Heelys, Inc. announced the opening of its European office, Heeling Sports EMEA (SPRL). The new company, based in Brussels, Belgium, will serve as the company's European headquarters and extends Heelys' brand and business development in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the CIS/Russian Federation and the Balkan Region.
“By expanding our European presence, Heelys can invest in staff and offer increased support of the current distributors in the region and evaluate future cooperative investments,” said Ralph Parks, interim CEO for Heelys. “Heeling Sports EMEA will enable the company to grow more aggressively and effectively in Europe and supports our goal of offering the highest standards in quality youth wheeled and non-wheeled footwear globally.”
John O'Neil joined Heelys in July 2006 and has more than 24 years experience in the sports footwear industry. For the past 15 years, he has been involved in international business development in distributor and subsidiary management roles with the European headquarters for Converse and New Balance. Bertrand Grimmonpre has extensive experience in finance and operations. He has spent the past eight years assisting U.S. Medical Device companies, including Cardio(3) BioSciences and Volcano Therapeutics Europe SA, to establish EMEA companies and distribution channels.
Heelys recently announced the opening of its representative office in Qingdao, China. The China office is Heelys' first company operation outside of the U.S. and serves multiple sourcing functions including quality control, price negotiation, logistics and product development. Heelys serves more than 6,000 stores in the USA and more than 70 international markets across North America, Latin America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
