While it continues to expand in Europe, Skiset is moving into the American market. The leading French organization for rental ski stores is setting up a subsidiary in Colorado, targeting 70 members for 2009, and 160 members in the second year.
Skiset hired Tony Lyle, former sales and marketing manager of the Vail resort in Colorado, to head up the business. In three to four years, it wants to cover about 300 out of the 400 ski resorts in the United States and Canada, using the same formula as in Europe.
Skiset has achieved its French leadership through exclusive deals with tour operators such as Pierre & Vacances and Travel Horizon, along with fast-growing pre-sales on the internet. Another large share of its sales is derived from special coupons handed out by hotel partners to incoming tourists.
The plan for the first year in the American market is to recruit members, to set up deals with tour operators and to start trading through the internet. In the second year Skiset will start negotiating purchases with suppliers on behalf of its members. Skiset decided to invest in this American business after an inspection of resorts revealed that there were no large-scale rental organizations operating in the region.
Meanwhile, Skiset is moving ahead in Austria, where it will have 135 members for the start of the next season. Then comes Italy with 120 stores and Switzerland with about 90 stores. It has a much smaller store count in Spain, Andorra, Germany, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic or in Slovenia, a country where it has just one member.
The organization is taking advantage of a strong shift from retail sales to rentals, and the growth of this business has turned Skiset into an influential buyer of winter sports equipment. Purchases reached 48,000 pairs of skis for France alone, and 75,000 pairs for all of Europe in 2008. Sales invoiced through the central organization reached nearly €29 million for the last season, but this is only a fraction of the sales of its members.
The organization claims that it controls about 40 percent of the French ski rental business, even though the market has seen the rise of several competing specialists. Skimium, a network of independent stores formed in 2006 with the support of Décathlon, has drawn about 100 independent stores. They do not have to pay an entry fee but have an obligation to order 15 percent of their products intended for sale from Décathlon, and the rate is placed at 20 percent for products intended for rental.
Ski Republic, another concept launched in 2007, is akin to low-cost ski rentals. Skis are offered at a much-reduced price, owing to a cheaper operating model that entails a different level of service. The company said it lifted its sales by 50 percent in the last season, but with only 25 stores. After they are rented to customers in Europe, its skis are recycled in Australia and other Southern Hemisphere countries.
