Jim Wannamaker - KENDA

I've been in the industry for 20 years....... and KENDA has been exhibiting for at least that length of time.

What is your focus for the show this year?

Our premium line of products which is what's on display here. It's our upscale line........ KENDA for years has been known as a "replacement tire".......... an inexpensive tire for both mountain bike, road bike, BMX bikes..... the premium line is a little bit more pricey....... a little bit more feature oriented. We now have specific categories of tires......... such as tubeless tires, downhill specific, high pressure bmx........the road tire category. We're also doing a variety of assorted tubes...... not your everyday regular tube....... we have a heavy duty tube, a bmx tube, a downhill tube and we also have super light tubes.........so everything in the catalog is the focus of the show.

This is the largest gathering of cycling industry representatives from all over the world. What is your take on the general attitude for 2002?

This is only the second day of the show. The people that I've met seem pretty upbeat and positive for next year for several reasons........ probably the primary reason is the opportunity that is going to be created by the void left by Schwinn/GT (editor's note: Schwinn/GT Corp. sold its cycle business out of bankruptcy to Wisconsin-based Pacific Cycle for
$86 million in September - courtesy Forbes.com) when they vacate the IBD (Independent Bicycle Dealers) market. They say they are not going to vacate....... but right now apparently from what I have heard GT does not have any parts or accessories to sell. That's a tremendous opening and opportunity for a lot of regional distributors. A lot of new companies are probably going to sprout up to fill voids. BMX sales for companies such as HARO are strong......... the little, newer companies are growing by leaps and bounds. A lot of dealers feel that they want to give some of the newer companies a shot........ give them a chance to show what they can do.

Will the Sept. 11th attacks on America and its effect on the economy change any of your business plans for 2002?

Probably. The attacks (being a former New Yorker) ....... are obviously devastating to the City of New York. Business is down in New York....... the number of people going to shows is down...... shows are being canceled........ obviously the airline industry is being devastated....... people are being laid off in numerous fields....... it's going to have an impact...... but like everything else in life........ things return to normal at some point. It may take six months....... it may take a year....... but for the short term right now going forward........ I would say we are a little bit more cautious as to what we want to do.

Are you happy with this year's show?