SEATTLE (BRAIN) — A major shake-up in staffing at Accell North America has resulted in a variety of layoffs, new hires and promotions that affects the company's key bicycle brands as well as Seattle Bike Supply, a longtime distributor of bicycles, parts and accessories.
The changes are part of an ongoing shift as ANA streamlines its sales by integrating SBS's bicycle brands, Redline and Torker, with Raleigh. The company is also revamping its distribution business to focus on key categories and ANA house brands.
Lapierre, the company's premier line of bicycles, will have a separate sales structure.
"The restructuring of Raleigh and SBS to create the ANA sales management team means comprehensive support for the IBD," said George Simone, vice president of IBD sales. All sales directors report to Simone. "This way if a dealer calls, he talks with one person through these unified sales teams," Simone said in an interview.
"Before we had two 800 numbers and two separate inside sales team. It became for dealers a question of where did you call, who did you call," Simone said.
The key changes include the hiring of Dorothy Nichols, formerly national sales manager for SheBeest. She is now director of sales and marketing for parts and accessories. Simone said Nichols' position is a new one at ANA.
However Rickey Strawn, who had been SBS's national sales manager, was let go Monday. Simone said that under ANA's consolidation of sales, Strawn's position had been eliminated.
Strawn originally was Raleigh's national sales manager, but had been let go at the company several years before Dutch group Accell NV bought Raleigh America. Chuck Hooper, former president of SBS and now retired, subsequently hired Strawn.
At the time, Accell NV owned SBS. Greg Blackwell, who replaced Hooper as SBS's president, was let go earlier this year.
Other changes include naming Alan Rowland, formally Raleigh's Western sales manager, as director of sales for Lapierre. That position has been open since Kirk Bausch left late last year.
John O'Brien, formerly Western regional sales manager for Jamis Bicycles, has been hired to take over Rowland's former position. O'Brien's new title is ANA's director of Western sales. Jeff Hasse will continue as ANA's director of sales for the Eastern U.S.
Simone said sales of Raleigh, Redline and Torker have been consolidated under the new ANA structure. Redline and Torker are no longer part of the SBS portfolio.
Tyler Stetson, who started with Raleigh America as a customer service rep and was later named territory manager for the Midwest, takes over as ANA's inside sales manager, with all 15 inside sales reps reporting to him.
As part of the restructuring, Casey Joyce, a 25-year veteran at SBS and its inside sales manager, was let go Monday along with Strawn. Mike Sanderson, who had been in charge of bicycle purchasing for SBS, left several weeks ago. A more detailed story will appear in the June 1 issue of BRAIN.
