I found this in my weekly VeloNews email:
Schwinn sold again
Pacific Cycle - the parent company of Schwinn, GT and Mongoose -announced Wednesday that the firm will be acquired by Montreal-based Dorel Industries, a global supplier of juvenile and home furnishing products.
I went to BicycleRetailer.com to see what they were reporting and found their quote of the day:
Quote of the Day
January 15, 2004 - "Life in the bicycle business is tenuous at best. Why did the old Schwinn company die? Well, that's like complaining because your Aunt Lucy lived to be only 106 rather than 108 years old. The number of businesses that last as long as Schwinn did, under one ownership, are few and far between. It's like my grandfather said: If you don't like problems, don't get into business because business is nothing but problems." --Richard Schwinn, great-grandson of Ignaz Schwinn who founded Schwinn in 1896, from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec. 15 2003. Courtesy Carlton Reid, publisher of Bicycle Business.
The Schwinn name lives on, but the marque means even less. Pacific said that they would continue to support Schwinn dealers. I never saw any evidence of that happening. The Schwinn dealers in my area are all selling other brands now. While Richard Schwinn is right, Schwinn had a good long run, I'd rather see the name die than be relegated to a big box brand.