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Johnson purchases Seemann Sub
After about ten years, Robert Stoß has sold the diving-supplier Seemann Sub. The German company has been purchased by the North American sporting goods company Johnson Outdoors. Johnson, former owner of outdoor-supplier Jack Wolfskin, already controls the diving brand’s Scubapro and Uwatec. The distribution of both brands should be integrated in the distribution of Seemann Sub in Wendelstein/Germany. Robert will remain General Manager.
Cybex: New General Manager for Europe
Burkhard Lüben (Hamburg/Germany) took over the Europe-wide distribution of the North American fitness-specialist Cybex (Medwey/Massachusetts). The studio-supplier, which joined the consumer business in the USA last year, will soon offer in Germany home trainers in the high-end sector.
The 50-year-old Burkhard Lüben knows the fitness market very well: He was General Manager of Life Fitness Europe for approximately ten years, before he changed to Johnson Health Tech. Germany, where he was responsible as Sales Director for studio trainers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Lüben takes over the business of his predecessor Howard Davis, who got into retirement.
Mammut: First shop in Germany
Swiss mountaineering-supplier Mammut has opened its first Germany-wide Mammut-store in Kempten (Bavaria). The shop is centrally located, covers 150 square metres and should offer a wide product range of the sectors alpine, outdoor, and snow, which probably means goods of the three own brands Mammut, Raichle and Toko.
Ernst Schweble, general manager of the Mammut-Sports-Group Germany, declared that the first Mammut-store is a further step in the success history of the company. Kempten was elected as the location of the first shop because the affinity to mountaineering there very big. The store is not operated by Mammut Sports Group itself, but by local retailers.
Planet Sports expands in Europe
The board sports retailer Planet Sports located in Munich is pushing its international mail-order business. A five-lingual homepage will be activated soon.
Up to now, its board sports and street wear was offered exclusively on the website planetsports. de. In line with an internationalisation strategy, European consumers will have the possibility to shop in German, English, Spanish, French, and Italian. In order to publish the business internationally, the marketing should be aimed at that; Planet Sports counts especially on the search engine marketing. The Bavarian company took over about 5.5 million in 2006, 79 % of the mail-order business.
EU gives the mail-order dispatchers a hard time
The European Commission wants to strengthen one more time the rights of the consumers and aims now at the mail-order dispatchers with the so-called “consumer country-principle”. This principle, which the commission wants to push through the different decision committees (parliament, council), presumes that the contract right of the country, where the retailer has its headquarters, is not valid any longer, but the right of the buyer. The consequences are clear: The mail-order dispatcher who wants to offer Europe-wide, would need for example 27 general terms and conditions to sell in all EU-countries. The Federal Association of the German Mail-order Business fears that the commission plans to enlarge this rule to the countries out of the EU (for example Switzerland, Norway), too.
