By Aaron Checkwood

February 25, 2000

Arbor Sports seems to be on a roll. According to company President Bob Carlson, sales went up 60 percent last season, and he’s anticipating a 100-percent increase this year.

In the wake of this success, it was announced that Arbor had signed a two-year extension of its OEM contract with Ride Inc for production time at Ride’s Corona, California factory.

Last year, approximately 3,000 boards were produced in the factory. This year, the brand has 4,500 preexisting orders, and Arbor’s Director of Marketing Adam Nagler thinks when all is said and done, that number my be closer to the brand’s goal of 6,000 units sold

According to Arbor President Bob Carlson, not only is Ride’s factory close to Arbor’s offices, but the factory employees already understand the unique wood topsheet production process Arbor uses–a technique the brand would have to carefully explain at another facility.

"Continuing to work with Ride Manufacturing–which we consider to be the premier production facility in North America–guarantees the quality of our product, the level of our technology, and our ability to meet the needs of the customer," he says.

Although the deal doesn’t make or break the Ride factory, it does give a reduction in unit costs and an increase in margin. "Our main goal is to fill the factory with boards we make more money on," says John O’Conner, product-line manager for Ride. –Aaron Checkwood