Performance Bicycle announced today the appointment of John Buleza as Vice President of Direct Marketing.


Buleza will oversee all direct marketing efforts for the nation’s largest specialty bike retailer as it continues to expand its retail store footprint and enhance its multichannel retail experience through its popular website and catalog. A direct marketing veteran with more than two decades of multichannel retail experience, Buleza will be responsible for helping to drive the company’s growth through the Web, a revitalized catalog, email marketing, direct mail and search marketing. Buleza will also oversee direct marketing efforts for Bike Nashbar.


“John has a proven track record in building successful direct marketing strategies for some of the top retailing brands around,” said Cindy Marshall, Chief Marketing Officer for Performance. “His multi-channel marketing and analytical experience will be an important asset as we continue to fulfill our brand vision of being relevant to every guest and making cycling more accessible to more people, whether you are a recreational rider, enthusiast or avid cyclist.”


Buleza joins Performance at a time when the company is expanding its retail store footprint to 94 stores nationwide in 2010. He comes to Performance with more than 23 years of direct marketing experience. Most recently, he served as Director of Marketing for Current USA, where he managed marketing efforts for consumer brands Lillian Vernon, Current and Colorful Images. Prior to that, Buleza was Senior Marketing Director for Ross-Simmons, where he helped manage the Web and retail marketing teams.


“John’s experience and success with brand-name, multichannel retailers will help us achieve our goal of making Performance Bicycle the go-to destination in cycling, whether a guest rides every day or hasn’t been on a bike since they were a kid,” said Jim Thompson, CEO of Performance Inc. “John coming aboard is another step in Performance delivering a fun and friendly cycling retail experience, whether it’s online, in store or through our catalog.”