The annual Sea Otter Classic race and expo is the traditional new season starter event. Based in California it attracts racers and some of the world’s biggest bike brands every April where they get the chance to show off their new bikes and bits in the real world for the first time.
We have Hannah out there at the moment and she has pointed us towards some unsettling developments with the Kona stand, which after setting up shop on Tuesday was seemingly disassembled on Wednesday with apparently no comment from staff as to why they were leaving the site.
The bike industry trade website BRAIN is reporting that the CEO of Kent Outdoors, owners of the Kona brand, told employees on Wednesday to break the stand down. They also report that employees have been told to expect a ‘town hall’ meeting on Thursday.
Speculation that the brand may be in some form of cost cutting mode is as yet unconfirmed but recently they have been moving to a direct to consumer sales model and have been offering two for the price of one deals on some bikes in their range.
Kent Outdoors bought the Kona brand from it’s founders 2 years go. The brand’s HQ was moved from Ohio to Utah following the buyout.
That’s all we can report for sure at the moment but we will update this news story as more information is available.
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