The Californian group of sports brands has created its own Action Sports unit for Europe and has appointed Paul Stratta as its managing director. The Action Sports division comprises Giro bike and snow sports helmets and protective equipment, the components of Easton Cycling, the motorbike helmets of Bell and the bicycle accessories under Blackburn.
According to Stratta, there are currently no plans to integrate into that division other Easton-Bell brands that focus on team sports – Easton Hockey and Riddell for American football equipment.
Stratta, a multi-lingual executive whose job with Easton-Bell was newly created effective April 1, has a long record of holding top positions in the sporting goods industry. Until the end of 2009, he worked for the Coleman Company in various positions such as country manager for Argentina as well as general manager and commercial director for northern Europe. Before joining Coleman, he served as vice president for global marketing at Hi-Tec.
One of Stratta's first things to do is to set up a European office. Currently in Belgium, he told this publication that he plans to install the new European headquarters in the alpine region, but was open to whether that should be in France, Germany, Switzerland or Austria.
