November 26, 2008

'Quirky' Phil & Teds To Have Own Sales, Distribution

It looks like Phil & Teds will be setting up their own US sales & distribution network soon. I just got a note from Regal+Lager saying that as of May 2009, the veteran distributor would no longer be handling the "quirky brand."

Regal+Lager saved Phil & Teds' corporate butt in the US market four years ago. Before then, the company had been trying to serve the US remotely from New Zealand. I remember hearing about these mysterious double strollers which were no bigger than a single. They'd show up unannounced at Right Start stores, and parents on months-long waitlists would get a call, only to find that random walk-in customers had snapped up the two available rigs before they could get down there. And then Right Start went into bankruptcy and reorganization itself, and these strollers became just a rumor.

But in the last couple of years, P&T has clearly been trying to expand itself into a full-range baby gear company with products far beyond the strollerspace. Permanently outsourcing control of their biggest market would apparently not be part of their long-term strategic plan.

Good luck with all that.

3 Comments

Huh, interesting. Regal+Lager has been really good with customer service for our e3. I hope that continues.

No way to get manufacturer service in Japan either. All parallel imports.

I'm with Matthew. Regal Lager's customer service for our P&T Sport has been fantastic. The only problem is that we've had to go to them so many times. I'd give RL 5 out of 5 stars. The Sport probably only gets 2-3 stars. I hope P&T is better at distribution than they are at engineering and quality control.

Google DT


Contact DT

Daddy Types is published by Greg Allen with the help of readers like you.
Got tips, advice, questions, and suggestions? Send them to:
greg [at] daddytypes [dot] com

Join the [eventual] Daddy Types mailing list!


Archives

copyright

copyright 2024 daddy types, llc.
no unauthorized commercial reuse.
privacy and terms of use
published using movable type