Club Ride Apparel, a provider of casual-performance cycling apparel, has added a female designer to its staff as a part of a strategy to increase women’s sales to 50% of company overall sales by 2016. The increased focus on the women’s line started with the 15-16 Fall-Winter Collection and continues with the expansion of women’s offerings in their 2016 Spring-Summer Collection.
Mia Stearns joins Club Ride after three years as the Men’s Knits and Fleece Designer and one year as the Mountain Bike Designer at Fox Head. Stearns studied at the Orange Coast College & Academy of Art University and interned in design at Volcom while still in college.
“We are thrilled to have Mia on board as our Senior Designer. Her history at Volcom and Fox Head will prove to be beneficial to the continued growth of Club Ride,” stated Mike Herlinger, Club Ride Founder and Head of Product Development. “She brings expertise and a fresh perspective to Club Ride’s casual-performance cycling-inspired clothing, which is sure to enhance our current and future development. Mia has a contemporary perspective of style, color and function helping us raise the bar and evolve in design as a technical lifestyle clothing company,”
In addition to hiring Stearns to further progress their line, Club Ride is focusing on three main areas for 2016 – 1. The bike board short, incorporating the look of the board short and functions and features of a bike short; 2. Expanding the women’s collection – the goal is to be a 50/50 split in sales between men and women, which would be an increase from 37% of overall sales in 2015; 3. InnerWear with RideTime rating that will replace wearing the heavy Lycra short underneath a baggy. Lightweight, quick-drying chamois liners with pad inserts based on a rider’s anticipating riding time (1-, 2-, 3-, 4-hours). To go along with the growing emphasis on the women’s line, there will also be a four-hour bib being introduced into the InnerWear line.
In other news, Club Ride launched an Ambassador program for 2015. Key Pro Ambassadors include such notables as former World and National Mountain Bike Champion Ruthie Matthes, World Mountain Biking Champion Sara Ballantyne, Tour de France rider Frankie Andreu, Olympians Heather Irmiger and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) Trail Care Crew of Jordan Carr and Lani Bruntz, the Sun Valley Higher Ground Hand-cycling Team and USA Triathlon President, Barry Siff.
Some new reps also have been added to the sales force. The reps include Kelly O’Brien and Associates in the Midwest, John McDonnell/Green River Sales in the Mountain states and Mark Embler/Southeast Sports Marketing in the Southeast. Club Ride is currently looking to increase its sales force in the outdoor industry and are seeking reps for the rest of the country. If interested, please contact Scott Montgomery, CEO @ scott@clubrideapparel.com or 208.409.6366.
Club Ride is making their debut at Outdoor Retailer this year.
