The Annual General Assembly of SPORT 2000 International took place virtually on 19 May 2021. The Supervisory Board, the current composition of which has been confirmed, declared itself satisfied with the operating results for 2020 despite a slight decline in revenues. The sports retail organisation closed a year dominated by the pandemic with an adjusted gross retail sales figure of EUR 4.3 billion. The main areas of focus for the future will be the advancement of the digitalisation process, the roll-out of the multi-category format, the further expansion of ABSOLUTE, and the alignment of the SPORTS 2000 member countries.
At this year’s virtual Annual General Assemby, SPORT 2000 International looked back on a year full of highs and lows. Despite numerous challenges that taxed the flexibility and resilience of the entire sports retail sector on many levels, the international sports retail association was satisfied with the result. In 2020, the adjusted gross retail income generated by SPORT 2000 International from 3,615 locations in 22 countries (adjustment excluding Spain and Turkey) amounted to EUR 4.3 billion. This figure is almost 9.0 percent down on the previous year. “Considering all the challenges we faced last year, we are quite happy with the result. It shows that we did our homework in the past, which was to create a sound basis for SPORT 2000. Even though we and our retailers are still focusing on getting through this crisis, we have not stopped working on our strategy for the future. Times like these call for exactly this type of agility if we are to remain capable of action after the crisis,” says Margit Gosau, CEO of SPORT 2000 International and SPORT 2000 GmbH, in her positive review of the work carried out in recent months.
Following the complete repositioning of the SPORT 2000 brand and the strengthening of the brand core with the “human touch”, the revision of the visual brand concept marked another major step forward in the process of more closely aligning the SPORT 2000 countries. The summer season of 2022 will see the launch of a global brand campaign focusing on the establishment of a clear lead in sports performance and the strong positioning of the “expert with the human touch”.
Strategy 2021 – collaboration in strategic areas
For Gosau, the key topics are the further advancement of international digitalisation and ecommerce, the expansion of strategic partnerships, and the identification of new strategic business areas. Work is also continuing on the steady expansion of the international retail format ABSOLUTE and the official roll-out of the new multi-category format. “Our sights are set optimistically on the future. The goal of facilitating even closer cooperation with SPORT 2000 member countries and industry partners is common to all core strategic areas. With the close-meshed industry partnerships we have forged to date and our stable presence in Europe, we have already achieved a lot and been able to provide our retailers with the best possible support. We are continuing to build on this,” emphasises Gosau.
“Centre of excellence” – cooperation in the areas of digitalisation and winter sport
Intensive dialogue and cooperation across national borders provide enormous added value in many areas. SPORT 2000 will in future be using the “centre of excellence” approach to steer international cooperation on digitalisation projects and in the field of winter sports. A digitalisation and e-commerce task force has for example been set up to create synergies between the countries in these areas. The middle of 2021 will see the establishment of an international online platform which will ensure that customers are transferred easily and intuitively to the appropriate national platforms. Margit Gosau mentions the category management format newly established in the winter sports segment as another example of cross-border cooperation: “Since last season, a cross-border team managed by the category management division in Austria has been integratively handling our winter business at the international level. This means that the team’s valuable resources are also flowing into SPORT 2000 GmbH’s core markets, Germany, Switzerland and Benelux.” Additional centres of excellence are planned for the future.
Maximum specialisation with international retail formats
The umbrella organisation’s central tasks include the promotion of international retail concepts. Five ABSOLUTE Run and seven ABSOLUTE Teamsport stores have been opened since the ABSOLUTE premium format was launched two years ago. Operations are set to expand to Hungary, Switzerland and the Benelux countries. The international multi-category retail concept completed one year ago is also to be launched in France and Belgium in the summer and autumn. “The development of the ABSOLUTE concept has continued internationally over the last two years despite the pandemic, with one Absolute Run store being opened in the Dubai Mall and several stores being opened in Germany. Other ABSOLUTE openings are in the pipeline, and we look forward to launching our multi-category concept for the first time in autumn,” said Gosau with regard to the next steps in the roll-out of the retail formats.
Supervisory Board confirmed by re-election
The re-election of Matthias Grevener as vice-chairman and Hans-Hermann Deters, Marius Rovers and Jean-Louis Parent as members confirmed that the Supervisory Board will continue in its current form. The Supervisory Board consists of the following members: chairman Dr Holger Schwarting, Austria; vice-chairman Matthias Grevener, Germany; Marius Rovers, Netherlands; Jean-Louis Parent, France; Hans-Hermann Deters, Germany.
SPORT 2000 International
SPORT 2000 International is Europe’s second-largest association of independent sports retailers, with a membership of 3,615 businesses in 22 countries. In 2020, the sports retail organisation generated revenues amounting to EUR 4.3 billion.
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