Coolblue will sell bicycle helmets, CEO says after losing teeth in bike crash
Electronics chain Coolblue will start selling bicycle helmets, CEO Pieter Zwart announced on LinkedIn. He asked followers to recommend good helmets and brands, saying he made the decision after losing several teeth when he fell off his bike. The company's bicycle couriers will also be required to wear helmets moving forward.
“You won’t see me cycling without a helmet again,” Zwart, with visibly broken teeth, said in a video on LinkedIn. “Fucking dumb.”
Zwart acknowledged that many people don’t want to wear a helmet because they don’t want to look bad. But having no teeth is a much less pretty sight, he said.
“You can go to the gym every day or brush your teeth diligently, but if you don’t wear a helmet while cycling, not only will you have no teeth left, but you’ll also have a headache at 3:00 p.m., even six weeks later.”
The post received thousands of responses and nearly 500 comments. Among the well-wishers are also many bicycle helmet brands trying to get into the electronics chain.
Coolblue couriers were already required to wear helmets when making deliveries in Belgium and Germany, but not in the Netherlands, where there has long been resistance to helmet use for such a routine activity. After Zwart's fall, the retailer will also require deliverers to wear helmets in the company's home country.
