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One reason to keep all of these marques going is market penetration.
TI/Raleigh could go to a retailer and say we shall give you the exclusivity for Raleigh in such and such an area/population.
Very well.
Then they could go to a nearby shop and say "Look the guy over on Elm St. has the exclusivity for Raleigh in this area but we can give you the same bikes under the Triumph/Dunelt/Phillips/Robin Hood, etc. marques."
Read here why Raleigh brought back the old Meteor badge which had been snoozing for decades -
classic racing bicycle articles Raleigh Professional Raleigh Record Ace Raleigh Lenton Vitus 979
on-the-drops.blogspot.com
[scroll down about 2/3 of the way for the Meteor entry]
For example, Motobecane did the same thing with the Orly, Astra, Dynamax, Monfort & Motoconfort badges.
Howie Cohen of West Coast Cycle Supply had his Nishiki badge but sold many of the same machines as American Eagle, Azuki, Premium, etc.
Centurion created the Ventura badge for the same machines to pack more product into a given market.
And last, but not least(!), Mondia did it with their Juvela badge. :eek:
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