SPORT 2000 in the Baltic States
SPORT 2000 in the Baltic States
At the General Assembly of Marketing AG and GmbH (plc) in the Latvian capital Riga, SPORT 2000 presented itself full of self-confidence as the Number Two among the European sports retail associations.
SPORT 2000 International and its partner Sportland dominate the retail scenery
Marius Rovers, Chairman of the Board, and Wolfgang Schnellbügel, Managing Director, underlined the success of the new brand identity SPORT 200 and the pioneering international cooperation with adidas
Riga – In the year of the European Football Championship and the Olympic Games, SPORT 2000 International brims over with self-confidence in its position as the Number Two among the classic European associations of sports retailers.
“‘First Choice in Sports’ is SPORT 2000 International’s credo and we have made a major step towards meeting it in all 25 countries where our partners run specialist sports retail shops. In Riga, the largest city of the Baltic states which we chose for our 2007 general assembly on May 20th, 2008, our partner Sportland is represented most conspicuously in all major shopping centres. Operating 75 specialist sports stores in different sizes and styles, our partner is also the market leader in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. During our general assembly, we could once again prove to our colleagues that our new brand identity SPORT 2000 and the inherent CI policy has become a powerful international brand, which is designed to gain in attractiveness year after year. As a result, we were able to conclude a mutually profitable strategic alliance stretching into 2012 for our SPORT 2000 shops in Europe with adidas.” Such was the comment given by Managing Director, Wolfgang Schnellbügel, regarding SPORT 2000 International’s current international appearance. With 3800 shops in 25 countries, SPORT 2000 International’s partners record sales worth 5.1 billion Euro on the European market.
These encouraging results substantially characterised the agenda of the general assemblies of the representatives of SPORT 2000 Marketing AG and GmbH.
In his annual report, MD Wolfgang Schnellbügel pointed out that the group is currently working on further strategic alliances with representatives of additional A-class brands. Existing partnerships with Amer group (Atomic, Salomon and Wilson), with Asics, Elan, Fischer, Head, Puma and the Tecnica group (including Nordica, Rollerblade and Lowa) are not only intensively cultivated, but further extended. At the same time the strength of the exclusive brands on the market is corroborated.
The recently developed Internet games portal (www.sport2000.eu) appeals mainly to families with children between eight and eighteen years and looks set to ensure the continued implementation of SPORT 2000 on the European market. The competition initiated in the portal on the occasion of EURO 2008 has so far recorded more than one million played games. France heads the ranking of page visitors, followed by the Netherlands and Germany. For the duration of EURO 2008, more than three million page views and two million games are aimed at. Together with the sponsors from the brand-name industry, this portal should be continued after the football championship featuring different sports themes.
Another theme of the general assembly was the organisation’s access to the “Business Social Corporate Initiative” and the related observance of international minimum standards in the production of brand products and exclusive brand. Moreover, the delegates' special thanks went to the chairman of the supervisory board, Marius Rovers, who was confirmed in his office. SPORT 2000 International proved to be very pleased about Marius Rovers’ appointment to the chair of the important CISO committee of the World Federation of the Sports Goods Industry, WFSGI, where he will represent the international sports retail trade. Further appraisals covered the international achievements of MD Wolfgang Schnellbügel and his entire team. His work concerning the implementation of the new SPORT 2000 brand identity on the market was particularly highlighted in this context.
Volker Gromer left the board as he took up a leading position within the anwr group. He also received the delegates' thanks for his long years of relentless work in making the international SPORT 2000 group successful. The members of SPORT 2000's international board under the presidency of Marius Rovers are: William Monti, France; Andreas Rudolf, Germany; John Olsen, Norway; Dr. Gerhard Schwab, Austria; and Dr. Ulrich Kohli, Switzerland.
Next year’s general assemblies have been scheduled to take place in Stavanger, Norway, on May 12, 2009. The participants in this year's assembly decided to appoint the members of SPORT 2000 International's board of directors for one year only in future, instead of three years as before.
In line with the established traditions of such international meetings, an enthusiastic lecturer was committed for a lecture. Dr. Steffen Stremme, former head of the Media-Markt and Saturn group talked about “Modern Retail Management”. The expert, who made the two companies market leaders in their field over the past nine years, had previously worked in the top ranks at adidas for 14 years. His entrepreneurial strategy for achievement is “Communication is the driving force of everything on the market”, along with the claim to “Give all your employees all information you have and you cannot avoid that they will take over responsibility.”
Let us quote here two further statements from Dr. Stremme’s 45-minute marketing lecture: “There is no bad location, there is only the bad entrepreneur”, and “Choose a profession you love and you don’t have to work a single day in your life”.
Dr. Heiner Olbrich, VP Sales Europe and EMEA for adidas, and his colleague, Sven Moser who is responsible for adidas’s international key accounts, explained the fundamental facts of the new strategic alliance between adidas and SPORT 2000 International. He said: “Make the brand shine at the POS. We from adidas need multi-brand specialist stores throughout Europe. We from adidas need pan-European partners. We from adidas believe in the business model behind associate groups. And, ultimately, we from adidas also believe in the success that SPORT 2000 and ourselves will reap together.”
The entire SPORTS 2000 International meeting was excellently prepared and organised by the group's Baltic partner, Sportland AG, which is headquartered in the Estonian capital Tallin. Juris Baumanis provided both a theoretical and at the same time very practical insight into the success of the Baltic states’ biggest specialist retail group, which also owns shops in Finland, Russia and Ukraine. The international guests received an outstanding impression of the quality of Sportland’s offer in five big shopping centres in Riga, Alfa, Origo, Galeria Centrs, Mols and Dole. Therefore, both Marius Rovers and Manfred Schnellbügel thanked the organisers wholeheartedly. With the help of their partner Sportland AG, SPORT 2000 International has clearly conquered the leading position on the markets in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Appropriate banner marketing is already in the pipeline.
BUs:
The participants of SPORT 2000 International's general assembly in Riga.
Dr. Steffen Stremme, previously head of the Media-Markt and Saturn group, during his lecture on “Modern Retail Management”
Sportland AG is SPORT 2000 International’s partner and the market leader in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia operating 75 sports retail shops of different size and style
Sportland AG also supports the “100 percent sports” business policy, which covers the range of technical sports equipment 
