LONDON (BRAIN) — U.K. online retailer Chain Reaction Cycles has announced on its website that it will stop selling Shimano products into North America starting Jan. 1, 2019. As of Wednesday afternoon Pacific time, there was no similar announcement on fellow U.K. e-commerce site Wiggle.com, which merged with Chain Reaction in 2016, creating a company with combined revenues of around £300m ($400 million). Wiggle also owns German e-commerce site Bike24.
When shoppers in the U.S. and Canada visit the Chain Reaction site, the home page currently states: "Unfortunately from January 1, we will no longer be able to sell Shimano into your country. We're working with Shimano to be able to sell to you again in the future."
Shimano declined comment Thursday, and BRAIN was working to reach officials at Chain Reaction for comment on the move.
Many North American IBDs have long criticized Shimano for not clamping down on sales by Chain Reaction and Wiggle at retail prices well below dealers' wholesale cost. As a result, many retailers have dramatically reduced their inventory of Shimano parts or stopped stocking the brand altogether.
In fall 2016, BRAIN reported that SRAM had instituted new policies that got its products off European e-commerce sites including Wiggle and Chain Reaction.
