BENETTON TO RELOCATE MUCH OF ROLLERBLADE TO NEW JERSEY

          Over the "next several months," corporate owner
     Benetton Sportsystems "will shift the bulk" of MN-based
     Rollerblade's "administrative departments" to its Princeton,
     NJ, N.A. headquarters, according to Jennifer Ehrlich of
     MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL CITY BUSINESS.  The 280 employees at
     Rollerblade's MN office "are expected to lose their jobs,"
     and sources within the company "say the only Rollerblade
     employees who will hold on to their positions are a handful
     of people who will staff a new corporate office in
     Minneapolis," which will serve as the sales and marketing
     arm of the company.  Benetton's decision to "essentially
     scrap" Rollerblade as an "autonomous" company "came as no
     surprise to analysts who have predicted a wave of industry-
     wide consolidation."  Benetton "plans to cut costs" by
     taking over Rollerblade's finance, accounting, credit, human
     resources and information services departments that were in
     the MN offices (CITY BUSINESS, 11/3 issue).