BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Writing that Pacific Cycle, bought by Dorel Industries in January, ‘plays both sides of the coin’, Versteegan said "Pacific Cycle may be creating a launch pad to spur more growth through the IBD channel. Recently the company re-launched a series of cycling teams in an apparent attempt to bring some more authenticity to their existing product lines"
Pacific will field separate Mongoose Pro BMX and MTB teams, GT BMX and MTB teams, and a Schwinn Pro-Rider programme.
Versteegan spoke to Mo Moorman, Pacific Cycle’s PR and corporate relations manager, and Paul Silver VP of marketing.
Moorman said: “We feel the IBD is a very important channel.”
Paul Silver said that Pacific offers a number of things to its retailers, including exclusive IBD product, and some of the best margins in the industry. Silver also said that the number one priority for Pacific was to bolster the Schwinn stores that stayed with the brand (many Schwinn stockists dropped the brand when it went into big box retailers), and “Make these guys feel like it was the right thing to do.”
But Versteegan notes: "The product mix coming out of Pacific seems to be sending mixed signals – much like the mixed messages coming from marketing versus corporate. Pacific does offer exclusive merchandise to IBDs, and some of the high-end MTB products in particular have seen some great reviews in print, but the company also offers bikes with team graphics to both mass market and specialty bicycle retailers, causing some confusion on the sales floor.
"It will be interesting to see if Pacific can play both distribution channels like this. Can a company have its cake and eat it too?"
The weekly B.O.S.S. Report is available from:
