One year after it launched its reinvigorated Huffy Service Center program, Huffy Bicycles CEO Bill Smith today announced the company’s newest IBD-centric initiative: Batch Bicycles, an original bike line to be sold exclusively through independent bicycle dealers in the United States.
“I asked my team to find the white space,” said Smith, who through his participation on panels at the 2017 Bicycle Leadership Conference and the 2016 IBD Summit, engaged in revealing dialogue with shop owners and realized how profoundly the retail landscape is changing.
“Dealers told me there are opportunities for incremental business, in between the high end of mass market bikes, and the low end of specialty bikes. Huffy is in a unique position to leverage its strengths and provide that,” he continued.
“We’re a well-run company with 126 years of bicycle experience and significant buying power. We don’t carry overhead of mainstream IBD brands, such as the costs of a large sales force, catalogs, race team sponsorships and floor financing. We’re able to make a well-spec’d product, and offer dealers great margins, without the need for minimum buys, presale commitments, inventory requirements, or complicated discount structures.”
Batch Bicycles falls under the purview of industry veteran Bruno Maier, who rejoined United Wheels and Huffy last year, and oversees a number of its key programs and projects. The company will launch five categories of bicycles at Interbike Marketweek, Sept. 14-20, 2018: a comfort bike, a commuter model, a beach cruiser, a mountain bike, and kid’s bikes, all made of aluminum and spec’d with Shimano drivetrains, double-walled aluminum rims, and comfortable contact points.
“Batch Bicycles will be differentiated by product quality and by price,” summarized Maier. “They are crafted with purpose, and we will streamline the cataloging, ordering, and delivery process via a mobile app that allows dealers to order a single bike at a time, and have it shipped to their shop within two to three days.”
For Batch Bicycle dealer inquiries, please email info@batchbicycles.com.
