Wednesday, 07 Jan 2009

Granddad rolls out an international winner

By JENNY LING - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 15 April 2008
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What  started as a Waikato grandfather's wish to help his grandkids rollerskate has snowballed into a multimillion-dollar company with a product that has taken off down an international fashion catwalk.

Reg Reid, a former farmer and mechanic from Matamata, was 69 when he came up with the idea of quad skates, sturdy wheels strapped on and ridden over most types of terrain.

Though he did not live to see his invention demonstrated by male models wearing Armani underwear in Milan, his son Gary, who runs Skorpion Sports, reckons he would have approved.

"He might have had to look twice but then he would have been looking at the skates, I'd say. Dad was a fairly liberal-minded guy."

Mr Reid said his sister's children were given in-line skates for Christmas in 2001, but their holiday camping ground had nowhere smooth to skate. Reg started tinkering in his garage soon after.

"He turned up at my desk with a metal plate, four lawnmower wheels attached to it and a Nike shoe bolted to the top, and said, `I've got an idea'."

It took three years to design and test the Skorpion Multi Terrain skates, which have a similar structure to the old-style strap-on roller skates but can be worn on grass, BMX tracks, cobblestones and sand.

They hit store shelves in late 2005, initially at The Warehouse, the international market a year later. They are now sold in 28 countries including the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Australia. In New Zealand a style for street use, Quadline Urban, is sold for $200 through online store Torpedo7.

Mr Reid said he was at a sports expo in Germany in February when Armani staff approached him about a deal.

"At first I thought, `Yeah right, ring us back and we'll see what happens'. It did blow me away ... It's a huge compliment."

The skates were jointly branded, and the new EA7 by Emporio Armani skates were strutted down the catwalk at a Milan fashion show in June.

Mr Reid, a Hamilton resident, would not say how much the company made last year but this year's sales should reach at least NZ$6.4 million.

"It's quite on the cards it will exceed that."

Globally the skate market, including skateboards and inline skates, was worth about $2.5 billion, he said.

His father, who died in January last year, would have been thrilled at his invention's success.

"It was his baby. He always said, `I wished it happened to me when I was 30'. I guess it's my job now to make sure it happens for him."


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