Previous estimates placed Dosenbach-Ochsner more or less on a par in the Swiss sporting goods market with the Manor Group of department stores, including its Athleticum specialty chain, and with the Migros cooperative, which has its own Sport XX stores. Dosenbach-Ochsner, the Swiss subsidiary of the giant German Deichmann shoe retailing group, is now claiming the leadership with total sporting goods sales of more than 400 million Swiss francs (€256.2m-$327.0m) in 2005, giving the group market shares of about 20 percent in value and 35 percent in volume.
Including street shoes and other products, Dosenbach-Ochsner reached total sales of 626 million SF (€401.0m-$511.7m) last year, up 14.9 percent from 2004. The total number of stores increased to 280 from 266. Aside from 100 Dosenbach Sport stores, which addresses the whole family, the group operates 59 sports specialty stores under the Ochsner Sport banner, offering a variety of products at attractive prices. It also has seven Sports Lab stores which sell sneakers and other lifestyle products by major brands for young fashion-conscious consumers. Ochsner Sport alone generated sales of 285 million SF (€182.6m-$233.0m) last year, up from 225 million SF in 2004.
On top of these doors the group operates a chain of shoe shops, Ochsner Shoes, which generated sales of 80 million SF (€51.2m-$65.4m) in 2005, and an unspecified number of regular Dosenbach shoe stores. The group claims the leadership also in the Swiss shoe market, at least in volume, with total sales of 8.6 million pairs in the past year, or 16.4 percent more than in 2004.
Antoine Fölmli, chief executive of Dosenbach-Ochsner, is anticipating a sales increase of about 8 percent to some 675 million SF (€432.4m-$551.8m) for the group this year, while raising the total number of stores to 310 units. Looking further into the future, the management sees a potential for three more Sports Lab stores and some 20 more Ochsner Sport units. Two of them will be converted this summer from the stores being taken over from another Swiss retailer, MP Finkbeiner. Two others will be located in the shopping centers being set up near the stadiums of Neuchâtel and St. Gallen in connection with the European Football Championships.
Furthermore Ochsner Sport has set up special “fan shops” in 25 of its stores throughout the country to sell replicas of the official uniforms of the members of the Swiss national football team competing in the FIFA World Cup. The collection, which was introduced on May 22, will also be available in 35 other Ochsner Sport stores and on the virtual store of the www.ochsner-sport.ch website. Ochsner Sport has been sponsoring the Swiss football federation, SFV, since 2003.
