Inaugurated in Cogne the third Mountain Shop of the Oberalp Group
The Oberalp Group continues to develop its retail strategy by opening a new Mountain Shop in Cogne in the province of Aosta. This brings the number of new openings in 2020 by the Bolzano-based group in Europe to seven in Italy, Austria and Poland.
After the openings in May in Campo Tures in the province of Bolzano and in October in Bergamo, the Oberalp Group continues to develop its retail format. Since December 4, in fact, the historic sign Le Paradis des Sport in Cogne has been renewed in the new Mountain Shop Le Paradis des Sport, in partnership through the formula of franchising.
Located at the entrance of the village of Cogne, the new Mountain Shop proposes itself as a reference point for lovers of ski mountaineering, cross-country skiing, trail running, hiking and MTB. In addition to the Oberalp Group’s own brands such as Salewa and Dynafit, the assortment includes Patagonia, La Sportiva, Skitrab and Swyx for cross-country skiing.
In addition to retail sales, in the spirit of service and community of Mountain Shops, the staff led by owner Massimo Borettaz also offers a rental service of equipment for ski mountaineering, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
We met Gianluca Coneglian, General Manager Retail of the Oberalp Group, to gather more details about the new Mountain Shop in Cogne and to take stock of the year of the Oberalp Group retail.
The one in Cogne is the third Mountain Shop opened this year in Italy. Why this location?
As the name implies, the philosophy of the Mountain Shops is to bring an offer of products and expertise for mountain activities. Cogne is located in the heart of the Gran Paradiso National Park and is a reference destination for mountain enthusiasts in winter as well, not only for skiers. The activities practiced are varied: cross-country skiing, ski mountaineering and winter excursions are an important reality, akin to our interpretation of the mountain world.
Who is your local partner?
One of the essential elements of the Mountain Shops project is to work with competent local partners to whom we can add the range of our leading brands, our organization and our experience in the retail sector. Massimo Borettaz, owner of the Mountain Shop Le Paradis des Sport, is the profile of partner with whom we think we can work successfully, in this case with the franchise formula. Massimo is a cross-country ski instructor, former national instructor and former coach of cross-country ski clubs, ski mountaineering athlete and trail runner of great experience (10th place at Tor des Gèants in 2013, ed.).
This is the seventh retail opening in 2020 for the Oberalp Group. Where have you opened, but more importantly, why this bold acceleration at such a critical time?
We are aware that investments in times of crisis have twice the potential, if guided by a clear vision and a solid financial base. The seven openings were all made after the so-called first wave. Three in Italy, all Mountain Shops. Two in Austria and two in Poland: in both countries we opened a Mountain Shop and a Salewa Store. The initial plan, obviously not taking into account the pandemic, was to open five new stores. Despite the limitations we were able to accelerate and open two more and we will continue with the same speed for 2021.
How many of those seven stores are franchises?
We have opened two stores directly (Campo Tures and Graz) while the other five are with local partners. The Mountain Shop formula is succeeding because it responds to two needs coming from the market: on the one hand, to give consumers continuity in the presence of specialized and modern multi-brand stores that can offer advice and services in strategic locations, and on the other hand, to provide a solution to those retailers who in these complex times are looking for solutions and alliances to succeed. The Mountain Shop concept unites the strengths of a group like Oberalp with passionate and locally rooted customers and manages to develop their respective competencies to the fullest.
Can you give us an overview of the sales results for this particular year?
The overall group result will be good, driven by sales in the online channel and by the excellent results achieved in the reassortments for all the proprietary brands. Obviously, the channel that suffered most was the physical retail channel due to the international closures caused by the first lockdown. At the end of October we had managed to recover the entire loss, but then the new restrictions began. The positive signs however are not lacking, every day we can open our sales are growing and we are registering new customers every day who are becoming loyal to our stores. We are convinced that the many new customers who have approached the mountain will be attracted by it just like us and will contribute to the growth of the market in the coming years.
