USA: Oakley Assumes Control Of Austrian Distribution

Oakley Inc (NYSE:OO) Monday announced it has assumed direct responsibility for distribution of Oakley products in the Austrian market. Since 1996 Oakley products have been distributed in Austria by Wulf Sport GmbH (Wulf Sport). As part of this transfer of responsibility, Wulf Sport will continue to distribute Oakley products in the eastern European markets including Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia. Additionally, to better serve the Germanic markets, the company has opened a new office known as Oakley GmbH in Munich, Germany. "Wulf Sport has been an excellent partner in establishing the Oakley brand in Austria and will continue to be a powerful representative for our brand in Eastern Europe. Both of our direct European offices, Oakley UK and Oakley Europe (Paris), have put forth tremendous efforts in building our brand in Europe," said Link Newcomb, Oakley's chief operating officer. "Opening Oakley GmbH allows us to further cultivate demand, deliver customized, targeted service and focus specific sales and marketing efforts within the large and influential markets of Germany and Austria. This effort becomes increasingly important as we expand the brand into additional product categories such as footwear, prescription eyewear and apparel." Over the past several years, Oakley has strengthened its position as a world brand by establishing direct distribution operations in continental Europe, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, South Africa, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia. Combined, Oakley's direct international operations currently account for approximately 85 percent of its non-US net sales. In other parts of the world, Oakley products are sold through selected distributors with local expertise. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.