SCOTTS VALLEY, CA (BRAIN) — Giro Sports Design is buying about 1,500 helmets that were diverted into Costco stores in the West recently.
The company said an unauthorized dealer sold the lids to Costco, which had distributed them to about 18 stores, in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Washington and Oregon. As of Christmas, Giro had managed to buy back about 1,000 of them.
Giro's parent company Easton-Bell Sports said the buy back is inline with the company’s new authorized dealer agreement.
“We take our authorized dealer agreement very seriously in order to protect the integrity of our brands and our sales partners — which include thousands of specialty retail stores nationwide,” said Donna Flood, the company’s COO and president of Giro/Easton Cycling. “We value the relationships we’ve established with our strong dealer network. For our mutual protection, we will continue to take action in cases where unauthorized dealers are reselling our products.”
The agreement includes a minimum advertised price policy It also includes guidelines for internet sales of Easton-Bell Sports products.