4 ms·

Not Brooks saddles, though. They are still made in the UK. However, cheaper immigrant labor has been used, albeit not Chinese. Brooks' own newsletter reveals th

Not Brooks saddles, though. They are still made in the UK. However, cheaper immigrant labor has been used, albeit not Chinese. Brooks' own newsletter reveals that at least some current workers in this British firm with a hundred-year-old tradition are recently-arrived Poles. One place where Brooks has really diminished its fine reputation is handlebar tape: Brooks leather handlebar tape is made in a Chinese factory with just the Brooks logo stamped on it, and it is nowhere near the quality of the famed saddles.

busterarm 6y ago
That's not what I said. We're talking about why Brooks' logistics might be handled in Italy. Which they are. Why do you think it might be cheaper to have their full inventory sent to a company in Italy and then have logistics handled there?
- walshemj 6y ago
  Italy is a center for leather working
  - busterarm 6y ago
    Except the "working" part of it was already done in the UK here. It's literally stated in the first part of the article. And again, Italy has mass-imported Chinese immigrants to perform its textiles (and other industries') labor. Just because Italy is the "center for X" doesn't mean Italians are the ones doing X.
- Hamuko 6y ago
  I imagine it's cheaper if you do most of your sales in continental Europe and just sell some units in the UK. Would make more sense to just have one logistics center even if it results in some items being shipped back and forth.
  - busterarm 6y ago
    There's no why in what you said, just stating the same premise that I did. Selle Italia happens to be located in northern Italy, where most of this immigration is concentrated. Granted it's in Veneto and the highest concentration is in Lombardia/Lombardy...but that region has half as many and they're right next to each other.
  - rjsw 6y ago
    If you want something shipped anywhere you don't start from Italy.
    - busterarm 6y ago
      There's a lot of mental gymnastics people will do to not admit the only reason why anyone ever outsources anything: the labor is cheaper. Postage & Logistics are already robust industries in the UK.

busterarm 6y ago

That's not what I said. We're talking about why Brooks' logistics might be handled in Italy. Which they are. Why do you think it might be cheaper to have their full inventory sent to a company in Italy and then have logistics handled there?

walshemj 6y ago
Italy is a center for leather working
- busterarm 6y ago
  Except the "working" part of it was already done in the UK here. It's literally stated in the first part of the article. And again, Italy has mass-imported Chinese immigrants to perform its textiles (and other industries') labor. Just because Italy is the "center for X" doesn't mean Italians are the ones doing X.
Hamuko 6y ago
I imagine it's cheaper if you do most of your sales in continental Europe and just sell some units in the UK. Would make more sense to just have one logistics center even if it results in some items being shipped back and forth.
- busterarm 6y ago
  There's no why in what you said, just stating the same premise that I did. Selle Italia happens to be located in northern Italy, where most of this immigration is concentrated. Granted it's in Veneto and the highest concentration is in Lombardia/Lombardy...but that region has half as many and they're right next to each other.
- rjsw 6y ago
  If you want something shipped anywhere you don't start from Italy.
  - busterarm 6y ago
    There's a lot of mental gymnastics people will do to not admit the only reason why anyone ever outsources anything: the labor is cheaper. Postage & Logistics are already robust industries in the UK.