Zane's Cycles

Zane's Cycles is a New England bicycle store located in Branford, Connecticut, started by Christopher J. Zane in 1980, at the age of 16. Since then, the store has grown from a local bicycle and hobby shop, to the largest P&I (Premiums and Incentives) distributor of bicycles in the United States. The story of Zane's growth from small shop owner to major distributor found its way into several major business publications and college courses on marketing. Inc. and Fortune magazines both wrote positively of his aggressive local strategies, labeling them in some cases as "guerrilla marketing". An example was his tactic of purchasing competitor's phone numbers after putting them out of business. In another quite opposite strategy, his focus on establishing a bond with the customer through simple gestures -- like selling children's helmets at dealer cost, and offering lifetime guarantees -- was a topic in an article by the Harvard Business Review.