By Aaron Checkwood

February 24, 2000

Palmer U.S.A. has teamed up with United Sports Group, the new owner of Hart Ski Company, to give themselves a larger sales force and beefed-up customer service.

Last January the company moved its warehouse and distribution base from Verdi, Nevada to Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, near Minneapolis. Both companies are sharing a warehouse, staff, customer service, and resources.

The need for the new distribution came with the publicity Shaun Palmer received last year and the phenomenol growth that followed. To match it, they started looking around for new facilities and found eight different possibilities with the Hart deal seeming to be the best strategic alliance for their need.

According to Palmer General Manager Tony Hessberg, "Too many companies grow so fast they can’t keep up with customer service and I want every dealer to say Palmer is the best snowboard brand to work with. United Sports Group has the experienced staff, the warehouse with room for growth, and the operations already in place. Working with them is the most efficient way for us to expand."

Hessberg isn’t worried about losing their ’core image mainly because Hart is the last privately owned ski company. They are more concerned about giving the best customer service they can, which overrides all ski concerns.

Both companies want to promote both sports. According to Hessberg, the mission of the companies is to bring people into both sports. They respect and enjoy each other’s sports and care more about their jobs.

Palmer USA also created two sales-manager positions with Bob Klein and Marty Carrigan, who work closely with a full-time staff of sales/service reps in each territory. Klein oversees the West Coast and Midwest territories, while Carrigan oversees the territories of the Rocky Mountains, Intermountains, the Southeast, the MidAtlantic, and New England. Klein formerly handled Palmer USA’s sales, distribution, and shipping alone, and both he and Carrigan said the increase in staff and resources will translate to better and faster customer service. –Aaron Checkwood