Retail insights from the sporting goods industry – Page 32
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News briefsZalando to test fashion assistant powered by ChatGPT
European online fashion and lifestyle platform Zalando has announced that it will soon launch a beta version of a fashion assistant powered by ChatGPT across its web and app platforms. The OpenAI technology will allow customers to ask questions using their own words, helping them navigate Zalando’s assortment more intuitively. ...
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News briefsSporting goods sales in the U.S. grew 4.3% last year
U.S. wholesale sales of athletic footwear, apparel, sports and fitness equipment, and licensed products grew by 4.3 percent in 2022, totaling over $116 billion. This represents the second-largest percentage growth since 2010, although it also marks a pullback from the record performance of 15.8 percent in 2021. These figures were ...
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News briefsFarfetch hires new CMO
Farfetch, an Internet platform for luxury goods, announced that Nick Tran has joined the company as chief marketing officer. Tran will be based in London and will report to chief marketplace officer, Edward Sabbagh, and will oversee all global marketing functions for Farfetch Marketplaces. Tran brings more than 20 years ...
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ArticleAmazon puts the moves on France
In the Pixar movie of the same name, a Provençal dish called ratatouille serves to save the soul of a crotchety old food critic in France. The stewed vegetables produce an epiphany, hitting the critic like the madeleine hit Proust, and transport him back “in search of lost time” or ...
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News briefsJD Sports creates new global leadership position
JD Sports appointed Michael Armstrong to the newly created position of global managing director to drive growth and advance expansion plans internationally, particularly in the North American and European markets, to become the “leading global sports-fashion powerhouse.” Armstrong will work under CEO Régis Schultz to oversee JD’s strategic direction, business ...
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ArticleThis is Rentle, the Finnish pioneer in rental platforms now cooperating with Decathlon
Decathlon UK launched its rental service with Rentle in the spring of ’23. We explore the benefits of partnering with a rental platform specialist.
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ArticleFootway sees sales drop in Q1, but grows internationally
Several Swedish media outlets have reported on Footway Group’s first-quarter figures, which show that the Swedish e-commerce group’s sales fell 7.9 percent year-on-year to SEK 215.9 million (€19.08m). Operating profit (Ebitda) for the quarter was SEK -24.5 million (-€2.17m), an improvement from SEK -71.2 million a year earlier. According to ...
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ArticleSafeSize appoints former IIC executive as chief commercial officer
Source: SafeSize Martin Kempkes with SafeSize scanner Retail tech company SafeSize announced the appointment of Martin Kempkes as chief commercial officer, effective April 3. Kempkes is responsible for leading the company’s business development and sales strategy, as well as ensuring operational excellence, focusing on strengthening the company’s ...
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News briefsFor now, chain in Madrid to expand only online
The watchwords for this year at Deportes Halcón are recovery and stability. CMDsport has spoken with its director of finance and marketing, Sandra Benito, according to whom sales for first-quarter 2023 at the four-store chain in Madrid are more or less flat. “The market,” she says, “is not easy.” Suppliers ...
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ArticleNew Sport 2000 brand replaces all previous exclusive labels
With the start of the Spring/Summer 2023 season, Sport 2000’s new Witeblaze brand – announced last summer – was delivered to retail partners for the first time. It combines several product ranges under one roof and has thus replaced all previous exclusive brands of the affiliated group. According to Sport ...
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News briefsSprinter expands in the Netherlands
Sprinter has opened a 532-sqm store in Tilburg and will soon open a 1,000-sqm store in The Hague, raising its Dutch total to six. Both will have Player Service, in which sports teams can have their name and logo screen-printed on apparel. The Spanish retailer operates in its home country ...
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ArticleSportmaster prepares for debut on Uzbek market
Russian press reports that sporting goods retailer Sportmaster plans to open its first outlet in Uzbekistan in Tashkent, the country’s capital, citing a source in the Uzbek retail industry. This is the second time Sportmaster wants to emerge in the Uzbek market. In March 2020, the company signed three rental ...
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News briefsDecathlon Ireland has a new CEO
French sporting goods retailer Decathlon has appointed Elena Pecos as the new chief executive of its Irish business. She takes over the role from Bastien Grandgeorge, who had led Decathlon Ireland since 2017 and is now at the helm of the French Decathlon business. Pecos joined Decathlon in 2006 as ...
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News briefsAdidas among the top European cross-border e-commerce retailers
Brussels-based Cross-Border Commerce Europe (CBCommerce), the platform that stimulates cross-border e-commerce in Europe, has released the fifth edition of “TOP 500 Cross-Border Retail Europe,” a research paper that ranks the 500 strongest European players with a focus on cross-border performance. Adidas Group took the 10th spot in the latest edition ...
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News briefsBennett nominated as chairman of Zalando’s supervisory board
Zalando’s nomination committee has proposed a new composition of the supervisory board for the annual general meeting, which will be held virtually in Berlin on May 24, 2023. Current vice chairman Kelly Bennett, who has been a member of the board since 2019, would take over as chairman from Cristina ...
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News briefsBrands4friends to be shut down this June
After Keller Sports, another online pure player is disappearing from the market: As of June 30, the Berlin-based shopping club Brands4friends is quitting operations. According to a report in Internet World, employees were informed about this in a letter from a lawyer. The Brands4Friends shopping club was established in 2007 ...
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News briefsOn’s first Parisian store will be in the Latin Quarter
The first Parisian store of Swiss sportswear brand On will be located at 13 rue Clément, within the Marché Saint Germain, Sport Guide reported. The Marché Saint-Germain, in the heart of Paris’ sixth arrondissement, is a 19th-century market hall designed by one of Napoleon’s architects. The building underwent a major ...
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News briefsKettler expands home fitness equipment rental service
Kettler Sport now offers its “Rent a Kettler” service in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The service was first introduced in Germany in November of last year. For Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the fitness company is cooperating with RNTL, which has specialized in the logistics and organization of similar rental services since 2020. ...
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News briefsU.S. chain Shoe City files for bankruptcy after failed acquisition by Arklyz
In the summer of 2022, Swiss retail group Arklyz, the owner of The Athlete’s Foot, announced plans to purchase Baltimore-based retail chain Shoe City from ESCO Ltd, which consists of about 40 retail stores, but the deal never materialized and the U.S. retailer has now filed for bankruptcy. Shoe City ...
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News briefsFanatics acquires football retail business EPI, renames it Fanatics Italy
Fanatics, a leading global digital sports platform, announced the completion of its acquisition of EPI, an Italian sporting goods company that operates the official online and retail stores of several top Italian soccer clubs and international sports brands. Milan-based EPI, soon to be renamed Fanatics Italy, provides complete end-to-end e-commerce, ...
