Ten years after the start of its low-priced Stadium Outlet concept, Stadium has decided to open its first two stores in Norway based on this format during the autumn. The move appears to be logical in a country where prices are generally higher than in Sweden, driving other retailers and several brands to open up outlets, some of which feature goods from previous seasons.
Stadium Outlet is a concept for sports and sports fashion with constantly low prices and free returns in the stores. Apparently, surplus merchandise from previous seasons is not sold in these stores, in contrast with the typical factory outlet store. According to the company, the range consists of branded and unbranded products sold at prices 40 to 70 percent lower than those of corresponding products on the market. Stadium Outlet is a company in the Stadium Group with a separate organization and its own buyers, who buy larger batches of products in order to price them at low levels.
According to the Norwegian sporting goods industry association, Sportsbransjen, the outlet business as we generally define it generated sales of about 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner (€149.7m-$164.2m) last year in a country where the total sporting goods market was worth NOK 20 billion (€2.0bn-$2.2bn), recording higher revenues. A new dedicated chain, Sport Outlet, raised its sales by 56 percent to NOK 760,000 (€75,862-$83,203) in 2018.
Coupled with the sales of mono-brand stores, many of which sell their products in the Oslo Fashion Outlet and the Norwegian Fashion Outlet, the combined business grew by 27.5 percent to NOK 2.89 million (€0.29m-$0.32m).
The sales floor in the new Norwegian Stadium Outlet stores will measure around 1,500 square meters. The ranges will be similar to those of the Swedish and Finnish Stadium Outlet stores and online in the two countries, with some adaptations for the Norwegian market. Located in Kristiansand and Moss, the first two Norwegian Stadium Outlet stores will be the 55th and 57th within the Stadium retail group. According to Sportfack, they have been very successful under the management of the unit's chief executive, Anders Bejsy, but he is leaving the company at the end of October after ten years in the post and 16 years with the company.
Daniel Löfkvist, who is currently Stadium's country manager for Sweden, is taking his place. He has worked for Stadium for 20 years as a store salesman, as store manager in Sweden and Denmark, as an official responsible for store development, new markets and specialty stores, as well as sales manager.
