To help clear up some questions that may have arisen from Fred Rednor's somewhat cryptic post about VAR tools last night, I thought I should make some sort of an appropriate announcement. My wife MJ and I are the new owners of Mel Pinto Imports. This is something that's been the works, and sort of on-again-off-again, for a number of months. We finally reached an agreement, and officially settled a couple of weeks ago. Many of the people who attended NAHBS got our first public announcement.
We are obviously in the middle of a complicated transition, so I don't want to go into great detail right now, but I'll summarize as best I can, and provide more detail later. We are acquiring the corporation and it's name, accounts, inventory and much historic documentation, memorabilia, display items and, well, some oddities. In the way of a brief history, Mel Pinto Imports (MPI) was created by Mr. Mel Pinto in 1958, and rose to prominence as one of the premier bicycle and bicycle parts importers/distributors in the East (if not the entire country) by the early-to-mid 70's, especially for Gitane and all things French. Anyone that was even remotely involved on bicycles during the 70's bike-boom certainly knows of MPI and Mel Pinto. At one time he operated six warehouses and five dealerships. MPI has been in the existing, and last, warehouse since 1972. Mr. Pinto made an appearance at the Cirque last year, and is planning to be at the Cirque again this year. He is a very vibrant 85 years old, but has done little promotion in the past few years and has relied primarily on those who know him, and are patient enough to wait until they can get him on the phone. In fact, there are quite a few people who thought MPI had closed it's doors, or worse yet, that Mr. Pinto had died! Believe me, I've talked to a few.
Our plan at the moment is to streamline and modernize the operation to better serve the existing dealer base, and reach out to those dealers who may have thought MPI had curtailed operation. We will continue to provide the premier components, unusual and hard-to-find items and tools that MPI has been know for. We will be moving most of the contents of the warehouse into a new location in Purcellville, Virginia, but some will go into storage temporarily. As part of the MPI relocation, we will also be opening a small retail operation under the name Velo Classique, combining (at least in terms of space) my existing home-shop business with MPI. MPI has a good, albeit obviously finite, supply of replacement parts by Campagnolo, Simplex, Mafac, Huret, Weinmann, Modolo, CLB and others. There are also quantities, often small, but sometimes not, of unusual components and accessories. We will make these items available to the vintage/restoration market through Velo Classique.
Another thing MPI has been known for is as a supplier of VAR tools. There are even items in the existing inventory that VAR no longer even makes. MPI hopes to continue it's relationship with VAR and our support of VAR tools. I have been using VAR tools for a long, long time, and truly feel that they are some of the best bicycle tools on the market. As a very prominent frame builder recently told me, the good and bad of VAR tools is that they are great tools, but that they seldom break or wear out, so you usually only get to sell then to clients once! And, by the way, the VAR #425 tire lever system discussed earlier is still made in stock.
Obviously, it will take us some time to to get MPI moved, organized and fully operational. I know that that there are at least a few dealers (and MPI clients) on the CR list. To those I ask for your patience during the transition. We will be in touch more formally soon. We are currently in the process of building a new, more extensive and interactive web site, and more detail will in forthcoming the next few weeks. If there are questions regarding MPI, please contact:
info@melpintoimports.com
Thanks, and stay tuned!
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Wayne Bingham
Lovettsville, Virginia USA