The ANWR Group, the big international cooperative of independent retailers based in Mainhausen near Frankfurt that controls Sport 2000 and other franchised chains in various countries, proudly boasted an increase of almost 54 percent in its total business volume to €14.6 billion in 2019. The year marked the 100th anniversary of the retail organization as well as the exit on Nov. 30 of its chairman and chief executive, Günter Althaus, after ten years at its helm.
The strong growth was mainly due to the development of the group’s financial services. The business volume of its two financial services companies specializing in bank-supported central settlements and factoring, the DZB Bank and Aktivbank, jumped by around 75 percent to €11.6 billion. This was mainly due to Aktivbank’s acquisition last June of the central settlement business of VR-Leasing.
Frank Scheuffelen, the executive board member responsible for finance and corporate development, stressed that ANWR’s expansion in this segment is “consolidating the economic power, stability and thus the resilience of our Group in the long term.” The efficiency and profitability of its financial services is helping to support the retail members of the cooperative and provides a basis for further investments in its core business areas, he added.
The three areas in which ANWR specializes as a cooperative of retailers are footwear, leathergoods and sporting goods, and the volume of centralized settlements carried out by the group in these areas followed different dynamics last year. In the footwear sector, where the group operates through sub-groups such as ANWR Schuh, Garant, Rexor and Quick Schuh, the volume declined by 1.5 percent but remained above €1.5 billion. Centralized invoicing for leathergoods fell by 1.7 percent to €107 million.
On the other hand, centralized settlements in the sporting goods sector increased by 9.6 percent to almost €1.3 billion. ANWR operates in this sector mainly through retailers affiliated with Sport 2000 in Germany, Switzerland and the Benelux countries.
Looking at 2020, ANWR says it wants to strengthen its online retail platform, www.schuhe.de, and its control tool, Qualibet, and launch a similar online platform in the sporting goods sector. It plans to introduce a new concept for members of ANWR Schuh highlighting comfort and trendiness in footwear. It will also expand its showroom and office facilities in Mainhausen, setting up a new 2,500-square-meter building that sports brands such as Nike and Asics can use from the middle of this year to interact with ANWR members.
