DISTRIBUTOR IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Jürgen: It is very much a family business. My father, Wolfgang Unterberger, founded the company in 1981. Prior to this, he worked for a company called Raudaschl, which produced sails for boats — that's where he learnt his trade. Recognising the growing popularity of windsurfing, he wanted to design sails for this booming sport. Initially, the company focused on producing windsurf sails — this is where the name 'Sail & Surf' comes from. He was passionate about it and was always trying to improve the design of the sails. He made them in our attic, and our house was full of them! After two or three years, he started selling boards and other equipment too. By the end of the 1980s, he had stopped producing sails and was focusing on sales, as well as diversifying into winter sports equipment. At the beginning of the 1990s, he started selling MERIDA bikes. My father wasn’t particularly keen on cycling; he preferred climbing and hiking. However, he was looking for distribution opportunities. Once again, he recognised the impending boom in mountain biking and cycle training equipment, which is closely connected to windsurfing. So, to be honest, the move into bike distribution came from spotting a business opportunity rather than from a lifelong passion for cycling. However, it has endured, and here we are, over 30 years later. I have been running the company since 2011. My father is 76 now, but he still comes in every day — it keeps him young! It is his company, which he built from the ground up. I would never tell him to stop coming in!

Jürgen: As I mentioned earlier, it all started in the attic of our house, where my father first made the sails. After a few years, he had outgrown the space, so in 1983 he moved production to a warehouse in Bad Ischl. It remained there for a number of years. When the windsurfing industry began to decline, and the distribution of sports goods started to flourish, becoming the main focus of Sail & Surf, we remained in that building until 2000. Around that time, however, we needed to look for alternatives as the business had outgrown the warehouse. Consequently, we purchased the current site in Bad Goisern and moved there. The building had previously been owned by a company that produced high-voltage safety devices. We made some changes to make it work for us, including adding another floor, and, in recent years, fitting solar panels to make the business almost completely energy self-sufficient. We have now been here for 25 years, gradually expanding to bring everything we do under one roof. It's a rather large roof, as we distribute not only MERIDA bikes, but also all kinds of winter sports equipment and micro scooters — we were involved in that boom, too! In Austria, demand for sports equipment is determined by the weather and the seasons, so to keep a large business like ours ticking over throughout the year, we need to have fingers in various pies.

Gernot: I used to ride a lot more than I do now. I had my children a bit later in life - I'm 56, and my kids are 6 and 10. They are my priority, so I spend a lot of time with them at weekends. My passion is water sports. I have been doing it since I was a child. I also love mountain biking, more so than road riding. Jürgen is more of a roadie than I am! 

I would say about half of them are. It's a mix of active, sporty riders; people who use bikes to cruise the city as a form of transport; and people who ride e-bikes for leisure on longer weekend rides.

This varies between city and country cyclists due to the available terrain. The summer and winter seasons obviously have a big impact on what kind of cycling is popular, too. During the summer, lots of people use bikes to commute, but mostly for sport. For example, 'flow trails' are very popular at the moment, but there are also plenty of riders who prefer a more leisurely approach and enjoy some of the great cycle routes around the many lakes we have in Austria. We have one of them here at Bad Aussee, which is part of the Salzkammergut Cycle Path. Riding these tracks and trails often combines gentle exercise with beautiful alpine scenery, and it's a rather social activity - having a beer by a beautiful lake after a ride is not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

E-bikes are also increasingly popular. The mountains here are steep, so with an e-bike you don’t have to be a hardcore climber to enjoy going up, say 500 to 600m in altitude to a mountain hut, where you can take a well-deserved break and enjoy the views over a drink or two. The mountain huts can get busy with cyclists during the summer months. Bike parks are also incredibly popular here, especially with younger riders. These have been developed within ski resorts, as they have realised that an equally good income can be generated in the summer months as in the winter months from skiing. There are so many bike parks in Austria that we are spoilt for choice!

Once again, the impact of the pandemic was significant, affecting not only this event but also marathon events in general. Nevertheless, it is still going strong, attracting around 3,000 riders. There are three distances to choose from, and places usually sell out. E-bikes have also had an impact, as they are very popular here now. However, you cannot enter most events on an e-bike, which has affected the number of people taking part in organised races and events. We are very proud of the Salzkammergut Trophy as it has stood the test of time, showcasing our beautiful area and attracting people from far and wide.

