Heelys, Inc. and its European company, Heeling Sports EMEA, announced an agreement with its distributor, Trotwood Import/Export to take over the distribution of Heelys in France, Monaco and Andorra. Heeling Sports France, a branch of Heeling Sports EMEA, will manage these countries.

 

The branch office based in Annecy, France opened on May 1, 2008, and will be located at 14 Avenue du Pre de Challes, F-74940 Annecy-le-Vieux France.

Trotwood Import/Export has served as Heelys distributor in these countries since 2003 and will provide consulting services to Heeling Sports EMEA, and Heeling Sports France for one year. Heelys’ new branch office will be staffed initially by customer service and marketing roles in addition to a sales organization.


“Trotwood Import/Export has been a strategic partner and played a significant role in establishing the Heelys’ brand in France, Monaco and Andorra over the past five plus years. As a result, we have a strong foundation in which our new branch office can continue building the brand and the European business,” said Ralph Parks, CEO of Heelys. “We look forward to continuing to work with Margarete and David Stanley, owners and operators of the Trotwood Import/Export, during the transition and over the next year to help us build on their success.”


Serge Darcy will serve as the Country Manager for Heeling Sports France. He joined the company on March 10, 2008 and brings more than 25 years of extensive sales and sales management, marketing and general management experience. He has worked for brands such as New Balance, The National Basketball Association, Salomon and Compex SA, in the sports and sports footwear markets.


“We are very pleased to have Serge, who has such strong market- and brand-related experience, join us to lead the continued business building objective for Heelys in the critical France, Monaco and Andorra markets. Serge comes with extensive experience and is very well-known and respected in the retail trade in these markets,” stated John O’Neil, Vice President International for Heelys.


The Heeling Sports EMEA warehouse operated by DSV in Ghent Belgium will service the retail trade for Heeling Sports France. The EMEA warehouse was established in 2007 to support the growth of the brand in the EMEA region and to provide continued support to the Heeling Sports distributor partners.


Heelys recently announced the opening of its European office, Heeling Sports EMEA (SPRL) based in Brussels, Belgium. Serving as Heelys’ European headquarters, Heeling Sports EMEA extends Heelys’ brand and business development throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the CIS/Russian Federation and the Balkan Region. Heelys serves more than 6,000 stores in the USA and more than 70 international markets.