OOLTEWAH, TN (BRAIN)—American Bicycle Group will move into a new corporate office in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, this July. ABG currently resides in Ooltewah, which is located 20 miles east of Chattanooga.
"The success of the new Litespeed carbon line, the favorable industry reception to the Quintana Roo CD0.1 and wetsuit offering, along with the improving economic climate, meant that we needed to reassess the physical amount of office space that we will need as we add staff,” said Peter Hurley, chief executive officer at ABG. The company is looking to add design engineers, IT professionals and marketing people among other positions, according to Hurley.
When Hurley took over the reins at ABG three years ago, ABG’s brands—Litespeed, Merlin and Quintana Roo—were known for their titanium offerings, which is in low demand in the United States. “We were about 80 percent titanium and 20 percent carbon fiber,” Hurley said. “Now it’s just the opposite.” It took that long just to develop the proper carbon molds,” Hurley added.
The company plans to move its titanium production to a nearby facility concurrent with the sale of its existing building to Lynskey Performance, also of Tennessee.
"The old factory has served us well and it has certainly played a role in the tradition of fine bicycle manufacturing here in Southeast Tennessee,” Hurley said. “At the same time, this was a great opportunity to see the structure itself remain a bicycle frame producer and an important employment base for this area."
Hurley said the new office will be twice the size of the old one, while the new factory will be cut in half.
For more on this story including ABG’s 2010 sales numbers thus far, be sure to read the June 1 issue of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.
—Jason Norman
