A legal dispute is likely to emerge around the ownership of the Sports World name, as a Dutch retailer is seeking expansion under that banner in the Netherlands and Spain. The Dutch Sports World claims that it has registered the name for the entire Benelux region, while the eponymous English company owns several stores in Belgium, which changed their names recently from Disport to Sportsworld.
The Dutch company’s lawyers have sent a letter on this issue to the English Sports World International, the acquisitive sports group owned by Mike Ashley, and both parties decline to comment on it for the moment..
The Dutch Sports World, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a spectacular party in Tiel this week, was established in 1996 by Inge van Kemenade, a former consultant for Intres, the Dutch buying group that runs Intersport in the Netherlands. Entirely owned by her, the business currently consists of 3 big superstores of about 6,000 square meters each in Rotterdam, Leerdam and Beuningen, selling a very wide array of sports apparel, footwear and equipment. The offering comprises accessories for secondary sports from ballet to boxing, and it varies from discounted goods to up-market products such as Rossignol’s Emilio Pucci skis and items from the Escada Sport line. The stores are fitted with restaurants and playing space for children, including video games.
The megastore concept is unique in the Netherlands, where local authorities have long hampered the development of any large retail outlets. Sportsworld is still hoping to open another 4 Dutch megastores in the mid-term, and it has scheduled the inauguration of a somewhat smaller store for children in Rotterdam next year. Called Sports World for Kids, this outlet will cover 3,000 sqm. just outside the Feijenoord football stadium, right across from a regular Sports World megastore.
Furthermore the company is venturing into Spain with a Sports World store of about 5,000 sqm. that is set to start up later this year in Marbella, right next to a Décathlon store. Spain was chosen for the relatively good health of its economy, and Marbella was deemed judicious due to the large number of Dutch people residing in the resort. A second Spanish Sports World store, measuring more than 6,000 sqm., may be opened in 2008 not far away, in Malaga.
