American Classic closed factories

[AUbicycles]

This is from early this month but American Classic is a well known brand - distributed by Cassons to Australia.

Amclassic Inc., the parent company of the American Classic wheel and component brand, told BRAIN late last week that it had voluntarily closed its factory and laid off about 40 employees in Taiwan and the U.S. The company said it was in negotiations to sell its trademarks and other intellectual property. Co-owner and general manager Ellen Kast told BRAIN that employees in both countries were paid severance. Kast told BRAIN that sales began declining for the brand during the 2016 season, despite a new effort to offer lower-priced OE wheels.

More: BRAIN trade news

[trailgumby]

Sales decline so they throw their toys? Weird.

[MichaelB]

Sales decline so they throw their toys? Weird.

Got out while the goings good.

Sensible move rather than losing money.

Bugger, but that's reality in business. When you see how much vertical integration is coming from the big players/brands, and the level of consolidation from retailers, there is less room for companies like AM.

[trailgumby]

Sales decline so they throw their toys? Weird.

Got out while the goings good.

Sensible move rather than losing money.

Bugger, but that's reality in business. When you see how much vertical integration is coming from the big players/brands, and the level of consolidation from retailers, there is less room for companies like AM.

I think they've got no ticker. 40 employees shown the door? Poor form. Why not give the employees equity and let them figure it out jointly? Or sell it to the employees? It's not like they had Crank Bros reputation for designing stuff to fail.

[Duck!]

It's not like they had Crank Bros reputation for designing stuff to fail.

Dunno about that; they had a fairly self-destructive hub design running for a while.....