Media Room

04/2018

SPORT 2000 International moves into the Belgian sports retail market with ANWR-Garant

In April 2017, SPORT 2000 International expanded to Belgium with their licensee ANWR-Garant. The first ten sports retailers are already trading under the SPORT 2000 brand after just one year.

SPORT 2000 International is strengthening its position as the leading buying group in the European sports retail sector. The ANWR-Garant Group has been a SPORT 2000 license holder in Belgium since April 2017. This strategic partner thereby expands an existing collaborative relationship. The ANWR Group is a licensee of SPORT 2000 with its subsidiaries in Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

 

“The ANWR Group is an experienced licensee with its 60 owner-managed sports retailers who cover the quality segment in the Belgian sports retail market. The buying group brings years of market experience for the successful realization of the SPORT 2000 concept,” says a delighted Margit Gosau, CEO of SPORT 2000 International, about the new partner for the Belgian sports retail market.

 

A synergistic Benelux solution is utilized for the organization of the collaboration. For instance, ANWR-Garant in the Netherlands, which has been a member of the SPORT 2000 buying group since 2013, looks after the buying and marketing functions due to the relatively small size of the Belgian sports market. ANWR-Garant Belgium meanwhile is responsible for market management and control.

 

Target: 25 to 30 SPORT 2000 shops in Belgium
The ANWR-Garant Group has been active in the country since 2010. The 60 independent sports retailers making up the Group in Belgium approve of the SPORT 2000 concept. Ten of these retailers have already opted for it and are making the SPORT 2000 brand visible in the Belgian sports retail market. The soccer specialists in particular are benefiting from the cooperation with their colleagues in other countries.

 

“SPORT 2000 International offers independent sports retailers the opportunity to be part of a strong buying group with a proven track record across Europe. Every single retailer can take advantage of the Group’s know-how, the brand, and especially its partnerships with top international brands,” says Bert Vanreusel, representative of the ANWR-Garant Group Belgium, highlighting the key benefits their 60 members are attaining from the collaboration with SPORT 2000.
 

Margit Gosau sees the collaboration as an opportunity to make the most of existing synergies to further consolidate SPORT 2000’s position as a leading European brand: “Together with the ANWR-Garant Group, we aim to get 25 to 30 Belgian sports retailers behind the SPORT 2000 concept in the medium term. This will be the next step to increase awareness of the SPORT 2000 brand across Europe and to strengthen our reputation as a reliable trade partner for the European business of many international top brands even further.”

 

Moving into the Belgian market represents another milestone on SPORT 2000 International’s successful course of expansion. The sports retailer group is looking for new partnerships, especially in the United Kingdom and Poland.

 

SPORT 2000 International
With 4,154 businesses in 25 countries, SPORT 2000 International is the second largest buying group of independent retailers in Europe. The sports retailer generated a total revenue of €3.6 billion in 2016 and employs more than 35,000 people.

More information is available at: www.sport2000.com 

 

Inquiries:                         Impuls Kommunikation | Barbara Lamb
                                                   barbara@impulskommunikation.at
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