April 15, 2020 - (Santa Cruz, CA) Across the world, governments, private enterprise, and health authorities are working together to find solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, to protect people and get society back up and running. Meanwhile, regional and local governments in many parts of North America have deemed bicycle retailers as essential business and allowed them to remain open to provide service for customers.
To help foster the continued success of small business and support their network of North American retailers, Gazelle Bikes, the 128-year-old Dutch brand, is excited to announce the reopening of their Netherlands manufacturing facility in Dieren, effective immediately.
Since COVID-19 can be transmitted through close proximity to affected individuals, public health officials have identified social distancing as a key tactic to reduce the spread of the virus. As a result, Gazelle has implemented the most stringent cleaning and sterilization methods available before employees return to the manufacturing facility. Additionally, strict protocols have been developed in reconfiguring existing manufacturing infrastructure to ensure adequate social distancing is maintained between employees.
While the majority of the Gazelle Bikes’ annual North American production volume was assembled prior to closure of the Dieren facility, the brand is happy to see that assembly is restarting and that employees can safely return. Gazelle Bikes currently has strong domestic inventory levels ready to ship in North America and is preparing to launch multiple new electric bike models over the coming months. Electric bikes that were assembled and staged in Dieren in early March prior to the closure are arriving in the North American warehouse daily.
“Ensuring the safety of our manufacturing team in Dieren while continuing to support our family of independent bicycle dealers across North America is our main priority, and we’re incredibly excited to reopen the Dieren facility to restart manufacturing and continue delivery of our electric bikes.” said Huub Lamers, Managing Director of Gazelle. “Many of our retailers are small, independently-owned businesses who have fought hard and persevered during these uncertain times, and we’re proud to work alongside them to return a sense of business normalcy.”
Electric bikes are experiencing record-setting sales in North America and there is renewed interest in bicycling as people seek safe and healthy transportation and exercise alternatives in the era of COVID-19. Continuing the theme of supporting small business, Gazelle Bikes empowers their network of local retailers to competently compete with direct-to-consumer brands by offering strong terms, an exceptional service experience to customers, and a complete product line of Bosch-equipped electric bikes that begin at a sub-$2,000 USD price point.
More information regarding the complete line of Gazelle electric bikes can be found at gazelle.com.
