Distributor of bike parts plans facility

Hawley LLC, a distributor of bicycle parts and accessories headquartered at Lexington, S.C., is opening a distribution center in Sparks.

The company leased 48,000 square feet at 650 Vista Blvd. It expects to initially employ 10 people at the facility, with possible employment of 30 or more office and warehouse personnel as it grows.

Dave Goeppner, chief financial officer of Hawley, said the company has been studying possible distribution center locations in the West for several years.

Shipping times are critical to the company's customers, he said, and ground shipments from South Carolina to West Coast customers currently take about a week.

"By opening an operation in Reno, we will shorten our ship times to this key market to just one or two days," Goeppner said. "There is no location in the West that provides the shipping advantages that Reno does."

Another factor in the company's decision, he said, is the recreational opportunities for Hawley's staff in northern Nevada.

The company also plans to add sales representatives in key western markets.

Hawley represents about 200 manufacturers and distributes more than 25,000 items to independent bicycle shops. The company traces its roots to a chain of family-owned bicycle shops established in the 1960s, and it began wholesale distribution operations in 1986.

Cycles Lambert, a Canadian company, acquired a majority stake in Hawley late last year. That deal, Goeppner said, helped to provide the resources for Hawley to establish the West Coast distribution operation in Sparks.

Dan Buhrmann, Eric Bennett and Gordon Zack of CB Richard Ellis in Reno represented Hawley LLC as well as the landlord, IndCor Properties, in the lease negotiations.