ANDALUCÍA, Spain (BRAIN) — Industry Nine announced Thursday it will fulfill all European orders through its Andalucía, Spain, distribution center later this year to improve efficiency and lower costs.
All of Industry Nine's products will continue to be manufactured at its headquarters in Asheville, North Carolina. European orders for wheelsets and other components now will be fulfilled and assembled in Spain. This also will allow for more customization with all 11 anodized color options. Industry Nine will continue to work with European distributors.
The European expansion has been in the works for more than two years, said Jacob McGahey, Industry Nine vice president. He said European sales have increased 89% in the past year.
"European sales are going very well," he said. "We anticipate that our investment in the European warehouse will help us further improve on our sales into the EU."
Industry Nine will share the facility with Spanish distributor Surbikes, which has been located in Andalucía for several years, McGahey said. The company will maintain its own inventory in the facility to fulfill European distributors' and OEM orders directly.
"Collectively, this will allow us to fulfill orders much faster, will provide better service resources to existing customers, and will dramatically cut down on shipping costs," McGahey said.
McGahey said while European distributors set pricing for their markets, he expects pricing could drop 10% or more with the creation of Industry Nine Europe, depending on the product. Industry Nine manufactures hubs, rims, spokes and other cycling components.
Nathan Deibert will head the expansion as Industry Nine Europe operations manager. Deibert has been Spanish and Portuguese distributor with the company for six years.
The expansion will be announced formally at Eurobike next week in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Industry Nine Europe will begin shipping products later in the fall.
