Sport 2000 in Slovenia has increased the retail turnover by 25 percent on a same-store basis since Mike Ashley, the energetic owner of the British Sports World group, took over a majority share in the company last May. His partner, Stojan Sopotnik, who owns the remaining minority share and is operationally running the company, is exploring a possible expansion in behalf of Sport 2000 into neighboring Croatia and later to Bosnia and Serbia.
Sopotnik currently has a network of nine Sport 2000 stores in Slovenia. A former distributor of Converse in the country, he set up the Sport 2000 franchise there four years ago with the financial backing of Elan, taking advantage of the opening of new shopping centers in the country. However, Elan, which also had its own shops, then made the strategic decision to get out of retailing altogether, forcing him to take over the majority, which he then resold to Ashley. Sopotnik remains a minority shareholder in Sport 2000 Slovenia.
Ashley’s involvement is described as mainly a financial investment. Sports World is already a shareholder of the international purchasing organization of Sport 2000, which it uses as a sourcing agent for the products sold in his various chains, including Sports Soccer. He has no stake in the marketing company of Sport 2000 International.
The agreement for the Balkans is part of a series of other license extensions that will help Sport 2000 to fill the white spots in its European coverage. In another move, the Sport 2000 licensee in Latvia, Sportland, has obtained rights for Estonia and Lithuania. Sportland will work with Sport 2000 and buy into its private labels for all three countries but may not use the banner, as it has established a strong reputation around its own three store formulas - Sportland itself, which concentrates on lifestyle products; 100% Sports, which sells performance-oriented sports products; and Netto Sport, a discount chain.
Sport 2000 International previously extended the rights of its Austrian licensee to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The Hungarian operation was taken over from Istvan Kun, who distributes an array of international brands such as Elan skis and Dalbello boots from the south of Hungary. The two other countries are uncharted territory for the second-largest German buying group. More extensions are in the pipeline for the Southeastern part of the continent.
Meanwhile, Sport 2000 Deutschland is continuing to make headway in Switzerland, where it has recruited 21 members so far. This tally is short of the target set by the buying group’s executives, who believed they would have at least 30 Swiss members by the end of last year. However, they are convinced that the largest hurdles have been overcome and that they will still reach their stated objective of 100 members after three years.
The delays are partly due to the fact that Switzerland is not part of the European Union, which caused unexpected practical problems. The German buying group also under-estimated the opposition of its prospective Swiss partners to the disclosure of necessary banking details. Still, the Swiss business is now up and running at last, with its own office and product presentations in Zurich.
The only major European market that remains uncovered by Sport 2000 is Poland, where the buying group is on the look-out for a suitable partner. As previously reported, Intersport has teamed up with one of the largest Polish chains, Maks, which boasted sales of about €22 million. Their mid-term target is to expand from 8 to 20 stores.
