It didn’t take long to start the consolidation of Bike Athletic into the Russell Athletic division of Russell Corporation. RML acquired the venerable sporting goods brand out of bankruptcy in late January and should see full consolidation of operations before fall.

RML will relocate Bike’s distribution center to an existing facility in Columbus, GA, while screen printing and custom decoration will move to Alexander City, AL. Approximately 50 employees will be affected by the initial changes expected to take place in the next month.

The accelerated timeline of the move of these operations is intended to minimize disruptions in Bike’s peak shipping season.

Bike’s office and customer service operation will likely stay in Knoxville no later than the end of July.

It related news, Jim Corbett, SVP of Bike Athletic Sales and Marketing, has left the company.