He also was friends with Alfred Sloan ofGeneral Motors who had developed a single-brand dealership model for sellingcars. He accepted the advice of his youngermanagers and the “Authorized Schwinn Dealer” was born. The 1930s was a period in which Frank W. Schwinn established himself as a creative force in both his company and the bicycle industry.
Unable to produce bicycles in the United States at a competitive cost, by the end of 1991 Schwinn was sourcing its bicycles from overseas manufacturers. This in turn led to further inroads by domestic and foreign competitors. Faced with a downward sales spiral, Schwinn went into bankruptcy in 1992.[59] The company and name were bought by the Zell/Chilmark Fund, an investment group, in 1993. G. Spalding and Alexander Pope, bothmajor bicycling manufacturers, realized that adults were quickly moving awayfrom riding bicycles.
Looking back, Schwinn had suffered from a thousand cuts duringthe 1980s. Thisincluded the closing of a longtime factory in Chicago, starting a new factoryin Greenville, Mississippi, buying a 40 percent share of a plant in Hungary,and purchasing a one-third interest in a factory in Hong Kong. Spurred by theera of globalization, by the end of the decade Schwinn outsourced most of its manufacturingto Asia. The factory in Hungary was partially successful in producingthe Schwinn Woodlands, but many of the imported bikes had to be warehoused dueto quality issues. For a companystruggling with cash flow and being supervised closely by its banks, this wasnot the time for Schwinn to gamble on becoming a global player. Schwinn pulledthe plug on the unsuccessful venture in 1991 just one year before bankruptcy.
During this period, bicycle sales enjoyed relatively slow growth, with the bulk of sales going to youth models. In 1900, during the height of the first bicycle boom, annual United States sales by all bicycle manufacturers had briefly topped one million. By 1960, annual sales had reached just 4.4 million.[10] Nevertheless, Schwinn’s share of the market was increasing, and would reach in excess of 1 million bicycles per year by the end of the decade. At the close of the 1920s, the stock market crash decimated the American motorcycle industry, taking schwinn bicycles Excelsior-Henderson with it. Arnold, Schwinn, & Co. (as it remained until 1967) was on the verge of bankruptcy.
The Sting-Ray[28] sales boom of the 1960s accelerated in 1970, with United States bicycle sales doubling over a period of two years. In the late 1960s, the Varsity and Continental pioneered the use of auxiliary brake levers, which allowed the rider to rest hands on the straight, horizontal center section of the ram’s horn handlebars, yet still have braking control. This feature, attractive to older riders, soon found its way to other Schwinn models, especially those intended for senior citizens.
He also introduced a lineof state-of-the-art lightweight bicycles for adults that were way ahead of theirtime. In an era of inexpensive cookie-cutter bicycles sold by large retailers, hegambled that consumers would pay for style and quality. He pivoted Schwinn’sreliance for sales through large retailers towards independent bicycle companiesthat were more in tune with consumer bicycle needs.
Schwinn had a bicycle line that was identified as a children’sproduct. The Japanese were increasingly makinginroads into the American market. The Chicago factory was aging and in needof being upgraded or replaced.
As caretakers of the legendary Schwinn and Mongoose brands, we believe we are responsible for making cycling accessible and non-intimidating. Giant Bikes went from strength to strength – producing over one million bikes in 1986 and supplying Schwinn with 80 per cent of their bicycle inventory. If there are serial numbers on them, could you send me the numbers.
His partner Adolph Arnold could see that bicycles were no longer agrowth industry. In 1908, he agreed to sell all his shares in the company toIgnaz Schwinn. On his part, Schwinn never gave up on the bicycle side of hiscompany but he recognized that to survive his company would have to diversify. As a child, I never owned a Schwinn bike but I learned about them from others in my neighborhood. Families not only passed them on from one son or daughter to another but sometimes they survived and were used by subsequent generations. I also worked in a Schwinn bicycle shop in the 1970s and I became very familiar with the Schwinn brand.