Salomon is raising its investments in retailing and the road running market after a sales increase of 1 percent to €861 million last year, up by 3 percent in constant currencies. The moves come amid significant cutbacks in distribution that have reduced footwear sales in the last months, as described above.
Salomon's sales growth last year was supported by outstanding weather conditions and a buoyant alpine skiing season, but the reported growth was reduced by unfavorable exchange rate changes, since the U.S. is Salomon's largest market. The brand generated sales of about €117 million in the country last year, ahead of €101 million for France and €90 million for Germany. About 68 percent of Salomon's turnover comes from Europe, compared with 23 percent in the Americas and 9 percent in Asia-Pacific.
The investments in own retailing have led to the opening of the brand's first standalone store in Paris in April. The company says that other openings are in the works in the largest European markets, but locations have yet to be confirmed.
Salomon already has about 90 own stores and 100 partner stores. Business to consumer sales account for about 12 percent of the group's global turnover. It has been updating its retail concept in some of the locations, such as its flagship partner store in Chamonix, in alignment with the brand identity launched in 2016 around the Time to Play concept.
Covering about 194 square meters in the Latin Quarter, the Paris store sells the entire Salomon product range, including the S/ Lab concept of customized footwear. The company is also turning the site into a starting point for various events, such as urban runs and product tests.
As previously reported, the move into road running should help to extend Salomon's reach in the specialty footwear market, where the brand is already strongly established as the market leader for trail running. Salomon says it has garnered favorable reactions to its Sonic Running Avenue concept, which was launched in 2017 but expanded this year and was taken up by about 400 European specialist stores.
The company emphasizes that Salomon is taking time to build up recognition among specialist retailers and in the road running community. This is done with initiatives such as the brand's participation in the Salon du Running in Paris in April, and 21 Aperun events organized between May and June, each of them intended to bring together about 1,000 core consumers and influencers. Salomon has worked out an all-year testing plan at its Paris store as well, starting in June.
Jean-Marc Pambet, Salomon's president, indicated last year that the brand's annual footwear sales should reach about €500 million, compared with €150 million for apparel. Roughly half of these footwear sales came from the trail running category and the remainder from other outdoor footwear, but Pambet predicted that road running could start making a sizeable impact on the brand's sales from 2020 to 2025.
