare in their base camp in Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine). We have also equipped the “base” of Temple-sur-Lot (Lot-et-Garonne), which hosts the Olympic preparation of rowing teams”, recalls Jason Lorcher.
“Overall, for the Olympic Games, there will be 770 Olympic preparation centers to be equipped with equipment throughout France. We have already started doing it for some. Others are in progress. And we are discussing with the volleyball, athletics or even judo federations, ”announces the leader of Pallini.
A significant economic booster for the company, which has already multiplied its turnover by 3.5 in a few years, reaching 2.5 million euros in 2022. “The objective is to reach 5 million euros over the next four to five years. “The Rugby World Cup and the Olympics should help them.
