Casall, the Swedish fitness brand, has set up a joint venture in the UK with its former distributor in the country, UK Red. David Osmond, owner of UK Red, has a stake of 9 percent in the Casall subsidiary, while the rest is in the hands of the Swedish company.
The change comes as Casall continues to expand across Europe and elsewhere. The company’s sales are set to increase by more than 20 percent for the financial year ending in August, to reach around 175 million (€19.0m-$26.2m) Swedish kronor. The buy-out of UK Red should enable the brand to turn the UK into its largest export market. As UK sales manager Casall has hired Nina Packman, who held the same position at Pure Lime, and is recruiting more staff to support the expansion.
At the same time Casall has picked Christophe Bourde, based in Bordeaux, as a sales agent in France, starting from June this year and replacing a small distributor. Arrangements have also changed in Austria, where Casall switched to Trend Sport, distributors of Descente and Giro, due to the retirement of its existing distributors.
A deal signed last year with Macalot, a leading apparel supplier in Taiwan, has led to the opening of three stores called Pica-Pica, which are shared between Casall and Pica-Pica, Macalot’s own sports fashion brand. The plan is to open about 20 of such stores in Taiwan, as a prelude to similar joint moves in China.
While Casall concentrates on women’s fitness apparel, it continues to sell small equipment and apparel ranges for other sports, led by golf and tennis. Next year the emphasis will be on running, which has been growing fast among women in most of Casall’s markets.
