Terry Bicycles’ CEO, Liz Robert (formerly CEO of The Vermont Teddy Bear Company) is trading in her business suit for bike shorts and turning into a new kind of traveling sales rep. Robert is loading her backpack with samples and sales catalogs and riding from bike shop to bike shop in metro locations around the country to meet shop owners and managers and learn about their business, and to introduce them to the Terry line of cycling gear. All the while, she is testing Google’s beta Bike Maps and the developing bike infrastructure of our cities and towns.
Robert (pronounced ro-BEAR) recently pedaled through San Diego and neighboring coastal towns, and along the Rail Trail of Westchester County, NY. Her next bike tour is set for the Greater Boston area on Thursday, August 11 and Friday, August 12. She plans to ride from Natick to Cambridge and then along the Northshore from Marblehead to Manchester visiting independent bicycle dealers.
‘My goal is to get out and really learn this market,’ says Robert. ‘After years at Vermont Teddy Bear capitalizing on mass marketing mediums such as radio, print, TV and catalog, I recognize that grass roots marketing is the marketing method of our time. Whether selling direct to consumers or to other retailers, you’ve got to get in there and talk to the people buying. When the owner of the Company shows up on her bicycle, the shop owners take me seriously. They give me the straight scoop about the challenges and opportunities in this market.’
During her 11 years as CEO of Vermont Teddy Bear (VTB), Robert developed the small Vermont based business into a nationally recognized brand. Sales grew from $16 million to nearly $75 million in sales in 2008 as she added PajamaGram and Calyx Flowers to the Company’s portfolio of personalized gift products. After leaving VTB in 2008, Robert acquired Terry Bicycles and moved it from Rochester, NY to Burlington, Vermont in 2009.
Terry Bicycles is the Original Women’s Bicycling Company, founded in 1985 by Georgena Terry who pioneered women’s specific bike design with geometry proportioned to a woman’s anatomy. Georgena further revolutionized the cycling industry with the Terry saddle, the original bicycle seat with a cutaway, dramatically improving comfort for women first, then for all riders. Today, Terry is the one-stop-shop for all of a female cyclist needs and the only brand dedicated solely to women’s cycling. The Terry apparel line includes a full selection of bright, colorful prints and patterns that complement the high-performance fabrics and precise fit of all Terry jerseys and cycling bottoms. From serious gear to recreational pieces, Terry positions itself as a brand for enthusiasts, where technical performance and feminine style ride in tandem. Terry distributes its cycling products nationally via catalog and web, and through a channel of retailers including REI and independent bicycle dealers.
BURLINGTON: VT (August 4, 2011) Terry Bicycles can be found online at www.TerryBicycles.com.
From bears to bikes, Terry Bicycles’ CEO Liz Robert rides to market
Submitted by tim
on