ROLLERBLADE SKATING TO NEW JERSEY AS MANY WILL LOSE JOBS

          Over the "next several months," corporate owner
     Benetton Sportsystems "will shift the bulk of Rollerblade's
     administrative departments" to its Princeton, NJ, North
     American headquarters, according to Jennifer Ehrlich of
     MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL CITY BUSINESS.  The 280 employees at
     MN-based Rollerblade Inc. "are expected to lose their jobs." 
     Ehrlich writes that 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).