BEVERLY, Mass. (BRAIN) — Parlee Cycles has hired Steve Thomas as its sales director and Chris Hewings as its export sales manager.
"We are thrilled to have both Steve and Chris join us," said Isabel Parlee, the comapny's CEO and spouse to founder Bob Parlee. "We have made some key investments the last two years to grow our business and Steve and Chris both have proven track records in the IBD channel. The fit is really great."
Thomas brings to Parlee Cycles more than 20 years of business development experience working with the IBD channel, previously serving as national sales manager at Pro‐Flex, K2 Bike and Jamis. "I am fortunate to be joining such a respected company with a strong brand, which is a proven innovator of performance bikes. I'm looking forward to working with our retailers and building a sales team to grow Parlee Cycles sales to the next level," Thomas said.
Hewings will be a familiar name to many of Parlee's key accounts as he formerly was an independent agent for the brand when it first expanded into the U.K. five years ago. Hewings began in the industry with American Bicycle Group as a sales representative, eventually leading worldwide sales and marketing for the Litespeed and Quintana Roo brands. He has also since worked with EU-based brands Cube and CarbonSports. "I am incredibly excited to be back" Hewings said. "Having worked with Parlee in the past will allow me to hit the ground running and help our dealers and distributors to grow sales of what I believe to be the best custom and stock geometry carbon bicycle frame brand in the world today."
In the last two years Parlee has focused exclusively on the high‐end segment. "Innovation has been key for us," said Tom Rodi, Parlee's marketing director. "Our custom operation here in Beverly gives us a big edge. We can bring new technology to retail faster. For instance, we had road disc in our range five years ago."
Parlee recently won the Eurobike Gold Design award for its TTiR, a triathlon bike with disc brakes and thru-axles.
"This is a fantastic time to be in the high end. Electronic shifting, disc brakes, wider wheels and carbon composites combined with the ability to get a custom finish puts us in a sweet spot right now," Rodi said.
