Vista, CA- Haro Bicycle Corporation announced today that it is expanding its Product Development, Sales, and supply chain group as part of a company-wide effort to strengthen its capabilities designed to benefit its dealer and distribution network worldwide. This includes staff enhancements, a Europe based sales and distribution operation, and a newly created supply chain group based in Taiwan.
Product Development- A newly created position, Director of Product Development will be headed up by Lars Svalin, an industry veteran with 3 decades of experience who spent most of his career with Cycle Europe. Working with brands such as Bianchi, Crescent, Tec, Spectra, and others, Lars's product management experience includes complete bicycles as well as parts and accessories. He has been both a part of a group, and the head of a group so he is ideally suited to lead Haro's existing staff. In this new role, Lars will report directly to Haro's CEO Jayu Yang.
"I am super excited to have the opportunity to work for a global brand like Haro who´s focused on innovation and growth. Haro is a company that is driven by the passion for bikes and I´m looking forward to being a part of the success our mutual efforts will lead to. Lars will split his time between his home in Varberg, Sweden and Haro based in Vista, California.
Haro Europe- Haro also announced the creation of Haro Europe under the management of Jan Teigelhoff, Haro Europe's COO. Jan brings with him a diverse cycling background spanning nearly 20 years that includes retail, sales, and marketing for companies that include Decathlon, BICO, and Kenstone Metal GmbH.
Based in Salzkotten Germany, Haro Europe will focus its efforts on establishing sales and distribution in Germany, and in assisting Haro's VP of International Sales Pete Garski with expansion efforts as well as manufacturing capabilities throughout Europe. Initially created in 2020, Haro Europe's development and progress was unfortunately delayed due to the pandemic.
Still, there is much optimism for the future. Jan comments:
"HARO is an iconic brand in the field of BMX. Few brands in the cycling sector offers such a wide variety of bikes from children's bikes and core BMX to high end E-MTB and professional components. This makes the tasks at HARO so diverse and interesting. For me, it is a super exciting challenge to build up a new location here in Germany working together with Pete, Jayu, and the entire team from the USA." Jan resides with his family in nearby Paderborn, Germany.
Haro Taiwan-Haro has also established a supply chain and engineering office under the guidance of Haro's CEO, Jayu Yang. With her extensive manufacturing knowledge Jayu will develop a supply chain discipline for Haro that reduces lead times and better insulates it from the devastating effects of a pandemic, or any other challenge thrown its way.
