Lapierre Cycles, a member of Accell Group, opened a branch office in North America, and plans on distributing a complete line of road and mountain bikes starting in October 2005 at Interbike. After an investigative trip to the States in April for the Sea Otter Classic, Gilles Lapierre, Managing Director, appointed Brett Lindstrom as Sales and Marketing Manager for the U.S.
Accell has been consistently growing its presence across northern Europe through both acquisitions and organic growth. The company embarked on a strategy to acquire several bicycle parts distribution companies and consolidate them. Accell manufactures several other bike brands, including Mercier and Koga Miata.
Headquarters for the new U.S. subsidiary will be in Boulder, Colo. Lindstrom joins Lapierre with experience from Lafuma America, managing distribution before going to work for Bicycle Village. Linstrom told BOSS that this move was primarily a push by Lapierre, and not Accell, to establish itself in the U.S. market.
>>> BOSS would not be surprised to see Accell establishing itself in the U.S. market with other brands once it has one foot in the door
