Did you hear?… Great Trango Holdings aquires e-Grips

Boulder-Col.-based Great Trango Holdings has acquired Boulder-based e-Grips, a maker of urethane climbing holds. Malcolm Daly, president of Trango, told SNEWS® that he began talking with Jessica Franco, e-Grips’ owner, last fall. “Four years ago, Ian Powell and Ty Foose, two of the best shapers and artists in the industry, started their own company. Ty left after a year or so to start his own company, Monolithic Structures, and e-Grips lay quiet.” However, demand for the durable holds remained high, he said. “Ty’s girlfriend, Jessica, kept getting phone calls from gyms, course setters, and retailers asking for e-Grips so she resurrected the company and ran it out of her house in a very low-key fashion,” said Daly. Franco will remain with the company as the product line manager, Daly told us. Foose and Powell will be the shapers. SNEWS® View: The addition of e-Grips to the Trango mix could certainly pump up Trango’s bottom line and provide cash-flow balance during the climbing market’s natural sales fluctuations. e-Grips will also open the door to the commercial or institutional side of the market allowing Trango to sell to such outlets as playgrounds companies, schools, and fitness centers.