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MOTONATION COUNTERS COVID-19

  • Dealernews
  • Apr 02, 2020

 

 

What a difference a year makes! At this time last year, Dealernews LIVE! was sitting down with Motonation's Bill Berroth to talk about exciting additions to their proprietary apparel line, a progress report on Trilobite and the big steps coming from Sidi for the 2019 selling season:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6o9tr-ds08

 

With Italy being hit hard and early by the virus, we followed up with Bill to see how things stand on April 2, 2020. He shared the same communication he gave to his staff, reps, vendors and clients. He also notes that mutual friends like Franco Acerbis and the Signori family at Sidi are safe and looking forward to getting back to business. The bigger problem has been transportation and access to raw materials. Here is what else Bill has to say:

 

It goes without saying that each and every one of us, personally and professionally, are experiencing and managing ourselves through a difficult situation. In these unprecedented times there are not only personal stress and concern for health issues but also many unanswered questions about what’s next for us, our businesses and the world. Motonation is no different, we are doing our best to manage our business situation while at the same time be very cautious of our employees’ health.

 

On Monday, March 16th, Sidi closed its factory and offices, not because of any health issues but because of the stoppage of raw material shipments due to border closures in Europe. Sidi’s Romania factory also closed on March 27th. Sidi has not yet set any firm date for reopening its operations, but it could be as late as June. Sidi has shipped Motonation its February production orders which will put us in a solid inventory position for many months, hopefully through this period of uncertainty. Nevertheless, during this time, Motonation’s policy regarding inventories not reserved for a pre-booking client remain unchanged, 1st come 1st served.

 

Forcefield in the UK remains operational. Trilobite from the Czech Republic is closed with no reopening date set, as are Motonation Apparel’s manufacturers in Pakistan. That said, Motonation’s inventory levels on these lines are good and we are not anticipating any longer range supply issues.

 

Of course, the present situation is dependent on many outside factors. Will there be any importing delays? Will UPS remain open? Will Motonation’s 3PL, Tigers, remain open? There is no way to know the answers to these questions now, we can only react as the situation develops.

 

Motonation’s staff is healthy and for now the company remains open and staffed. We have been practicing “social distancing” at the office for weeks now. Additionally, as we are a commercial office, we have no public visits and thus little to no exposure to the virus at the work place. That said of course we could be affected by financial hardship as our market takes a hit and we are making contingency plans in case they are needed.

 

So, there you have it, an honest and clear recap as to the situation at Motonation today. We remain committed to transparency as this situation develops. 

 

Regards,

Bill Berroth

President

Motonation - Ciclista America 

 

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