Interesting article by Terry Goodlad.
http://www.bodysport.com/archives/2008/10_oct/SupplementGenius.htmlSupplement Genius Not So BrightBy Terry Goodlad Everyone's an expert, or so they would like you to think but in this case, Scott Welch who wrote a story posted on Supplement Genius.com, proved he's an expert at doing little more than spreading unsubstantiated gossip.
In an article Welch posted on September 27th he stated clearly and errantly that the biggest news at the Olympia expo was Europa Sports partnering with Amazon to sell supplements online, "IN THIS PARTNERSHIP, EUROPA WILL HANDLE ALL ORDER FULFILLMENT FOR ANY SUPPLEMENTS SOLD ON THE AMAZON.COM WEBSITE. THIS WILL ALLOW AMAZON TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE PRICE THEY CHARGE FOR SUPPLEMENTS ONLINE BECAUSE THEY WILL ESSENTIALLY JUST BE A STORE FRONT FOR EUROPAS INVENTORY."
Then they went on to state, "ONE INSIDE SOURCE TOLD THE SUPPLEMENT GENIUS: AMAZON AND EUROPA WANT TO GO HEAD-TO-HEAD AGAINST BODYBUILDING.COM. OF COURSE, BODYBUILDING.COM IS THE LARGEST ONLINE SUPPLEMENT RETAILER IN THE WORLD AND IS BECOMING AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE AS MORE AND MORE CUSTOMERS ADAPT TO BUYING THEIR SUPPLEMENTS ONLINE. TAKING THEM ON WILL BE ONE HELL OF A CHALLENGE."
While Amazon is definitely getting into the online supplement sales business and Europa will be supplying them product...because that's what Europa does with all of their thousands of customers both online and storefront retailers, they are a SUPPLEMENT DISTRIBUTOR after all, they are not partnering with anyone and certainly not doing fulfillment for Amazon. The errant Mr. Welch failed to confirm the gossip he had heard but made it public anyway. I guess the truth doesn't matter much to Welch or the website he works for.
We contacted Eric Hillman of Europa sports with one simple phone call, it took only a few minutes, and got the following statement from him, "Amazon is one of Europa's customers, so is Bodybuilding.com and many other internet retailers. We do not provide fulfillment for Amazon however we do provide a fulfillment service for many of our other customers." Hillman further clarified the booth space Amazon had at the Olympia Expo, "Amazon's booth space was provided and arranged by Weider Publications, not Europa."
Hillman was aware of the article written by Welch and was disturbed by the completely incorrect facts and assumptions made by Welch and that no one contacted him before posting an incorrect story about his relationship with Amazon, "Its a shame no one ever asked me what the relationship between the two companies is or at very least tried to contact me before they wrote what amounts to inaccurate gossip."
Many of Europa's clients are concerned over the story including Bodybuilding.com. Europa has a strong relationship with Bodybuilding.com and has already spoken with Jeremy Deluce to apologize for the misrepresentation that was made by Welch.
Hillman and Europa got to be the biggest supplement distributor in the world because he and everyone connected with Europa have a reputation for strong business ethics, honesty, and fairness in the market place. They treat all of their customers well and are committed to the growth of their businesses regardless of the size. All of them get treated with the same courteous, professional, and fair manor.
Hillman is also a strong supporter of the industry and the athletes in a number of ways, most visibly by supporting shows like the Annual Europa Supershow in Texas as well as the new one that will be held in Orlando in April 2008. Behind the scenes they do much more to ensure the sport is strong and growing.
It's unfortunate that someone can write what amounts to unsubstantiated gossip and post it on their website about someone like Eric and Europa that run their business professionally and have it affect their business and reputation.
Unfortunately Mr. Welch and Supplement Genius.com was not so smart, or at least not very diligent or professional by not insuring the information they gave all of us was true.
