This Push Cart Company Continues Rolling Into a U.S. Market More Open to Walking
With a push cart market share creeping close to 50% in Europe, Big Max Golf continues to ride a wave of momentum that it hopes will crest in the U.S.
Founded in 1994 by Thomas Reiter, the golf bag and trolley manufacturer tasted success thanks to its first three-wheel trolley—the TI 1000. It became a game-changer for the Vienna, Austria-based company. A few years before it took off, Reiter had been moonlighting as an engineer of sorts while attending the Vienna University of Economics and Business. He considered different two-wheel push cart permutations but then started tinkering, believing a third wheel might stoke a clamor. He was right.
The TI 1000, which also introduced a folding aspect, became Big Max's highest-ever selling model. Since then, its push cart products have naturally evolved with close to 30 models in the last 10 years, according to his son Maxi Reiter, head of marketing. As an aside, he's also the famous "Max" in Big Max Golf.
"My father decided on Big Max because I was born quite big," says Maxi Reiter, born in 1994, via a video call from Vienna. "That's why he decided to build his company and brand on the baby he had just had."
So 1994 became the year of baby steps for Thomas Reiter, at home and for a new company that is up and running some 30 years later.
Its latest push cart model, the Blade Trio, represents the latest evolution of the Big Max Flat-Fold technology. Weighing just under 15 pounds, it is what the company calls the most compact, durable and stable trolley ever within its line.
The Big Max Blade Trio push cart is the most compact in the company's lineup, folding to eight inches flat for storage.
Courtesy of Big Max Golf
"It takes up little space," says Rick Oldach, CEO of Big Max USA. "Because it's lightweight and small, you can put your golf bag in your trunk and then put the push cart on top."
That cannot be overstated. Unlike other push carts that fold into a cube, the Blade Trio immediately solves spatial issues for those used to finagling with a golf bag and cart while harkening to old geometry lessons. Oldach likes to use college teams as an example when making a point. He says Big Max supports 35 to 40 college teams, supplying each with push carts. The Blade Trio folds to eight inches flat, so teams can easily stack six within a van, freeing up space.
After pushing one button, the Flat-Fold technology kicks in, the Blade Trio's wheels tucking in underneath while folding flat. All of this lends itself to the company's proprietary technology.
Big Max prides itself on its products and durability, says Maxi Reiter. For the longest time, the Autofold FF that falls under the Blade IP line served as a workhorse and sales leader. In fact, there were no updates made to it for almost nine years because it was that reliable.
"If you play 300 rounds a year, 36 holes a day, you will need something that is durable and strong," Maxi Reiter adds.
The seeds for the Blade Trio germinated from another popular model, the Blade Quattro. Engineers rhetorically asked what would happen if they took one wheel away before actually drawing a design. It took three months to find their answer. It came in the form of the new Blade Trio that is simplistic and minimalistic.
As it turned out, rigorous testing also convinced company heads that the Blade Trio may well be Big Max's new workhorse.
"It's a push cart that is hard to break because there's not so much complex technology inside," says Maxi Reiter. "It's just a very simple but well-working mechanism that allows us to fold the cart into an even more compact size."
Over time it's common for devices to break down. It's no different with push carts. Rolling over rugged terrain with a heavy bag and equipment eventually takes a toll.
Big Max technology addresses such factors that could lead to premature wear and tear.
"Over time the axles camber out and it makes it harder to push, because the wheels camber a little bit," says Oldach, speaking in generalities. "Inevitably, over time that's going to happen. Our axles are straight axles so our wheels do not camber."
That's another reason why Big Max USA is banking on the Blade Trio to penetrate the U.S. market.
That's where Maxi Reiter enters the picture. After getting an undergraduate business degree from Columbia University, he took an internship in Germany and then dabbled in a business of his own before the pandemic hit. In a downturn, he set his eyes on Big Max and found that the digital presence—especially in the U.S.—needed a facelift. He developed a couple of digital campaigns during the pandemic, which drove sales.
In 2022, fresh off a master's degree from a university in Spain, he returned to Big Max and assumed control of the digital space as head of marketing.
"It's a family business and 'family business' really means family business here," he says, citing his aunt and mother working out of the same office as himself.
That said, Maxi Reiter believes that for the company to be successful in the U.S., it must adapt to technology. The previous website iteration had been "too generic."
"Brick and mortar is still a big factor," he says. "You want to touch and see the product. In Europe, the brick-and-mortar environment makes us strong. In the U.S., it makes sense to really build up the digital space and enter select partnerships in retail. You don't have to be in every pro shop. To reach a certain growth level, you need to give the customer the option of seeing the product and touching it."
In the meantime, Big Max points to a recent study done by the Colorado Center for Health and Sports Science which found that playing golf with a push cart or electric trolley increases health benefits and mental focus. Most European golfers already walk their rounds, whereas many in the U.S. aren't afraid to ride.
“Previous studies I’ve worked on demonstrated that using a push cart had performance benefits over other types of course transport," says lead researcher Neil Wolkodoff. "The walking modes in this study had a clear improvement in reported mental focus of participants when walking compared to a motor cart.”
Oldach, a competitive adaptive golfer who plays in tournaments and walks, adds using a push cart versus carrying a bag conserves energy. That, of course, could be the difference between winning and losing.
In any event, the Blade Trio may very well turn out to be another game-changer for Big Max Golf—this time in the U.S.—if it has similar success to its flagship TI 1000 in Europe some 30 years ago. The hope, of course, is that it can roll away from the competition.
Look for the Blade Trio to hit the Big Max site in mid-July with an MSRP of $349.99.