A shorty history of Sekine Canada Ltd.
Sekine Canada: timeline
- 1971 Sekine bicycle imports from Japan begin by HD Paul and Company.
- 1973 Sekine Canada Ltd. is formed.
- 1973 August first assembled bicycles from Rivers are shipped.
- 1974 55,000 bicycles assembled, half of what was projected. (Winnipeg Free Press 1978 May 31 )
- 1976 June – Bicycle frame manufacture begins. $750,000 expansion for frame building. (Winnipeg Free Press 1978 May 31)
- 1979 Sekine Industrial employees no longer working at factory. Some return to Japan and others stay in Canada. Production floor is almost dormant. (Winnipeg Free Press 1980 May 23)
- 1980 Feb – New ownership arrangement, 45% investors, 30% Federal Business Development Bank, 25% Sekine Industrial. (Winnipeg Free Press May 23)
- 1980 New bicycle model line up.
- 1981 June Oo-Za-We-Kwun Training Centre closes. (Winnipeg Free Press 1982 January 08)
- 1981 August 31 Sekine Canada Ltd. in receivership. (Winnipeg Free Press 1982 January 08)
- 1981 September – factory closes.
- 1982 January Bankruptcy.
Sekine Canada: The beginning
Sekine bicycles were a common sight in Western Canada in the late 1970s. They were about the first Japanese brand to become popular in Canada.
Why? Because Sekine bicycles were assembled in Canada from 1973 to 1981.
Sekine Canada Ltd. was formed in 1973 by Sekine Industries Ltd., Nagase and Company a Japanese trading company and D.H. Paul and Company, a Canadian distribution company.
Sekine Industrial supplied the bicycle manufacturing expertise. Nagase and company would handle exporting the bicycles from Canada into the USA. D.H. Paul and company would handle distribution in Canada.
Sekine Canada established a bicycle assembly factory at a converted Canadian Forces Base at Rivers, Manitoba. I visited this base while it was still active with the Canadian Armed Forces. More information on the base can be found at: https://militarybruce.com/a-history-of-rivers-air-base/
The base at Rivers is an odd place for a bicycle factory. The town of Rivers is 5 km away. These is nothing but farmland and farming all around. It is not a center of skilled labour.
How do you get the parts to the factory for assembly? Rivers is not a transportation hub and not close to a sea port. The Canadian National Railways main line went through the town of Rivers. There was a secondary rail line that went passed the base and a side track that went into the base.
There were incentives to setting up a factory at the base outside of Rivers. There were federal government incentives for renovating building at Rivers. There was housing available for employees at the base. The Oo-Za-We-Kwun Training Centre would assist in training workers and subsidize some of the trainees wages.
In 1972 there was a 25% tariff on imported bicycles and if Sekine Canada could get enough Canadian content in their product this would be an advantage.
This was going to be a business experiment as no other group had tried to do this.
There was risk involved in this enterprise.
The factory was established at the base at Rivers. The people at the factory produced a good product. Sekine Canada could sell every bicycle they made.
Sekine Canada: The end
For a variety of reasons the factory rarely met production projections. The operation at some point became under financed and loans were required. These were problems that the management had to address.
There were several external factors that hurt the factory. The federal government continually changing tariff policy made planning difficult. Increased bicycle manufacturing competition from within Canada. The inflation rate adding to high interest rates on loans. The closure of Oo-Za-We-Kwun Training Centre.
Ultimately the enterprise failed. Sekine Industrial appears to have realized by 1979 that the enterprise was not going to be successful and withdrew its managers and technicians.
A new ownership arrangement could not raise the necessary capital to finance production and pay back loans.
References
https://militarybruce.com/a-history-of-rivers-air-base/
https://www.nagase.co.jp/english/company/profile/
https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/archives/1973/04/1973-04-19-rivers_to_get_bicycle_plant.pdf