VISTA, Calif. (BRAIN) — Haro Bicycle Corp. has announced organizational changes in sales and product management — promoting its sales director and bringing aboard new product managers for its BMX and lifestyle bike lines.
Rickey Strawn, Haro's director of sales the past four years, has been promoted to vice president of sales. In a release, Haro chief operating officer Joe Hawk said, "Rickey has been instrumental in re-engineering the domestic sales structure, re-establishing growth and positioning it for continued growth in what has been largely a flat market for decades."
Star BMX rider Mike Parenti has joined the company as product manager for the Haro BMX brand, overseeing product development for juvenile, freestyle and race bikes as well as P&A. For Haro's Premium BMX brand, the company has named Kellen LeBlanc product manager. An employee at Haro since 2007, LeBlanc most recently developed the line of steel gravel and adventure bikes for Haro's Masi brand. He will continue in his duties for Masi as he takes on responsibilities for Premium.
Haro previously had one product manager for both BMX brands, and that needed to change, Hawk told BRAIN this week. That product manager has left the company.
"Keeping the personalities of Haro and Premium separate was a bit of a challenge. We had reached a point where there was stagnation there in terms of ideas. So we felt we needed to do two things: One was we needed to split up the duties and separate the duties because the two lines are completely separate. The other thing is we needed to bring in some fresh wind, and that's what really prompted the change," Hawk said.
Similarly, the product manager for Haro's Del Sol lifestyle line has left the company, and industry veteran Robert Kahler has been hired to fill the role. Kahler has worked for GT, SRAM and, most recently, Felt Bicycles.
"We made a change to shift gears and be able to give Del Sol a fresh new approach going down the road," Hawk said. "We were able to connect with Robert Kahler, who was at Felt in a similar category. Del Sol is a brand that has had some growth but it hasn't really been born in terms of its brand identity, so we're hoping that Robert can not only bring some product expertise to that, but the increased focus can help that brand develop."
With the changes, Haro's head count remains the same, with 23 employees at its headquarters in North San Diego County plus sales VP Strawn based in Seattle.
