In an interview last week with a local Arcata paper, Don Banducci, former owner of Yakima, criticized Watermark for its decision to move the company out of Humboldt County. Last month, Watermark announced that it would be moving all landsport operations, mainly Yakima, to Portland, OR because of infrastructure issues and better availability of executive talent. Banducci sold Yakima to a private equity firm which — after growing the company considerably — sold it to Watermark several years ago.

Banducci said that Watermark was not being “as forthcoming as it might be” and he wanted to make it clear to his community that there are other issues at play. He also said that while he was in control of the company, the culture of the company focused around life in Arcata, making a quality product, taking what you do very seriously and trying to take yourself less so.

Recently, he says, that has changed. He places much of the blame on himself, saying that the allure of selling the company to a private equity firm caused him to lose control of the culture he built. He also says that the problems Yakima has been experiencing in attracting talent are more the fault of internal issues and industry perception than its location in Humboldt County.

In related news, rumors have been circulating that Yakima will not be attending either SIA or OR Winter Market this year. SEW’s sister publication, The B.O.S.S. Report, contacted Amy Buckalter, head of marketing at Yakima, and she said that the team at Yakima will be attending both shows, but they will not have a booth at either.

“From a strategic standpoint, we want to support our retailers as best we can, so we chose to do our marketing spend on programs that drive traffic to retail,” said Buckalter. “This does not say anything about the relevance of the shows or lack thereof in any way. We’d like to be at any show that brings as much excitement as these two and allows us to write orders. Unfortunately this is just a question of priorities.”

Buckalter said that Yakima will still have a booth at the fall shows, and no decision has been made about their presence at Interbike next year.

In an interview last week with a local Arcata paper, Don Banducci, former owner of Yakima, criticized Watermark for its decision to move the company out of Humboldt County. Last month, Watermark announced that it would be moving all landsport operations, mainly Yakima, to Portland, OR because of infrastructure issues and better availability of executive talent. Banducci sold Yakima to a private equity firm which — after growing the company considerably — sold it to Watermark several years ago.

Banducci said that Watermark was not being “as forthcoming as it might be” and he wanted to make it clear to his community that there are other issues at play. He also said that while he was in control of the company, the culture of the company focused around life in Arcata, making a quality product, taking what you do very seriously and trying to take yourself less so.

Recently, he says, that has changed. He places much of the blame on himself, saying that the allure of selling the company to a private equity firm caused him to lose control of the culture he built. He also says that the problems Yakima has been experiencing in attracting talent are more the fault of internal issues and industry perception than its location in Humboldt County.

In related news, rumors have been circulating that Yakima will not be attending either SIA or OR Winter Market this year. The B.O.S.S. Report contacted Amy Buckalter, head of marketing at Yakima, and she said that the team at Yakima will be attending both shows, but they will not have a booth at either.

“From a strategic standpoint, we want to support our retailers as best we can, so we chose to do our marketing spend on programs that drive traffic to retail,” said Buckalter. “This does not say anything about the relevance of the shows or lack thereof in any way. We’d like to be at any show that brings as much excitement as these two and allows us to write orders. Unfortunately this is just a question of priorities.”

Buckalter said that Yakima will still have a booth at the fall shows, and no decision has been made about their presence at Interbike next year.