Sports lifestyle company opens European office, SPRL
02 Apr '08
3 min read
Bertrand Grimmonpré has extensive experience in finance and operations. He has spent the past eight years assisting U.S. Medical Device companies, including Cardio³ BioSciences and Volcano Therapeutics Europe SA, to establish EMEA companies and distribution channels.
Heelys recently announced the opening of its representative office in Qingdao, China. The China office is Heelys' first company operation outside of the U.S. and serves multiple sourcing functions including quality control, price negotiation, logistics and product development. Heelys serves more than 6,000 stores in the USA and more than 70 international markets across North America, Latin America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
Heelys created the “wheeled footwear” category with a single stealth removable wheel housed in the heel of each shoe allowing kids of all ages and skill levels to walk, run and transition to a roll at any moment. Recently, Heelys introduced its broadest, most colorful line of popular “wheel-in-the-heel footwear” for 2008, including the company's first ever hiking-style boot, “Rumble.”
Additionally, the company introduced its first “non-wheeled” footwear product line called the Sidewalk Sports Line revolutionary grip technology and is geared toward sidewalk sports enthusiasts who want to focus on their moves, rather than if their feet will stick to their gear.