Rucanor, the Dutch sports company, has obtained an agreement to distribute never-out-of-stock (NOS) ranges of products by Dunlop Slazenger to customers in the Netherlands and Germany. The deal was attributed to Rucanor because in 2006 it launched a remarked-upon NOS concept for its own customers around Europe.
Dunlop Slazenger’s offices and existing partners in the Benelux and Germany will continue to handle apparel and footwear deliveries and to service most of the larger equipment accounts in these countries, but Rucanor will take care of smaller orders and of some larger customers with whom it has established a strong relationship through its own NOS concept, such as the V&D department stores. Dunlop regards the agreement as a means to deepen its penetration of the Dutch, Belgian and German markets. The ranges under the contract include some Dunlop tennis and squash racquets, as well as a limited range of Carlton’s badminton products and specific hockey and cricket products under the Slazenger brand.
The goods will be delivered from Rucanor’s warehouse of 8,500 square meters in Moerdijk, near Rotterdam. The Dutch company is considering an expansion of this facility to cope with the extra assignment, which may be extended to other European countries over the next years. Rucanor, which describes itself as the company with the widest range of NOS products in Europe, has already been approached for similar assignments by other companies, but it will concentrate on Dunlop Slazenger for the time being. The deal is expected to lift its sales in Germany and the Benelux by about 15 percent.
