First it was the gummy bears, now Sam.
That's it, burn it all to the ground.
Signa Sports with Liquidity issues .... (CRC/Wiggle/Probike/Nukeproof/Vitus)
- Thread starter Stredda
- Start date
That's it, burn it all to the ground.
ozzybmx
taking a shit with my boobs out
Ship is sinking, IP for brands bought, no staff or stock. Looks like Wiggle CRC will be no more but Nukeproof, Vitus, DHB etc, may continue in some capacity.
www.cyclingnews.com
'Once the warehouse is clear, it's game over' – WiggleCRC lays off almost entire workforce
'The new buyer apparently doesn't want anyone' says anonymous source
www.cyclingnews.com
teK--
Eats Squid
Sad for all the workers. No sympathy for the greedy corpos who really fucked up the brands.Ship is sinking, IP for brands bought, no staff or stock. Looks like Wiggle CRC will be no more but Nukeproof, Vitus, DHB etc, may continue in some capacity.
'Once the warehouse is clear, it's game over' – WiggleCRC lays off almost entire workforce
'The new buyer apparently doesn't want anyone' says anonymous source
Calvin27
Eats Squid
Be interesting to see how these guys could continue. I suspect there are limited distributor bias companies that would bother with their volumes. That leaves specialty bike/outdoors sellers and most of them are already at capacity with their brands. Personally I rekon the market is ripe for an asian based retailer to emerge that isn't aliexpress levels of risk. Someone like bicycles online would work a treat, but having marin and polygon plus potentially vitus/nukeproof would be a bit much imo.
Ackland
chats d'élevage
enter Panda Podium..... https://www.pandapodium.cc/
Mainly road/gravel focussed at the moment but I like the emergence of actually reliable chinese brands in the market.
The groupsets coming from L-Twoo, Sensah and Wheeltop are impressive
Asian manufactured chainrings are as good as any (though I can't find anyone who will do stainless like Wolf Tooth)
The Magene and XCadey power meters are great
ozzybmx
taking a shit with my boobs out
The workers must have seen the writing on the wall, lost $30m in 2021, lost $200m in 2022... still sending out $50,000 worth of Haribo bears with orders. Making financially silly decisions over packages that were their fault (See mine and Tek's stories on page 1), the management team were all riding the wave with no changes to business direction, driving the company in to the ground.
The investors obviously wanted to see their investment thrive. I reckon the blame is wholly with the local management, losses and slow sales mean batten down the hatches, get ready for the storm, cost save and downsize if needed. Not rely on emergency handouts from Signa for shit management decisions.
These jokers sacked all the Northern Irish staff that were passionate and good at their jobs, running a very profitable CRC, then employed twice as many pommes.
leitch
Feelin' a bit rrranty
I suspect the workforce situation is a bit more clinical to be honest… I was involved in buying a business in the UK in 2016. The laws there are such that essentially you take all of the existing staff as part of the business as a going concern, or you take no staff ongoing and you basically buy the assets/IP/goodwill/etc. Wiggle/CRC etc are probably a lot more attractive as a kit of parts than as a business with 500+ employees who a new owner then has to pay out redundancies to etc. Still fucking sucks for the people losing their jobs though.
ozzybmx
taking a shit with my boobs out
Yeah shit for all the redundancies but if I was buying it, I would want to start from scratch and bring it online slowly, testing the water.
Will be interesting to see if they are going to get profitable Nukeproof, Vitus etc up and going straight away, hand pick employees with passion and make it work.
While geoblocking was the first big blow, regardless of what else is happening in the industry, they had the worst website redesign and rebrand that it bordered on neglect. They took something that was recognisable and reflected the industry then turned it into bland and boring with a $50 logo from fiver that it's hard to believe it wasn't someone in managements polo playing daughter that chose it. It was so out of touch and when that is your first point of contact no amount of gummy bears can patch that up.
Jabubu
let you google that for me
I'd love to see a return of the Offroad brand
Calvin27
Eats Squid
Depends if they actually paid out as creditors.
I rekon they are not bad, beside the brand value is worth more than potential cringe.
+1 Web rebrand can't have been cheap and it made things worse. This is typical MBA-ism of companies where some management consultant who has no idea about the business suddenly gets the keys to the place.
it would be pointless to buy the brand and rename it. then you've got another miscellaneous bike to try and build a following. the brand is well known for what it does.
teK--
Eats Squid
Hey I like my Nukeproof!
ozzybmx
taking a shit with my boobs out
Back 2010ish I thought Nukerproof brake pads... ehh. Shit pads, shit name.
Got used to it attached to big names, then nice bikes. The UK has always struggled to have a catchy bike brand name, PlanetX, OnOne, Ribble, Boardman, Whyte etc... Nukeproof is alright and now associated with decent bikes. I don't mind the name.
I have a red Scout and stripped it to raw, also a yellow Cotic but none of the are ridden lately, sadly.
EDIT: Pic
uh oh what have I said..
Calvin27
Eats Squid
Sadly true. Nukeproof is ok and has decent brand value But it's true, the Americans seems to do better (or maybe it's the marketing?) Salsa, ironhorse, orange, moots, YT , santa cruz. I mean they don't get a free run like the italians, but they do well with brand value.