Animal, the British action sports brand, is multiplying store openings in the UK and in several other European countries, while expanding its wholesale business through the launch of a secondary brand, Elements, described as a transition range. Elements has just been launched in Animal’s own stores and it should be offered at wholesale from next year.
The Elements range is meant to bridge the gap between the Spring and Winter seasons with functional and outdoor products that are sold throughout the year. For the time being the range consists exclusively of apparel, but footwear and equipment are likely to follow.
Animal has been growing at a brisk pace since fresh management stepped in 5 years ago under the leadership of John Stockton, former general manager of Head’s British subsidiary. The company reached sales of about £50 million (€72m-$89m) last year, up by about 20 percent.
The Animal retail chain already boasts more than 50 stores in the UK - 5 of them owned by the company and the others run by four partners. The retail business makes up roughly 30 percent of Animal’s turnover, and store sales increased by nearly 15 percent on a same-surface basis last year.
The expansion continues this year with the conversion of 5 stores in the South-West of England that belonged to Ocean to Earth, a small retailer that was bought by Animal when it went into court-supervised administration last year. Two stores of more than 3,000 square feet were inaugurated in Manchester and Liverpool earlier this year, and another 10 somewhat smaller stores are due to start trading before the end of 2006.
The company sees plenty more scope for expansion outside the UK as foreign sales make up just 12 percent of its turnover. In Spain, now the brand’s largest export market, Animal is deepening its partnership with its long-time distributor, Canary Top Sport, to open another four stores in the country. It already has one in Las Palmas, but a second outlet will be opened in this location and another three inaugurations have been scheduled in Fuengirola, Bilbao and Tenerife.
As for the French market, Animal decided to terminate its distribution deal with Loisirs Distribution in November and to cover it alone. The company is looking around for locations to open stores in the Alps, and particularly in Chamonix, where some of its partners are based.
The Benelux is another market where Animal is pushing ahead, with a store opening scheduled in Antwerp in July. Banaline, the brand’s Belgian distributor, otherwise known for its children’s and women’s shoes, had already opened a store in its home town of Bruges. At the end of last year it appointed agents to cover the Dutch market as well.
Further away from its head office in Poole, Animal has entered a distribution agreement in Singapore, which will lead to the opening of a store in the Raffles Mall in July, and it is preparing to issue a license for the Australian market. The two deals are seen as opening moves to expand further into Asia. Another agreement was concluded in Dubai with Sun & Sand, Nike’s distributor in the region, and it should lead to the opening of some more Animal stores.
