The members and buying partners of Sport 2000 International had retail sales of around €5 billion in 2011, consolidating the group as the second-largest player on the European market, with an estimated market share of 13.8 percent. The sales were more or less the same as in 2010, although there was no major sports mega-event to push them up, but the members made more use of the organization for their purchases.
The turnover generated with the international range of products negotiated by Sport 2000 International grew by 20.6 percent. The group is not yet working with Nike for its international A-brand program, but says it is still working smoothly with major players such as the Adidas Group, Amer Sports, Asics and Puma. It started doing business last year at the international level with new suppliers, such as Fischer, and it is starting to work this year with The North Face.
The members and buying partners of Sport 2000 International had at total of 3,520 stores at the end of 2011 – 42 more than a year earlier. The stores had an average surface of 453 square meters and generated average sales of €1.42 million per store. That was not bad in terms of sales per square meter, but the figure would be lower without the contribution of Sports Direct International, which is still a buying partner as well as a shareholder.
No major changes have taken place in the membership of Sport 2000 International, which now has a presence in 25 European countries. However, Sportia of Finland has decided to quit the organization at the end of 2012 because its own retail members are reluctant to adopt the Sport 2000 banner.
The number of stores that have adopted the new Sport 2000 logo and corporate identity has grown to 750, about 200 more than one year ago. The total includes the first Sport 2000 store by the new licensee in Turkey, which was opened a few weeks ago in Diyabakir. The new corporate identity, which was first implemented five years ago, has been enjoying a particularly strong development recently in Germany, but also in Bulgaria and Greece under the impulse of the local licensees, Sport Depot and Hellenic Flame.
Holger Schwarting, a former executive of Nike and Sport Eybl who has been running Sport 2000 Austria since 2010, was elected as the new chairman of the supervisory board of Sport 2000 International at its annual meeting in Zurich a few days ago. He has taken the place of William Monti, who resigned as chairman of Sport 2000 France early last year. Representing the country, the new financial director of Sport 2000 France, Frédéric Dekeyser, was elected to the board.
At the meeting, Andreas Rudolf, managing director of Sport 2000 Germany and deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Sport 2000 International, made a plea for more binding purchasing solutions within the group, which is expected to propose new commitments on this issue with the A brands that work with it. Rudolf gave as an example the guidelines of the “Freetail Program” that he has introduced in Germany. Under the program, which has been adopted by 80 retailers, the participants make commitments in terms of shop design, personnel, electronic networking, business management, marketing and the selection of products in the areas of outdoor, running, team sports and other sports. In exchange, they get free consulting, free mystery shopping and other free services.
Schwarting did not attend the meeting, but his colleagues from Austria discussed the new central outlet center of their group, which started up on April 10. It stocks more than 50,000 items by 50 top brands on 2,500 square meters of retail space. Returned by the dealers after the season is over, they are sold out at uniform discounts of 30, 50 and 70 percent.
The delegates to the convention took the opportunity to visit Jelmoli, one the newest retail members of the group, which recently renovated the large sports section of its six-storey department store in Zurich.
