Officials of Intersport International Corp. (IIC) are reporting an exceptionally strong increase of 6.7 percent in euros at the retail level for the first six months of 2015. Separately, the international retail organization has announced the opening of the first of a new series of stores specializing in running and fitness products. Called Intersport Run & Fit, the 250-square-meter shop was inaugurated a few days ago in the Galleria shopping mall of St. Petersburg by Kesko, Intersport's licensee for Finland and Russia.
Branded products will dominate the ranges offered in Intersport Run & Fit stores, but there will also be some private label items among the textile products and the fitness equipment. In addition to various standard fitness activities, there will be special offerings for less conventional sports like yoga or Pilates. IIC will insist on the availability of well-educated and strongly involved salespeople for a maximum of service in an appropriate atmosphere.
Beside Intersport Run & Fit, IIC has also developed specialist store concepts in the team sports and outdoor categories, called Intersport Team Sport and Intersport Outdoor. At least 50 of these specialist stores, mainly Run & Fit, are expected to be opened by IIC's licensees or their affiliated retailers in 14 countries by 2019. Intersport's new licensee in Indonesia will be among the first operators of the Run & Fit concept in 2016. Kesko is envisaging the establishment in three years' time of at least ten Intersport Run & Fit stores in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Other Run & Fit shops are tentatively planned in Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain and Slovenia, among other countries.
Franz Julen, the chief executive of IIC, says these new technical specialty sport formats, which measure between 200 m² and 400 m², are particularly well suited for relatively small retailers and for city centers and shopping malls. He says they will nicely complement the more lifestyle-oriented format of The Athlete's Foot, the regular multi-sport Intersport stores of 600 m² and larger, and the 800-odd Intersport stores across the Alps that specialize in winter sports. They are generally called Intersport Rent because of their ski rental operations.
Interestingly, Kesko, which is now pioneering Intersport Run & Fit, was also the pioneer of Budget Sport, but that concept has not been widely adopted outside Finland so far, where it is now performing very well at ten locations. It was even discontinued a few years ago in Switzerland, after a large-scale trial. Intersport Run & Fit should enjoy a better roll-out, considering especially the growing popularity of the related sports activities.
Meanwhile, the strong momentum in running, fitness, outdoor and winter sports helped the international Intersport network to book a 6.7 percent sales increase in the first six months of this year, reaching a record level of €5.05 billion for the period, excluding TAF, which performed even better.
Winter sports products enjoyed a rally in the first two months of 2015 because of improved snow conditions. Sales of football boots were slightly up from the first half of 2014, but the whole category will probably be down by between 10 and 15 percent for the full calendar year because of the absence of a mega-event like the Fifa World Cup and the related sales of replica shirts, official match balls and licensed products.
During the first half sales increased in almost every country covered by Intersport except Switzerland. They went up even in Greece. The strength of the Swiss franc continued to affect Swiss consumers' purchases in their own country, especially at the Intersport stores located near the border. At the same time, some of the 40+ Austrian, French and German Intersport stores on the other side of the Swiss border performed extremely well, according to an Intersport official.
With regard to TAF, IIC is reporting a 9 percent sales increase in euros for the first six months of 2015. In local currencies, the growth was even close to 20 percent, thanks in part to the conversion of 53 former Coach stores in the Netherlands to the TAF format in March.
Last week, TAF launched its new global website, which will replace previous local sites. IIC officials say it was designed with a modern, fresh look and approach to cater for young, technical-savvy and “mobile first” consumers.
As we have already reported, TAF will enter Algeria in the next few weeks. It will also re-enter Russia in December, followed by France, Ireland and Italy in the spring of 2016.
