Ochsner Sport, the leading sporting goods retailer in Switzerland, plans to open its first women-only store in Zurich next year. It also plans to branch out into e-commerce. Meanwhile, it is developing a special network of Ochsner Sport Clubs organizing several sports events for its members. Membership is free and is connected with a bonus system
These and other plans were divulged in an extensive report that appeared in Schweizer Sport + Mode in connection with the celebration of 50th anniversary of the chain, which was founded by a shoe retailer, Max Ochsner, in 1961.
The Ochsner Sport chain, which plans to raise the number of its stores from 92 to 96 in the course of this year, reached sales of 426 million Swiss francs (€341.4m-$486.1m) in 2010, 6 percent more than in the previous year. It belongs to a group, Dosenbach-Ochsner, which is also Switzerland's largest shoe retailer with sales of 12.8 million pairs per year. The whole group saw its sales grow by 7.6 percent to CHF 949 million (€760.6m-$1,082.9m) in 2010. Besides Ochsner, the Dosenbach shoe shops sell more than CHF 100 million (€80.1m-$114.1m) worth of sports shoes and other sporting goods annually.
Ochsner Sport had only six store 25 years ago. It was taken over in 1992 by the German Deichmann group, which provided the funds for its strong expansion. Ochsner left the Intersport buying group in the same year.
