Imagine our surprise when the SNEWS® team raced by the Raichle booth at Outdoor Retailer and … Err, wait…weren't we the ones who just reported that Raichle was abandoning the North American market (click here to read)? Boy, if that little end cap booth didn't make us trip on the carpet. The long and short of is that Kneissl-and-friends, Raichle's parent company, was too caught up in its own internal reorganization to respond to calls and emails we sent. However, rest assured that Raichle is not abandoning the market Klaus Brandstaetter, Raichle's new CEO told SNEWS®. "Our first task is to name a new distributor in the U.S., and our second is to work very hard to build up the brand image again because it has suffered very much over the last few years," Branddstaetter told us. "We will name a distributor of our footwear in the U.S. soon," said Brandstatter. "That relationship will be a long-term one that allows us to focus on the business we do well, which is make footwear, and allow the distributor to do what they do well, or sell our products." Brandstaetter also told us that Raichle would likely be expanding its business with REI. For more information about Raichle and its U.S. plans, email Brandstaetter directly at klausb@raichle.com.