The European license for Body Glove apparel and accessories has been attributed to the Blue Water Group, a Dutch company set up for this purpose by Marcel Sterk, former development executive at Nike Europe. The rights previously belonged to Pro Club Sports (PCS), a Dutch company that had a license for both apparel and hardgoods under the Body Glove brand, but went bankrupt earlier this year due to the failure of unrelated activities.
Blue Water Group, which is fully owned by Sterk, has the rights to sell the Californian water sports brand’s apparel in all of Europe and Africa, which was not previously included in the PCS package. The new company has taken over the production partnerships and orders made by PCS for Body Glove. However, it will entirely review the European distribution network set up in the last two years and strive to upgrade the positioning of Body Glove’s apparel, which had been at the lower end of the market.
Due to the demise of the previous licensee, Body Glove has lost some business in Europe for next year, but it expects to rebound thereafter, to achieve annual sales of €5 million in three years.
Based just outside Amsterdam, Blue Water Group operates with three employees. While Sterk manages the company, Alexandra Jackson, formerly with Nike and Bain & Company consultants, will take care of business development. Hessel de Gelder, who had been in charge of marketing and sales for Body Glove at PCS for the last four years, is taking up the same job at Blue Water Group. The launch of the company had been partly initiated by Rob van Ginkel, European manager for Body Glove, but he eventually decided to pull out.
Meanwhile, Body Glove said that another European license for hardgoods, comprising boards and wetsuits, would be given to Sport Dimension, the American company that already has the U.S. license for hardgoods. To cover mainland Europe, it will use the existing German distribution center of Stallion, an Asian company that has long been involved with manufacturing for Body Glove. Separately, Typhoon, a British distributor specializing in diving, will handle Body Glove’s hardgoods in the U.K. and Ireland.
