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The Sportmaster group has announced the purchase of the Polish sports store chain GO Sport Polska, which is part of the French Go Sport Group. This is stated in the message "Sportmaster".

We are talking about the acquisition of 34 stores with a total sales area of 37,000 sq. m. the Buyer was Singapore Sportmaster Operations-the parent company of Sportmaster, which manages the group's business in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and China.

The President of the Go Sport group Philippe Favre, whose words are quoted in the message, noted that "it is time for changes in the Polish market of goods for sports and tourism": "we hope that fans of sports and outdoor activities in Poland will only benefit from the changes, will see new approaches to the formation of collections, the entire range, will see updated stores."

"Sportmaster" is one of the largest Russian companies selling sporting goods. It was founded in 1992 by brothers Nikolai and Vladimir Fartushnyakov and Dmitry Doichen. According to the company, it has 500 stores in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and China. In addition, it operates networks Columbia, Skechers franchise in Russia. "Sportmaster" was a long-term leader in revenue among Russian sellers of clothes and shoes. In January-June 2019, the company received 51.5 billion rubles. revenue and lost on this indicator online store Wildberries with a turnover of 85 billion rubles., according to "Infoline-Analytics".

The French Go Sport Group has about 500 stores, almost all of them in France, according to its website.

The Polish shops bought by "Sportmaster "at first will work under the Go Sport brand, but further they will be renamed into" Sportmaster", it is specified in the message. Global sports brands and Sportmaster's own brands will be on sale.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed. It does not exceed 40 million euros, estimated the CEO of "Infoline-analysts" Mikhail Burmistrov. According to him, the scale of Sportmaster's business, the portfolio of its own brands, efficient logistics and procurement systems in China and other countries of the Asia-Pacific region will allow to compete effectively with European retailers, for example with Decathlon: European buyers are very focused on discounts and promotions.

A few years ago, due to reduced demand in Russia, Sportmaster decided to seek profits in foreign markets, and in 2014 the company opened its first stores in China. Also, "Sportmaster" said that it plans to enter the countries of Central Asia and Transcaucasia. In this regard, no transactions are planned, said a source familiar with the plans of the group, access to these countries will be with its own brand of the company. He did not specify the number of stores that Sportmaster can open in these regions. A spokesman for Sportmaster did not comment.

The Polish market attracts Russian sellers of clothes and shoes. In 2017, Melon Fashion Group (owns the brands befree, Love Republic, Zarina and Sela) entered the market of this country. The first befree store opened in Poznan, then the retailer also opened Love Republic and Zarina stores in Poland.

But the company was forced to leave Poland, says a representative of Melon Fashion Group. He attributes this to changes in local legislation relating to the operation of shopping centres. The fact is that since 2019, shopping centers in the country stopped working on Sundays, except for the last Sunday of the month, and from 2020, all Sundays will be non-working days.

All seven of Melon Fashion Group stores were closed, said a representative of the retailer. However, according to him, since the consumer demand for Russian brands in the country is great, Melon Fashion Group is considering the possibility of returning to this market through cooperation with online partners.

Representatives of the French Go Sport Group did not respond to a request from Vedomosti.

 

Source：https://www.vedomosti.ru/