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Intersport shines in the spotlight
Last month’s Intersport Q3 show included a number of key developments for the buying group, and was warmly welcomed by those in attendance. David Pittman reports from the show floor.
Clear vision
Super six: Zoggs allowed its ULTEX Chlorine Proof swimwear to be lane-tested by six cross-Channel swimmers
Zoggs UK marketing manager David Annand explains why the brand has broad appeal to all swimmers at retail by going that extra length
Trading Intelligence
Not a lot of people know this about my shop, but...
Our premises was formally an art gallery, and it lends itself perfectly as a specialist destination sports shop. With high ceilings, specialist lighting and a welcoming feel the shop definitely has that ‘wow’ factor. In the four years since we opened we have earned an enviable reputation as the leading ‘real sports’ shop in the area.
Trading Intelligence
Shop name: Greaves Sports
Location: Glasgow and Edinburgh
Owner: Greaves Family, Glasgow
Opened: Moved into Greaves family ownership in 1930s after trading as Clydesdale Rubber Company since 1870
Affiliation: Intersport
Number of staff: 130
Polaroid for 2010
Polaroid invented polarising lens technology in the 1930's and consumers can purchase confidently knowing that all Polaroid sunglasses block virtually all glare. No more squinting and straining - just clear vision, true colours and clear contrasts.
hummel
It is tempting to ascribe the origins of hummel to Hans Christian Andersen and begin with "once upon a time..." A German shoemaker watching a local football game on a rainy day in 1923 realised that if he put cleats on the bottom of his shoes, the players would be better able to stand up and so play better. The name he chose for his cleated shoes, hummel, is German for bumble bee, inspired by the fact that the bumble bee's weight ought to make it unable to fly with its flimsy wings, but somehow it does; likewise players ought to be unable to stand in some conditions but, with hummel boots, somehow they could. The company's fashion products still carry a bumble bee logo and the teamsports range carries the chevron from the back of the bee.
Under Armour
Under Armour is not a brand that does things by halves. their running gear is going down well in the sports industry, and now they're adding football boots to their rapidly-growing range. The boots - two lines, names Dominate and Create - look great and the company has spent time working with regular footballers, plus professionals like Bobby Zamora of Fulham, to perfect the product. Alex Chater explains...
Clubsport
Talk to Simon Hussey, MD of Clubsports and the enthusiasm comes at you in a tidal wave. That's enthusiasm not just for his own business, but for the business as a whole, for sport, for customers - the whole thing. The company was founded in 1987 when he was working as a baker from 5am to 10am then running the sports shop until 5pm. At weekends he was playing rugby. See what I mean about enthusiasm - and energy!
K-Swiss gets serious about running
K-Swiss is expanding its expertise into running shoes, with the exceptionally light and aesthetically lovely Run One shoe as the base of the range. Mark Sheehan told SGB what makes their shoes stand out - and SGB is now a true believer...
Greaves Sports opts for INTERSPORT
"We feel we have signed up to a renewed, revitalized and re-invigorated INTERSPORT," Sandy Greaves, Managing Director of Greaves Sports, commented on the new association.
INTERSPORT Tony Pryce
Adrian Giblett, the current managing director of the business, tells, in some ways, a classic story of a family business. Tony Pryce (who formerly was a butcher in the mid-Wales town of Welshpool) moved to Minehead and opened his first store. But he wasn't just a retailer, he was an entrepreneur. A year later he had opened a second store in Tiverton, followed a few years later by one in Taunton. Adrian Giblett joined the business in 1985 to manage the Minehead store - he's married to one of Tony Pryce's three daughters and Pryce's two other sons-in-law are also involved in the business.
Ardblair and X-Bionic
One of the privileges of working on SGB is the superb gear we see, test and use every day, but even seeing such great equipment and apparel, sometimes you see something that surprises or intrigues. That was the case with X-Bionic, which SGB encountered at a recent consumer exhibition, and we came away both impressed and excited.
"People have been misled"
SGB: How do your garments work compared to other wicking systems out there?
Professor Lambertz: People have been misled for the last 35 years. Everybody was writing that it's important to keep your skin dry. This is an absolutely incorrect theory. Everybody is announcing they will keep the skin dry; this has been announced and advertised for the last 35 years.
LineBreak
SGB: How long have you been distributing LineBreak in the UK? What is LineBreak?
Mark Gladwin: I set the business up in April 2005. It was new to the UK then - I launched the brand here. LineBreak had been going since 2003 or so in Australia. We were awarded distribution of the brand in 2005 and set up the brand from there. The business is based in Warwickshire, where we work out of a warehouse unit, distributing the brand across the whole of the UK and Ireland.
Under Armour
Under Armour have many things going for them, not least arguably the best logo in the industry! Great technical clothing, be it base layers or compression gear, right through to headwear and athletic tops. Now, though, they move into - for them - uncharted waters with the launch of a line of running shoes. Blair Tripodi, Director of International Marketing, Under Armour Europe, talked to SGB about the move and the shoes.
