Japanese-manufactured bikes succeeded in the U.S. market until currency fluctuations in the late 1980s made them less competitive, leading companies to source bicycles from Taiwan.
[citation needed] West Coast Cycle was founded by Leo Cohen Sr. and RosaBelle Cohen[2][3] who had previously been partners in Wheel Goods Corporation in Minneapolis, later moving to Los Angeles in 1946 to purchase an existing retail bicycle store, Atlas Cycle, renaming it Playrite Bicycle Supply Co..
They operated the company — widely known as West Coast Cycle (or WCC) – with their daughter Louise and sons Leo Jr. and Howie (Howard Sherwin Cohen).
Cohen also created working relationships with Japanese bicycle parts manufacturers including Asahi, Araya, Dia-Compe, Kashima, Kusuki, Kyokuto (KKT), Mikashima (MKS), Mitsuboshi, Taihei, Sanshin, Shimano, Sugino, Takagi, Suntour and others.
[1] Cohen travelled to Japan 8-10 times per year while developing his brands (American Eagle, Nishiki, Azuki and CyclePro).
Early promotional material for American Eagle and Nishiki lines often carried the tagline 'KB Bicycles' or simply 'KB' – signifying 'Kawamura-Built'.
International currency fluctuations in the late 1980s made Japanese-manufactured bicycles far more expensive and less competitive in the United States, leading WCC to move Nishiki production to Giant of Taiwan.
[4] Cohen later worked as a consultant in the bicycle industry for several companies, including Rotor Componentes of Spain,[4] and subsequently retired from Lomita, California[5] to Colorado where he and his wife, Kay (Kay Piercy Guithues Cohen)[5] catalogued his collection of bicycling memorabilia and maintained his website, HowieBikeMan.com.
When Howie Cohen died on July 11, 2013, Bicycle Retailer said he was "a hugely influential figure in developing the U.S. BMX market and arguably the first person to bring high-quality Asian-made bikes to America.
[6] From 1989 through 2001, Derby International marketed bikes in the United States under the Nishiki as well as Univega, Haro, and Raleigh brand names.
Currently (2013), Nishiki Europe, an unrelated group of European distributors markets bicycle models in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.