Kobe, Japan, June 27, 2008 – SRI Sports announced today that it will begin the consolidation and streamlining of its distribution channels as part of a business realignment effort on a global basis. “We believe that this consolidation will help the SRI Sports Group in strengthening sales bases of its golf gear lineup across the globe, and respond more quickly to customers’ needs than in the past,” said SRI Sports President and CEO Hiroyuki Bamba. “At the same time, we will accelerate operating efficiency by integrating the administrative as well as logistics functions, thus improving earning capacity.”
In North America specifically, beginning September 1st, 2008, Srixon Sports USA (currently headquartered in Georgia) will be merged into Cleveland Golf headquarters located in Huntington Beach, CA. This will enable Cleveland Golf to oversee the marketing, sales and distribution of Srixon products in addition to its own Cleveland Golf and Never Compromise brands.
Meanwhile, Cleveland Golf Canada Corp. (headquartered in British Columbia) will take over distribution rights for all three brands while reporting directly to Cleveland Golf’s corporate headquarters in Huntington Beach.
“We’re very excited about the opportunity afforded us to work on the Srixon brand in addition to what we already do,” said Greg Hopkins, President/CEO of Cleveland Golf. “We firmly believe that the merging of our two organizations will help fuel growth for all of our brands worldwide. Certainly, Srixon should gain a better foothold in this market with our help and SRI Sports can do wonders for Cleveland Golf in Asia.”
Most aspects of the business will simply be folded into the existing structure at Cleveland Golf including marketing, sales, tour, customer service, etc. The U.S. sales force will be expanded and the sales representatives will carry Srixon as well as Cleveland Golf and Never Compromise.
About Srixon Golf:
SRIXON Sports USA, Inc., based in Lawrenceville, Ga., has been distributing premium golf balls and equipment in the U.S. since 1997 and is a subsidiary of SRI Sports Limited. SRI Sports Limited is the number one golf club manufacturer in the world’s second largest market, Japan, and is one of the world’s leading patent holders in golf ball technology. SRIXON golf balls earned 26 tournament victories on multiple professional tours around the world in 2006. For more information about SRIXON please visit www.srixon.com.
SRIXON is a registered trademark of SRI Sports Limited.
SRI Sports is a company of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Group.
Contact:
Srixon Sports – Jackie Beck, 860-304-3643, jackiebeck00@hotmail.com
