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John ‘JP’ Saville has been retained by Kona Europe and will be the main point of contact for UK IBD stockists of Kona.
Halfords has bought all of the 2001 stock of Kona bikes for its Bikehuts.
Whilst not in favour of going with Halfords, Saville believes the deal could benefit some of the bigger IBD stockists of Kona:
"The poll on [bikebiz .co.uk] shows that reaction to the change is running about even. There’s no big backlash."
According to Saville IBDs often operate to double standards when it comes to their views on multiple retailers:
"When you ask an IBD where they got their calculator from, they’ll probably say Dixons. But why not the independent office stationary shop?"
"If you say Halfords to some IBDs, they shiver, but Bikehut it trying to raise bike prices.
"Kona will not suddenly sell 30 000 bikes a year through Halfords. Even Bikehuts can only sell a few thousand bikes about £400.
"I think IBDs will sell just as many Kona bikes as before the deal with Halfords.
"IBDs are incredibly important to Kona."
Saville is working from a UK sales office but all supplies and warranty work will be handled by Kona Europe.
Second Level Sport handled Kona since October 1988.
