Easton Bell Sports looks to East for better wear

Chennai: The $600-million turnover sports equipment and accessories manufacturer Easton Bell Sports Inc, USA is ringing East in a big way.

With its margins under pressure Easton Bell is compelled to improve its bottom line by looking at low cost Asian vendors.

A team of officials from the company’s headquarters at Van Nuys, California, recently visited China and India to explore possibilities for sourcing sports apparel.

“The idea is to take Easton Bell to the next level by building competitive operations. We would like to reduce our costs by 10 per cent which in turn is expected to improve our bottom line by $30 million,” says Anthony D’Onofrio, chief operating officer.

According to him Easton Bell is even willing to ship its production operations to Asia if the cost structure works out favourably.

Presently the company sources products like bats, helmets and other products from Philippines, China, Taiwan and Mexico.

The American company makes and markets sports products under four brands viz Easton (baseball, softball, ice hockey equipment, apparel and cycling component), Bell (cycling and action sports helmets and accessories), Giro (cycling and snow sports helmets) and Riddell (football and baseball equipment and reconditioning services).

A relatively small player in the sports apparel segment Easton Bell has decided to focus on this segment as it sees immense growth opportunity.

“The fashion of wearing sports apparel is one of the great demand drivers,” remarks D’Onofrio.

He said the size of sports wear market in North America is around $3 billion.
The sports apparel segment now dominated by brands like Nike and Adidas offers good potential as the garment is not only worn by serious sportsmen but also by others.

While Bell brand apparels are targeted at the mass market, Easton and Riddell brands are focused at institutional and speciality segments.

“We have gained leadership position in other product segments and we are confident of replicating the same in the apparel segment as well,” adds D’Onofrio.

He says Easton Bell would first source the apparels from India. Based on the cost and quality aspects the company would scale up its volumes and may even decide to set up a production unit here. 

In India the company has tied up Landmark Export & Import Private Limited, Chennai to coordinate it sourcing plans.

“The American company offers $100 million business opportunity,” says S V Sunil Kumar, director, Landmark Exports.