The concept may be rolled out to other countries at a later stage. For the moment, generalist retailers affiliated with Sport 2000 in Germany who can demonstrate “qualitatively demanding standards” in the focus categories of outdoor, running, fitness or lifestyle can now become part of a new cooperation concept under the umbrella of the new ”Sport 2000 ClubHouse.”
At the start, these segments will be bundled into so-called “Clubs” – an Outdoor Club, a Running Club, etc. – following a multi-specialist positioning for generalist sporting goods retailers that is also being pursued in other countries covered by Sport 2000 International.
According to Sport 2000, 128 generalists have so far qualified for participation in at least one Club. The new evolution of the “club” concept aims to further enhance the shopping experience at multi-category Sport 2000 retail stores and to expand partnerships with key brands through more targeted product range profiling and other measures intended to make their specialization in certain segments more visible to the end consumer.
Running Club members must have equipment for gait analysis in their stores. Likewise, the members of a future Ski Club, which should be introduced in the next season, will have to offer a system for boot fitting.
Club members are provided by Sport 2000 with training and recommendations in the areas of purchasing, marketing, floor space allocation and personnel. The interests of the club participants are represented by Sport 2000 in a bundled manner toward the industry to make them more attractive to work with and to develop coordinated campaigns.
In Germany, club participants who meet the criteria to participate in at least two clubs additionally qualify to become members of the “ClubHouse,” an elevated format that offers them an exclusive and holistic additional portfolio of services, including access to a competitive basic package. The range of services is determined individually according to market positioning, profile sharpening, networking and end-customer focus.
In contrast with Club members, which can participate in the program without the Sport 2000 logo, ClubHouse members must display the Sport 2000 banner.
In developing the concept, Sport 2000 was able to draw on the experience accumulated from the successful development of its existing specialist formats, such as Outdoor Profis, Absolute Run or Teamsport Profis. “The new Club and ClubHouse concepts now offer the generalists the opportunity to position themselves as performance providers in their focus categories and also to source valuable service components from Sport 2000 to secure key competitive advantages,” said Margit Gosau, CEO of Sport 2000 GmbH and Sport 2000 International.
The introduction of the ClubHouse concept replaces a “Freetail” purchasing concept introduced in 2013, which aimed to motivate retailers to work more closely with the head office without giving up the individuality of the stores’ assortments.
