ZOIC Clothing, a casual cycling apparel brand, has returned to its roots as an independent company. The brand is now under the ownership of Eric Swenson and Paul Wyandt, who over the last five years as employees of Nitches, Inc. engineered the reemergence of ZOIC in mountain bike apparel.
In his elevated role as owner, Eric Swenson advances his eleven year association with ZOIC. Swenson joined the company in 1998 and quickly became an impassioned promoter of the brand. The ultimate arbiter of all things ZOIC, Swenson is chiefly responsible for sales, product development and production for the brand.
Paul Wyandt joins ZOIC outright after a twelve year tenure with Nitches, a publicly traded apparel company that voluntarily delisted from the NASDAQ early last year amid a lack of credit needed to finance new orders. During his time at ZOIC, Wyandt advanced to the position of president and CFO, directing the activities of multiple product lines in specialty, department store and mass market channels, and managing in excess of $20 million of invested capital.
In 2004 ZOIC, the brand that pioneered baggy shorts and casual style for cyclists, was left for dead by its former owner as that company concentrated on the triathlon market. Sensing an opportunity, Swenson and Wyandt, both avid mountain bikers, structured the acquisition of the brand and subsequent licensing to Nitches. In the ensuing years, with Swenson as GM of ZOIC and Wyandt as president of Nitches, the pair repositioned the brand in its core segment of casual cycling apparel. Aided by strong product design and key sales support, ZOIC has steadily reclaimed distribution among bike specialty retailers and continues to experience dramatic growth.