Yakima has entered its first partnership with a U.S. distributor, Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), located in Bloomington, Minn. This partnership enables Yakimas specialty retail accounts to order smaller product quantities and provide available product SKUs on short notice. It also allows retailers to take advantage of free shipping by bundling their Yakima order with other vendors. QBP will carry the full line of Yakima products except for cargo boxes. Retailers will have the flexibility to utilize both QBP and/or Yakima.com, choosing the most effective process for their needs.
“QBP is by far the largest and most sophisticated distributor in this industry,” said Ron Ten Berge, vice president of sales and business development for Yakima. “They provide outstanding customer service and speed of delivery while offering our products to a larger audience in an effective and streamlined manner. Previously, Yakima products were only available to customers that bought direct; they had to purchase our products in relatively large quantities and could not combine their orders with other vendors. With QBP, the smaller independent dealers and regional chains will be the primary retail partners that will benefit from this new partnership.”
Through this agreement, Yakima will deliver products to its specialty retailers in a more effective manner and establish a connection with QBPs independent retail accounts, opening new doors for growing its business. “We will create a new way of doing business for the specialty retailer who thrives on processing small replacement orders across multiple sport channels,” continued Ten Berge.
“Our partnership with Yakima essentially provides a one-stop shop for independent bike retailers,” said Rich Tauer, product director for QBP. “This is an ideal situation for Yakimas specialty retailers who still want to sell the product, but are tasked with limited inventory space and small store footprints. We welcome Yakima as a partner to help better serve its independent retail audience.”
