Runners Point, the German sporting goods retail chain, increased its total sales by 18 percent to about €197 million in 2012 compared with the previous year. This figure includes the Runners Point and Sidestep banners as well as the online business, operated by the Tredex company, and the franchised stores of Runners Point. On a same-store basis, sales were up by 8.9 percent. One driving force behind the increase was the development of Tredex, the online retailer in which RP holds a 75 percent stake. Its turnover soared by 63 percent to €21.9 million. Among the brick-and-mortar banners, the rather fashion-oriented Sidestep chain had especially good results. Its sales were up by 29.8 percent in total and by 13.1 percent on a comparable basis. The entire RP group has 208 corporate and franchised outlets. For the current year, Runners Point intends to open roughly 30 new doors with one highlight in April: The new shop format Runners Point World of Running will open in Wiesbaden, the capital of Hesse, on a selling surface of 500 square meters. At the same time, the retailer is still looking for new investors to help support the chain's expansive strategy financially. In summer of last year, the rumor came up that RP's majority shareholder, Hannover Finanz, an institutional investor, was willing to sell its 75 percent stake. Since then, there has been no news on potential investors who might be interested in stepping in.

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