VISTA was sold through Independent bicycles shops.
Vista was a private label brand designed by and produced for a group (association) of distributors. The name of the group was the
National Independent Distributor Associates, Inc (NIDA). The majority of the member distributors were ex-Schwinn distributors and they were planning to use Vista as the substitute for the loss of Schwinn sales.
Bill Stedman of Northwest Bicycle & Supply took the lead position for the association. Other members included;
Clayton Willard Sales-FL, Farber Cycle-MI, Hans Johnsen-TX, Proudfit Sporting Goods-UT & Service Cycle-NY. At the inception, the bikes were produced by
Columbia (Westfield Mfg Co).
Some shops surely sold Vistas as their other brand, separate from the Schwinns. They were American made, with a lot of Columbia design features to the frames. They used parts from all the same suppliers as Schwinn or Columbia would have: (Wald, Shimano, Sturmey, Huret, Persons, Araya, Union, and most likely Goodyear for the tires.)
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