The sports industry is still struggling and well-known suppliers have to lay off employees. – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

He looks out at the unsold bikes in the shop at Bekkestua, which have been reduced to half price. Morten Borgersen has been in the sports industry since the 80s and heads the Anton Sport chain. – Now you can make the deal of the time on bicycles, he says to news. The warehouses must be cleared before the winter season, but the prices are bad business. – The sports industry has low margins and it is impossible to make money with such large discounts, says Borgersen. Perfect storm During the pandemic, everyone should have hiking gear. Turnover grew by 21 per cent, but then it turned around. The sports industry was hit by a perfect storm. Trouble in international supply chains meant that bicycles and other sports equipment were delivered late. Meanwhile, times turned, inflation came and the krone weakened. Warehouses were full at the same time that people had less to deal with. Turnover fell sharply. PRICES MUST GO UP: The sports industry claims they are not compensated for 15-20 per cent higher purchase prices. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / news Cost-cutting Now the sports industry is facing a steep uphill battle. In the Swix store at Snø in Lørenskog, the manager of the Brav group shows us around among the skis and winter clothing. Erik Sønsterud has carried out cost cuts of 20 per cent after a thunderous 2023 deficit for Brav. Brav is owned by the Ferd group and is, among other things, behind Ulvang, Lundhags, Hel-Sport and Swix. IMPROVEMENT: – The market is improving in Norway and Sweden, but there are still challenges, says CEO Erik Sønsterud in Brav. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / news – The market is still challenging, but there is some improvement, especially in Norway and Sweden, says Sønsterud. – Prices must rise He believes the prices of sports equipment must rise, not least to compensate for the weak krone. – We buy in dollars, and the purchase prices have increased by 15-20 per cent. This has not been charged to the customers because there have been too many goods in the entire value chain, says Sønsterud. PERFECT STORM: The problems piled up for the sports industry after the pandemic. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / news Morten Borgersen in Anton Sport agrees: – The sports industry is last in the race when it comes to setting prices, he says. – If it is to be sustainable, then we also have to increase prices, to compensate for all the cost increases that have occurred in recent years. – Longer and tougher In the first quarter, turnover at the sports chains fell by more than 10 per cent from last year. The second quarter was also weak. The Norwegian Sports Industry Association believes that 2024 will be the weakest since 2017-18, says leader Trond Evald Hansen. TØFFERE: The Norwegian Sports Industry Association believes that 2024 will be the weakest year since 2017-18, says leader Trond Evald Hansen. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / news He explains that a lot of sports equipment has been sold for many years, and that it is therefore natural to make a correction. – So that correction has probably been a little longer and a little tougher than what the sports industry had envisioned, says Evald Hansen. Blood-red numbers Major players have presented large losses. 100 sports shops have had to close down and employees have been made redundant. The supplier Bergans lost NOK 112 million last year, and 20 man-years are disappearing. LOSS: Bergans made a huge loss last year and has to cut staff. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / news Butikk chain XXL had a drop in turnover of 8.2 per cent in the second quarter. – A disappointing sale, according to the management. Bjørn Rune Gjelsten and Olav Nils Sundes Sport Holding has chains such as Intersport, Sport 1, Anton Sport and Løplabbet. They also fail to make money. The deficit last year was almost NOK 150 million. Published 19.10.2024, at 15.28



ttn-69