![]() As WalMart, KMart, Target and Toys R Us grew, so did Huffy, Pacific, Murray and others. Pacific knew that mass merchants, the general stores of our generation, were where people met and bought stuff. It wasn’t until California bike retailer George Garner brought the modern concept of an IBD in the late 1950s that bikes were sold in a more professional setting. Old timers recall the days when Schwinns were sold at gas stations and hardware stores, where the people met and bought the stuff they needed. Pacific quietly built a solid business model, speccing affordable bikes that were eventually sold at Target and Toys R Us. Founder Chris Hornung quickly assembled a profitable company, and thousands of decent road bikes were ridden on the roads of Wisconsin. Pacific got its start in 1977 by selling inexpensive road bikes to American TV and Appliance in Wisconsin as freebies to be given away with each item sold. Like Shimano and SRAM, who make bike parts for high- and low-end bicycles, Pacific uses all channels to sell its stuff: independent bicycle dealers (IBDs), mass market retailers (WalMart, Target) and big-box stores (Performance, Dick’s Sporting Goods).
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