Accell North America (ANA) elevated its e-bike evangelist Larry Pizzi to the newly created role of senior vice president of sales and marketing for its Independent Bicycle Dealer (IBD) business a month after its Dutch parent Accell Group NV reported disappointing results at the business.
The title puts Pizzi in charge of sales and marketing for ANA's Raleigh, Diamondback and Lapierre brands as well as at SBS, a Seattle-based bicycle, parts and accessories distributor that offers its own Redline bicycles to the IBD channel. Pizzi will continue to serve as president of California-based Currie Technologies, which markets e-bikes under its own IZIP and eFLOW brands as well as Haibike, a German bike brand ANA brought to the United States last year.
Accell Group, which is based in The Netherlands and is Europe's largest bicycle company, acquired Currie Technologies and Raleigh Cycles Ltd. of the United Kingdom in 2012 and has been integrating those businesses under Kent, WA-based ANA ever since.
“This appointment is not about Larry's e-Bike savvy or the E-Bike category at large,” ANA CEO Chris Speyer told The B.O.S.S. Report last week. “It's about investing in our IBD relationship and providing the leadership the channel needs. We happen to believe that e-bikes represent a market growth opportunity, yes. It's something we want to position our IBD's well to capitalize on, but e-bikes are a long-tail strategy for Accell North America and the goal of strengthening our IBD relationships is immediate.”
After acquiring Raleigh Cycle Ltd, Accell Group NV established ANA and began repositioning the Raleigh and Diamondback brands for the IBD channel. It stopped selling Raleigh bikes to mass retailers in 2013 and in 2014 Diamondback launched an entry-level (MSRP: $3,500) time trial bike called the Serios.
Raleigh's IBD dealers say that brand has become a strong and profitable offering in the middle of their price range, but last month, Accell Group reported sales to the North American IBD channel declined in 2014 and lagged expectations. ANA was able to increase total bike sales 4 percent, however, by increasing sales to REI and other multi-sport retailers. This spring, REI became the exclusive U.S. dealer for Ghost mountain bikes, another German brand owned by Accell Group.
Last week, ANA emphasized its commitment to building the IBD channel through its support for various industry and advocacy groups. Speyer serves on People for Bikes (PFB) board, while Pizzi serves on the Bicycle Products Suppliers Association (BPSA) board, where he also chairs a recently formed e-bike committee that seeks to shape state e-bike legislation.
“My career in this great industry has come full circle, considering the fact that my first job with a brand after serving the industry as an IBD in the 1980ʼs and early 1990ʼs, was with the one and only Raleigh Bicycles,” Pizzi said. “Iʼm now able to bridge my manufacturer and retail career experience into leading ANAʼs commercial IBD strategy and I am privileged to once again support Raleigh and ANAʼs other leading-edge IBD brands.”
