Stronger integration between two French buying groups
Twinner France, a buying group with some 200 affiliated stores, has acquired a financial stake in another French cooperative, Les Pros du Sport, which counts 350 doors. The two networks had already signed a collaboration agreement in April 2010 to optimize their relations with their suppliers and to raise the volume of their joint orders...
Go Sport plans to launch a capital increase
The French Go Sport Group is planning to launch a capital increase of about €30 million to accelerate its recovery, which was halted last year by unseasonable weather conditions. The group saw its gross margin fall last year to 41.0 percent on slightly lower revenues of €680.4 million. It suffered an operating loss of €8.1...
Airbag saves snowboarder
Backcountry Access (BCA) has reached an extremely high level of awareness with a film broadcast on Youtube that has been viewed so far by no less than 730.000 people. The film shows an athlete, Meesh Hytner, taking part in a grassroots snowboard freeriding event and getting into trouble with loads of snow. The rider was caught...
Saucony and and other Collective brands expand internationally
The search for new investors is not preventing Collective Brands, the American multi-brand group, from accelerating its efforts to expand internationally: Saucony, its specialty brand of running shoes, has picked Tavistock Group Mexico as its new distributor for the Central American country. Tavistock, which operates through 160 business units in 15 countries, will also take...
The Chinese market is growing by 15.5%
In a presentation made on the eve of ISPO BEIJING, which opened today, Robbert de Kock, secretary-general of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI), outlined some of the key trends in the Chinese market. Based in part on research made by NPD and GfK, WFSGI estimates that the sporting goods retail market...
Strong start for ISPO BEIJING
At the opening press conference of the show in Beijing, Klaus Dittrich, chairman of Messe München, presented promising figures for the edition being held in the Chinese capital with an extended duration of four days from Feb. 22 to Feb. 25. As compared to last year’s three-day show, the number of exhibitors at ISPO BEIJING is...
ISPO helps collect money for conservation
The European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) says that it raised over €6,500 during the recent ISPO MUNICH show to support projects in 2012. The nonprofit organization collected €5,200 through the sale at its own booth of smoothies, sponsored by Nikwax, and the sale of goody bags, with which participants could pick up various items from...
Euretco is set to get the Dutch Intersport license
There is nothing official yet, but according to Dutch officials involved in the transaction, Euretco and Intres, the Dutch buying groups that run the Sport 2000 and Intersport banners in the Netherlands, respectively, have firmed up plans to retain Intersport as their only joint licensed banner if their intended merger is approved in the coming...
Fewer golfers in Europe
KPMG’s latest survey of golf participation in Europe found the first drop in more than 20 years. In 2011, there were 46,000 fewer registered golfers than the year before. The biggest drops came in the U.K. and Ireland, down by 42,700 (3.1 percent); Sweden, down by 21,000 (4.1 percent); and Spain, which lost 9,700 golfers (2.9...
PPR eyes €9.6 billion in sport & lifestyle revenues
Describing it as an “ambition” rather than a goal, the management of PPR told financial analysts last week that the group would like to reach a level of €24 billion in revenues by the year 2020, with 40 percent of that coming from its expanding sport and lifestyle division, whose brand portfolio now includes Puma, Cobra, Tretorn,...
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