Helped by a strong Norwegian economy and the fact that sports remain very fashionable right now, leading Norwegian sporting goods retailers again delivered record results in the 2007 calendar year, according to a periodic estimate by Sportsbransjen, the Norwegian association of sporting goods vendors and retailers.
Compared with the previous year, their sales of sporting goods grew by 13 percent to more than 9 billion Norwegian kroner (€1,123m-$1,756m) before VAT in 2007, after a sales increase of 10.4 percent in 2006 to NOK 8 billion (€998m-$1,560m). None of the larger retail players saw a drop in sales last year, despite difficult sell-out in 2005-06 for family and cross country ski products. Out of the 2007 total revenues, about NOK 8 billion were generated by retail chains and buying groups, and the remaining NOK 1 billion (€125m-$195m) by independent stores not affiliated with any group. A relative newcomer, XXL Sport, had the most impressive growth, raising its turnover by 19.8 percent to NOK 728.5 million (€90.9m-$142.1m).
The growth can be attributed to some ironical weather factors. In the first quarter, sales of ski apparel rose sharply as consumers used outdoor wear to cope with wet weather conditions. Then, as the snow melted, bicycle sales started earlier than usual, even before the second quarter, leading to an estimated 30 percent increase in turnover in this category during the year. Lastly, winter sports sales started early after the snow fell heavily in November, making up some of the losses in the first quarter.
G-Sport, the franchising chain run by Gresvig, saw huge growth, with a 12.5 percent increase in turnover to NOK 2.3 billion (€287m-$449m), representing almost 40 percent of the sporting goods market. Intersport is still the country’s second-largest sports retail chain after G-Sport, and reported a 13 percent higher turnover of NOK 1.3 billion (€162m-$254m) through its retail members during the period. Both chains are serviced by Gresvig, which last June acquired an integrated retail chain, Sportshuset, whose sales grew by 5.4 percent to NOK 303 million (€37.8m-$59.1m) in 2007. That makes a total turnover of NOK 3.9 billion (€487m-$761m) in the sporting goods sector for Gresvig, which pulled out of the Oslo stock exchange in mid-2006 following its merger with Voice Norge, a big apparel retailing group with annual sales of more than NOK 1.4 billion (€175m-$273m).
Sport 1, the buying group acquired by Gjelsten Holding last year (see story on them in the last issue of SGI Europe) had flat sales of NOK 1.3 billion (€162m-$254m) after losing the Anton Sport business in the Fall of 2006. The members of another buying group, MX Sport, had 11.1 percent higher turnover at NOK 730 million (€91m-$142m); Stadion had 8.5 percent higher revenues at NOK 571 million (€71.3m-$111.3m). The Coop saw only 1 percent growth in its sporting goods sales to NOK 437 million (€54.5m-$85.2m).
The sell-out for this past winter’s ski business is reportedly not going to be good in the family segment, which represents 30 percent of the ski market. The cross-country segment will also suffer as some of the warmest temperatures were recorded this February in Norway since 1990, with average temperatures 4.6°C higher than normal. Even if it has not been possible to ski in and around Oslo as many are used to do, activity has been almost normal at nearby mountain ski stations, which attract the Alpine skiers. Cross-country represents about 30 percent of the total ski market in Norway.
