Diadora is reshuffling the distribution in Germany. Since July 1, the Italian brand has been handling the distribution of non-cycling products directly, after a two-year period in which they were stocked and sold by Grofa Sport & Fashion, its long-time distributor for cycling shoes in the country. The sales agents who worked for Grofa are now on Diadora’s payroll; deliveries and the billing will be handled through the Italian headquarters, but Grofa will still take care of deliveries for Fall/Winter 2008-09.
According to Uwe Reichelt, Grofa’s manager in charge of Diadora, the growth of the brand in the country exceeded the capacities of a local distributor, justifying the move. Besides, Diadora is planning to make an investment in a first-division football team to support the brand’s image in Germany, where it wishes to expand also in tennis and running.
Grofa Sport & Fashion will continue to distribute Diadora’s bicycle shoes as well as Starshot, a brand of fashionable bike apparel and accessories. Its parent company, Grofa House of Brands, will put its focus on the distribution of bike parts and related products, including brands such as Giro, Bell, BMC and Look.
Meanwhile, Diadora has opened a new and larger office in Hong Kong under the name Diadora Asia Pacific to coordinate all its sourcing, sales and retail activities in the region. The new office will work closely with Winor International, Diadora’s new Chinese joint venture with Win Hanwerky for China, Hong Kong and Macau (SGI Europe 19-13+14 of Apr. 18). It will also handle the production in the Far East of sneakers under contract with of some Italian fashion brands such as Giorgio Armani.
The Hong Kong subsidiary will take care of a limited series of shoes and clothing co-branded with McDonald's under a new contract that makes Diadora as the official supplier of all the employees working in the 330 locations of the fast-food chain in Italy.
Because of its relatively small size, Diadora was left out of our annual branded athletic footwear chart in the last issue of SGI Europe. Excluding licensees, the company’s footwear sales rose last year to €62.4 million from €57.5 million in 2006. Sales in Europe increased to €47.0 million from €42.6 million. U.S. sales went up to the equivalent of €8.2 million from €8.0 million.
