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“Several of our long-standing distributors said this was the best GT international meeting they’ve attended,” said Garski.
"Folks were pretty pumped about our colours and graphics, and were blown away by our specifications and costing for 2003, which can be attributed to Pacific’s strong buying power.”
Pacific’s executive officers attended the meeting and answered questions. Pacific’s directors included Chris Hornung, chairman and CEO; Bob Ippolito, executive vice president of product and service; Richard Wittenberg, vice president of marketing and new business development; and Nick Andrade, vice president of IBD Sales.
David Jones, adult bike specialist for Hot Wheels in the UK, came away from the meeting enthused:
“The presentations on the models were excellent and it is clear that we have an outstanding range of bikes for the 2003 model year.”
Hans Jorgen Wedo of Norway’s Beach Mountain was similarly impressed:
“This was my twelth GT product presentation, and this was the best.”
Lars Munskoe of Denmark’s Scan Bike was glad Pacific execs were present and that questions were answered frankly:
“Chris Hornung and his staff from Pacific [are] straightforward people. [There was] no ‘BS’ this year."
GT has had a messy two years (see BikeBiz passim) but, according to Garski, this is now all in the past.
"One of the main reasons distributors stuck with the brand was because of GT’s Technical team," said Garski.
“In the worldview of cachet bike brands, GT is right up there with Specialized and Cannondale. That means something in the international world of bicycle sales.”
