Business news : Salomon wants to grow in "outdoor"

The group bet on running to boost sales.

It is red. It is called the Ultra Sense. It is a new running shoes launched this year by Salomon. A highly technical model of only 210 grams, for athletes who are on the front foot. This innovation - 70% of products are renewed each season - shows the group's desire to expand into the "outdoor", including "running". 

World leader in winter sports equipment, the company already generates nearly 60% of its sales outside of skiing. Subsidiary since 2005 the Finnish Amer Sports (2 billion euros), Salomon is the first brand of the group (Wilson, Atomic ...) with a turnover of over 650 million. "We crossed the historic 2012 exceeded 300 million for the sale of hiking boots and the 100 million in the textile," says Jean-Marc Pambet, its president. These two sectors are the fastest growing, "more than 10%," according to the executive. 

"Mountains in the city" 
The outdoor sports market is booming worldwide. It is estimated that nearly 25% of the global sports market, according Eurostaf, a turnover of $ 12.5 billion. In addition to running on trails, Salomon wants to bring this practice in cities, sponsoring sporting events like Urban Trail in Lyon. "We want to bring the mountain to the city by discovering centers by running in small streets. It is a market trend, "says Jean-Marc Pambet. 

The group will also get new customers for export, because 70% of its sales are still in Europe. He is heading this year on the United States, China, Japan and Russia, where it is not present with its "outdoor" lines. Korea will follow. "Our goal with this global deployment is to reach one billion in revenue in four or five years," continues Jean-Marc Pambet. 

It will also pass through the opening of new stores under Salomon. The equipment has opened 30 in 2012, 9 in China, bringing the total to 176 in the world. These stores allow it to show all of its textile and footwear collections. This network represents only 7% of revenues, most are made through distributors such as in France, where the brand has only two shops (Chamonix, Toulouse). 

On the production side, nothing is manufactured in France since the takeover by Amer Sports. The production is divided between the countries of East and Asia. But Salomon employs 850 people in Annecy, which are developed and prototyped the news.

by Dominique Chapuis

Original French language source lesechos.fr