Despite a recovery in the Swedish economy, 2011 was the worst trading year since 1996 for Swedish sporting goods retailers. After several years of excellent growth, sales slowed down. According to HUI Research, the sporting goods retailers' turnover amounted to 21.7 billion Swedish kronor (€2.4bn-$3.1bn), a drop of 0.9 percent compared to 2010. At constant prices, it increased by 1.7 percent, however.
It may seem strange that a good Swedish economy does not go hand in hand with increased retail consumption. However, Jonas Arnberg of HUI Research explained that during the financial crisis of 2008-2010 consumption in the retail sector was stimulated by interest rate cuts and government tax credits. While Sweden's GDP fell by 6 percent during this period, retail sales increased by 3.5 percent.
Mild weather conditions were probably a major cause for the overall decline in value, especially in the first two months and the last three months of the year. In 2010, the second half had benefited from good winter weather and a general trend toward healthier lifestyles, in spite of the economic recession.
For the sporting goods sector as a whole, HUI research predicts positive growth for 2012. In January of this year the negative trend reversed and a double-digit sales increase was seen compared to January 2011. While Europe is re-entering a recession, consumer confidence has been strengthened and the Central Bank of Sweden has indicated that interest rates will be lowered.
While retailers posted negative results in 2011, suppliers for the Swedish sporting goods industry showed growth of 5.9 percent, according to Sportfack, which attributed the success to the fact that sporting goods retailers boosted their inventories last year in the hope of another good winter season. Another reason was an increase in the number of major retailer accounts; with Usports and XXL Sport new on the Swedish market. A third factor was a continued increase in online sales of sporting goods.
According to Sportfack's findings the top sporting goods supplier in Sweden for 2011 was Adidas with sales of SEK 890 million (€98m-$126m). Nike Sweden came in second with sales of SEK 684 million (€75m-$97m) and Puma Nordic was in third place with sales of SEK 419 million (€46m-$59m). The highest increase in sales among the major suppliers went to Trek with a growth of 358 percent.
In terms of sales outside Sweden, Fenix Outdoor recorded the highest level among Swedish-based sports companies with SEK 983 million, followed by Peak Performance with sales of SEK 762 million.
