As part of an ongoing synthesis of their business practices, Shimano and Pearl Izumi have centralized trade ordering, support and communications systems. Effective July 5th, U.S. dealers will now have streamlined points of contact for both brands, including a single account number, a single line of credit, and a single toll-free phone number for customer support.
The restructuring, which has been in the making since Shimano bought Pearl Izumi in February, 2008, will result in the strengthening of the Soft Goods Division, located at Pearl Izumi headquarters in Colorado, and will also result in an investment in the Hard Goods Division at Shimano American headquarters in Irvine, CA.
“Were glad – and relieved – to finally be able to offer our partners a combined set of resources for their Shimano and Pearl Izumi needs,” said Rob Mossman, senior vice president of sales for Shimano Soft Goods, “It synthesizes the disparate points of contacts that dealers have had to manage, and really simplifies and consolidates things to enhance our customer service.”
All dealers will now be able to call a single phone number (the current Shimano toll free number: 800-423-2420) for all soft and hard goods needs, and all service representative extension numbers remain the same.
All Shimano dealers will receive a new account number, while current Pearl Izumi dealers will remain the same. Dealers who carry both brands will have no change in their account numbers, and need only to reference their Pearl account number for all hard and soft goods ordering and support.
On the web, both brands will be accessible via a single B2B site that can be accessed at either connect.shimano.com or www.pearlizumidealers.com and an account number look-up is available on the site.
Dealers who are not sure that their proper email is on file can send an email to dealerinquiries@pearlizumi.com or dealerinquiries@shimano.com with name, shop name, location, email address and account number.
Invoicing for every shipment will be combined into a single invoice from Shimano American Corp. and all open orders for both brands will be shipped and invoiced under the terms under which they were accepted. All Shimano products will continue to ship from either Irvine, CA or North Charleston, SC — while all Pearl Izumi products will continue to ship from Louisville, CO.
The companies will close to ordering on July 1st, using the long weekend to integrate the back-office systems; all ordering and support processes and resources will be online as of July 5th, 2011.