Jürgen: Luckily, we don't. We have very little staff turnover. People tend to stay here. Including our sales reps, we have 33 employees in total. We have a very flat hierarchy, so most days we all have breakfast together, and we socialise outside of work too. For example, there is the 'Liachtbradl', a very popular tradition in our region. The 'Liachtbradlmontag' takes place in late September or early October (the first Monday after Michaeli), when the boss invites his employees to a roast. This tradition originated from the days when workers would bring a candle or light to work at the beginning of autumn, when the days got shorter and working outside or without extra light was no longer feasible. As a thank you to the workers, the company or workshop owner would organise a feast, normally a roast, to thank their employees for working without extra light or outside. This was a real treat at the time, as meat was something that not everybody could afford. So, what has remained from those days is that many companies, including ours, close at noon on this day and do something a bit different. We often go hiking together and then take the gondola up to the top of the mountain, where we have the roast. There are lots of photos of these trips adorning the walls of the break room. The boss usually says a few words of thanks to the staff over a few celebratory beers.

We also have a Christmas party, and barbecues in the summer. In the early years, when we had fewer staff, we went on trips to England and Prague. We have also gone skiing, rafting and canyoning together. We generally spend a lot of time together, which really helps to build a strong team.

Gernot: As we discussed, the company is family-run, and I think it's important to mention that we are very proud of the smooth and successful generational change from Wolfgang to Jürgen. They both still work here, and the handover of control has worked well — there have never been any issues. This has been a positive experience for the employees — it could have been very different!

Gernot: Given the current market situation, I think it's impressive that we're selling high-end bikes. I think the secret to the company’s success is based on two solid foundations: fast reaction times and the ability to respond quickly to dealers, who in turn respond to the end consumer. The second foundation is the flat structure and flexibility within the team. When one of us has an idea, we discuss it with the team, agree on it, and implement it quickly. The team likes to have fun, but they are also very professional. During the pandemic, we had to work together to find solutions to keep things running, and I think it brought us closer as a team. I think our success with our dealers is based on the fact that we can offer certain advantages over other companies. Although doing everything in-house is expensive, it means that dealers receive a seamless, friendly and reliable service. They talk to someone they know at the other end of the phone who is responsive and does what they promise.

We provide training for certain brands, such as Mahle. Dealers come here, are shown the products, learn about their selling points and how to service them, and leave with a certificate confirming they are licensed to sell and service the products. We used to hold an annual event at the Scalaria event resort at the Wolfgangsee, where dealers would attend a MERIDA product presentation by Jürgen Falke, who sadly passed away. This was very successful and popular with the dealers. Currently we don’t go to Scalaria, but we invite dealers here instead. We have enough space for 120 of them. We show them the warehouse and provide service training. They also get to explore our showroom, where they can see the products up close and try them out. We have a close relationship with all our dealers, and they often pop in with end consumers if they want to show them a particular bike or product.  If a dealer has a technical issue, we will invite them here to speak to our technical team and figure it out, again, it’s important to us to be able to be supportive and responsive to dealers. 

As we said, MERIDA is very well known in Austria, and the brand recognition has, of course, been boosted further in recent years by Team Bahrain Victorious and the Netflix stories that circulated about the team. However, competition is tough as the market is flooded with brands now compared to 20 years ago, so we must work harder to retain our position. The Austrian market differs from other European countries, let alone those further afield, so we recognise that it is sometimes difficult to have a product line-up that suits every distributor's needs 100%.

Jürgen: I would advise my younger self to learn more languages. I studied mechanical engineering through an apprenticeship rather than going to university. I don't think you always need to go to university, but I wish I had spent a year abroad and learnt another language. Although I spoke some English during my five years as a semi-professional snowboarder, it isn’t the same as living and working somewhere. When you live and work somewhere, you are fully immersed in the language and learn it in a very different way.

Gernot: My advice to my younger self would be the same: languages are the most important thing. The sad loss of my mother when I was just 17 determined my early career path. This resulted in me being invited to live in America at the age of 18. I lived in California and Hawaii, and then travelled around the world, supported by my American friends, which was a real blessing. I learnt to speak English, which has been a real bonus in my working life. This whole experience shaped the person I am today. Now, I am thinking about how I will advise my children. Living and travelling abroad before settling into a career is always going to be a positive experience. I regret not going to Spain during my studies. I was very interested in the language, but I didn't pursue it. Another piece of advice would be to familiarise yourself with the tax system and accounting, and gain a basic understanding of the law, as this can be hugely helpful when navigating your way through working life.