Europe’s largest buying group for independent bicycle dealers (IBDs) has jettisoned Europe’s largest trade show for IBDs to expand its own show, which will open to non-member dealers for the first time next year.
ZEG, which provides buying and other services for 960 IBDs in Germany, announced September 13 that it has pulled out of Eurobike to focus on expanding its own ZEG Bike Show in its home town of Cologne, Germany.
The group said the declining proportion of trade visitors to Eurobike, and show organizers’ decision to cut its consumer festival back to one day, contributed to its decision. Eurobike is produced by Messe Friedrichshafen, the same organization and facility that host Europe’s largest specialty outdoor retailer show, OutDoor.
“We will do more in the future on our increasingly successful and growing in-house exhibition,” said Georg Honkomp, CEO of ZEG.
ZEG will open the show to customers of its suppliers and partners for the first time next year, when the show is scheduled to take place July 21-24.
“We take a new approach,” said Honkomp. “We increase the importance of our internal trade fair in the industry and make it a special product experience.”
ZEG is Germany’s exclusive distributor for Pinarello, has relationships with Cannondale, Scott, Hercules and other major brands and designs, sources and distributes its own bicycles under the Pegasus (family), Bulls (mountain bikes), Green Mover (e-bikes) and Zemo (e-bikes) brands. It had exhibited the Bulls, Hercules and Kettler aluminum bikes at Eurobike, which took place in August.
