VANCOUVER, British Columbia (BRAIN)—Rocky Mountain Bicycles and Silverfish have ended their distribution partnership for the UK market after seven years.
Silverfish will continue to service all warranty and customer service issue until Rocky Mountain secures new distribution, but will not ship any 2012 product.
Rocky Mountain is considering a dealer direct model for that market, described as critical by Peter Vallance, media relations for the Vancouver, B.C.-based Rocky Mountain Bicycles. The company will also be looking for potential new distributors at next week’s Eurobike show. Rocky Mountain has historically worked through distributors in its international markets and is only dealer direct in North America.
Rocky Mountain is still evaluating whether that model could work for the UK.
“When you factor in the costs of sales reps, the marketing behind it, the direct model is not a win. It’s a wash,” Vallance said. “We’re going to be over there spending a lot of time in the UK with dealers figuring out what the best situation is with us.”
Vallance said the split with Silverfish was mutual.
“They’ve been great. They’ve got a big brand of lines and we’ve got goals we want to achieve in the UK. It’s a mutual decision. We’re just moving away to find a better fit,” he said.
“It’s been a great trip,” added Silverfish marketing manager Pete Drew. “Rocky Mountain has an extremely talented team, but Silverfish has grown significantly during this period and now has different priorities to those in 2004 when we started working together.”
Silverfish carries 18 brands including, e thirteen, Evil, Cove Bikes and Race Face.
—Nicole Formosa
nformosa@bicycleretailer.com
