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  Helmet category growth helps

Several retailers have told us Bern helmets are selling well. We checked in with Bern founder Dennis Leedom to find out more about the small but growing helmet company, which targets snowboarders, skaters, wakeboarders and bicyclists.

 

How is business these days? Are sales up, down, by how much?

Good. Sales are up and the market continues to grow. Bern is growing about two or three times faster than the market.

 

How long has Bern been around? Where are you based and how many employees do you have?

Bern has been around since July of 2004, and is based out of Duxbury, Massachusetts, which is 35 miles south of Boston on the coast. The company stated in an 800-square-foot barn, which we moved out of in May of 2009. Today we have seven to 10 employees in the office depending on what’s going on and three people managing delivery in the warehouse.

Bern founder Dennis Leedom (tan shorts) in China.

 

How big is the brand today?

Bern has earned itself the identity as being an A+, and leading brand in action sports head protection.

 

We’re working with a lot of the most respected specialty dealers through out the U.S. and world, but we still have a long list of dealers we’re still looking forward to cracking into.

 

Besides helmets, what other categories does Bern make?

Hats, hoodies, Ts, skate and bike pads, and audio ear buds and DJ headphones.

 

Why do you think helmet sales have picked up so much in the last few years?

Awareness of the consequences of concussions, riders and skaters taking more chances, and most of all the style, fit and feel of today’s head protection on the market.

 

See Page 2 for more about Bern

 

 

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What’s been the best seller all year?

The Watts for men and The Berkeley for women.

 

What have been Bern’s key strategies at retail?

Our strategy has always been listen to ourselves, athletes, retailers and consumers on what they want in head protection. I think one of the coolest deals about Bern is that the company is driven by passion to give the market what it wants before they know they want it, backed by 20 years of experience and figuring it out. The result is that Bern Lids have some real differences that no other brand has and the market likes them. Riders love the style, comfort and feel of Bern and that’s why the brand continues to grow the market.

 

We also invest a ton into our product to make what we hope our customer wants and are psyched about.

 

Who are some of your biggest retailers?

Bern works with a ton of specialty retailers. Some example retail leaders would be Wave Rave, EvoGear, PacSun, Porters, Cole Sport, Christy Sports, Specialty Sports, Exit, the House, Ski Barn, Paragon, East Coast Alpine and a lot of specialty resort shops.

 

How big is the brand internationally?

Internationally, the development of the brand is one or two years behind where it is in the US. We have 30 distributors all over Europe, Asia and Canada. International is a big part of our business and we are growing a lot abroad.

 

How much of your business is skiers vs. snowboarders?

We sell more to specialized snowboard shops than ski shops and trying to get more into ski now. We are probably two to one snowboarders to skiers.

 

What is your business like in the bike world?

The bike business is the biggest potential for helmets because there are ten times more bikers than all the other sports put together. Bike is such a huge cultural phenomenon with the urban bike scene growing the industry and people commuting to work and using bikes for their source of transportation more than ever. The style and value that Bern offers for the bike helmet market has been well received.

 

What’s new and what’s next for the brand?

We’ve have a bunch of new developments that are being released at the SIA show like the new women’s Lenox (a women’s small shell visor lid with top and back vents), a new audio lid program, new snap in winter knits and a bunch of details that add up to making a product that isn’t just a lid, but a work of art.

 

Next for Bern is to continue to complement our line with more products that we know our customers will value and our retailers will make more money from.

 

Any plans to go into apparel?

Probably not. Personally I think it’s so saturated. We definitely do Ts and hoodies, but we will never do an apparel program. Really, we just make things we are experienced making and items that compliment the brand. We focus on head protection and it seems to be working.