BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Storck has terminated the UK distribution contract it had with Ian and Trevor Hughes of Vielo Sports. The father and son team had worked with the high-end German bike brand for five years. In 2016 Vielo Sports achieved sales growth of 68 percent via some of the best independent bike shops in the UK.
Vielo Sports was the largest global distributor of Storck bicycles. The termination of the distribution contract was confirmed by email today.
The Gateshead company recently received additional investment to help fund stock of Storck products and grow the business.
“A change in delivery windows and purchasing requirements from Stork caused pinchpoints which became unachievable,” said Hughes. “We have informed our dealer partners by telephone of the contract being terminated.”
He added: “We do not wish to burn our stock by selling it off to any internet-only retailers as our dealer partners and friends have invested in their stock. We are currently working with dealers to support them and the stock they have.”
Hughes, an industry veteran who built up the Scott USA business in the UK, expressed sorrow that the five year brand-building exercise with Storck was now at an end:
“We are very disappointed that our contract has been terminated after working very hard to build the Storck brand in the UK. We will deal with it with honesty, truth and integrity.”
Hughes Snr was the face – well, the back, really – of the Storck brand last year. It’s him on the cover of the 2016 catalogue. The image – of Hughes riding a Storck bike – also loomed large on Storck’s Eurobike booth last year. The photograph was shot in the English Lake District.
Vielo Sports is also the UK distributor for Lightweight, a high-end German wheel brand. Hughes Snr said he and his son would also be open to hearing from high-end road bike brands seeking to access the UK market.
