Black Crows, the French freeride skiing brand, has raised €3 million to accelerate its expansion, as this category of the ski equipment business is drawing increased investment and expanding across international markets.
Based in Chamonix, Black Crows is among the most prominent brands in the freeride market, with a distinctive chevron design. Established in 2008, it boasts sales in the range of 10,000 pairs for the most recent season.
The brand already makes just over half its sales outside of France, mostly in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and Scandinavia, but the funds will be chiefly used to expand directly in the U.S. market. The company attended the Snowsports Industries America (SIA) trade fair this year and started selling to U.S. retailers on a small scale. Black Crows is to expand in this market with agents and leaning on local resources for marketing, but its U.S. strategy and marketing are to be driven from Chamonix.
Another project is the launch of an apparel range, for which Black Crows brought along a few pieces to Ispo Munich. The concept is to offer outfits that are made for active freeriders and with an outstanding design. Black Crows apparel has been ordered by ski shops in Val d'Isère as well as Colette, the Paris design boutique. The range is to be widened with garments for activities requiring distinctive functions, particularly back-country skiing.
The fundraising does not alter the control of the company, which is owned by private investors including the brand's three founders. Black Crows was set up by the pro riders Bruno Compagnet and Camille Jaccoux, along with the businessman Christophe Villemin, the company's president. They teamed up with Yorgo Tloupas, a creative director who turned the Black Crows chevron logo into a distinctive design item. The latest expansion drive is managed by Cedric Charbin, the company's chief executive since October 2013, formerly French country manager for Merrell.
Black Crows is among a flurry of relatively small brands that sprung up about ten years ago and stimulated the ski equipment market with an offering that mostly targets younger and active skiers. They are increasingly appreciated by specialist retailers who are searching for small brands with stable pricing.
Established brands such as Rossignol, Dynastar and Salomon have latched on to the trend with their own freeride ranges. Since the launch of the S Series combining freeride with back-country, big mountain and free touring three years ago, Rossignol increased its sales in the freeride market by at least 20 percent on an annual basis.
This category is expected by some suppliers to reach up to 10 percent of alpine ski sales in European countries where this practice is strongly established, such as France, Norway and some parts of Switzerland. Fifas, the French sports industry federation, estimates that freeride and back-country skis make up about 7 percent of the market for pairs. Their appeal is weaker in Germany and Austria, where the focus is on racing, but several freeride brands are currently targeting development in these countries.
Among them is Zag, another fast-growing French brand. It was launched in 2002 by Stéphane “Zag” Radiguet but it ran into trouble and was acquired in 2007 by investors around another rider, Franck Bernes-Heuga. Four years ago Zag Skis moved from Bourg St Maurice to Chamonix, and Radiguet split away from the brand.
Zag reached sales in the range of 5,000 pairs last year, about half of them in France and most of the remainder in Spain and Scandinavia. This year it terminated a distribution agreement to start exploring the German-speaking markets directly, and it already has about 50 accounts on board. At the same time Zag is intensifying efforts in other markets and targeting sales of about 10,000 pairs in three years' time.
About 60 percent of Zag's pre-orders for the upcoming season were generated by free-touring skis, which it regards as an important trend, requiring more lightweight products. Several other brands are moving in the same direction, arguing that participation in free touring is on the rise and that this category should be stimulated even more strongly in the coming years with the arrival of lightweight and releasable bindings for free touring.
Among the latest developments, Zag has come up with an app that allows skiers to easily locate their skis in the powder when they fall and the bindings snap. Some of the brand's skis for the 2016/17 season are to be equipped with a chip that connects to the app on the skier's mobile phone. The screen will indicate precisely where the skier should dig to retrieve his ski. The app is to be marketed by a separate entity, Z Safety, which will later develop other mountain safety products.
Movement is another specialist brand that could expand faster after its takeover a few weeks ago by Airesis, the Swiss holding company that owns a majority stake in Le Coq Sportif. As previously reported, Airesis bought a 92 percent stake in Movement Group, which has a turnover in the range of 15 million Swiss francs (€14.4m-$15.9m).
Faction already has wide distribution around European countries as well as North America, Japan and New Zealand. The Swiss brand, which will be ten years old next year, boasted sales of about 8,000 pairs for the recent season.
