Intersport Eybl, the large Austrian sports retail chain, has big ambitions for its private label of outdoor and winter sports products, Seven Summits. It has announced plans to sell the brand outside its home market through distribution partners in other countries. Officially, the company said that it would be interested in bringing Seven Summits into Italy and Germany, but, according to company officials, there are currently no precise plans for market entry into any specific country.

The situation is different in Switzerland, however, where Intersport Eybl has sealed an agreement with a local agency effective with the 2012-13 winter season. Seven Summits' new partner there is PurBenefit, a company that was recently started up by an authority in the market with more than two decades of experience in wholesale distribution in Switzerland: the man, Rico Dürst, used to be the chief of Burton Snowboards in the country and later on ran a distribution company, New Sunsport Goods, which carried a couple of brands such as New Balance. Simultaneously, he created an outerwear brand, Storm, which was followed by another one, Outlyne, from which he walked away last spring.

PurBenefit was created in December also to support the Icelantic brand of freeride skis. Dürst emphasizes that PurBenefit's work on Seven Summits is by far more than an agency job. He sees the project as a modern way of distribution since his company's work will not just be selling in return for commissions. The agency will also take care of all necessary steps to set up an attractive image for the brand as part of a more complete package of services, including distinct pricing and the preparation of the brand for countries which are non-German speaking as is partially the case in Switzerland.

Dürst will take advantage of Eybl's marketing and merchandising power, which includes the establishment of shop-in-shops and other tools that are already in place at Eybl's own big stores in Austria. In the long run, Dürst sees a potential for Seven Summits to service between 60 and 100 Swiss retail customers.

Launched in 2007, Seven Summits has reached an annual retail turnover of €16 million, which is quite impressive for a start-up of that type.