Sports Trader January 2016

Southern Africa’s business-to-business magazine for the sport, outdoor and leisure industries • Vol 37 No 1 • January 2016

The latest in technical outdoor clothingTips on selling outdoor cooking equipment

Recommend the right winter team sport products

Publisher: Nicol du ToitEditor: Carin HardistyManaging editor: Trudi du ToitProofreader: Liz MilburnFeatures: Carin Hardisty,

Rhianah Rhode,Trudi du Toit, Yamkela Mkebe

Design: Carin Hardisty, Rhianah RhodePhotography: Nicol du ToitAdvertising: Nicol du ToitSubscriptions: Carin HardistyPrinting: Paarl Media PaarlDistribution: Tunleys

Sports Trader is published bi-monthly by Rocklands Communications cc.Reg. No: 1997/057165/23.Members: N. J. & G. C. du Toit &

C. Hardisty

Contact details:PO Box 12197 Mill Street 801022 Rocklands Avenue, Vredehoek, Cape Town 8001Tel: 021 461 2544 Fax: 021 461 2549Website: www.sportstrader.co.zaFacebook: SportsTraderMagazineTwitter: @SASportsTraderBlog: sasportsindustry.blogspot.comAdvertising: [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected]

Publication information: The title and contents of Sports Trader are protected by copy-right. It is a business to busi-ness publication compiled to inform, entertain and educate retailers, distributors and man-ufacturers of sports and out-door equipment, footwear and clothing. It is available only to members of the sport, outdoor and activewear industries and is published bi-monthly.© Rocklands Communications.

Vol 37 Nr 1January 2016www.sportstrader.co.za

Highlights:

Recreational fi shing impact study

Trends in technical clothing

Fitness trends to expect in 2016

32 Recommending winter sports productsWhat retailers should tell schools and clubs purchasing winter sports products.

42Generate interest with Olympic GamesHow retailers can use the Olympic Games to generate sales.

45Trendy fi tness activitiesTrending fi tness activities could help retailers predict what to stock to ensure good sales.

48Science helps cyclistsIntensive research and development help create safer and more comfortable cycling products.

Trade shows and events

IBCTrade show newsNews about local and international tradeand industry-related shows.

Wildebees, locally distributed by Crown Footwear, is not merely a trademark, “but a challenge to every man to be true to his crea-tor, without making excuses, without justifying who you are ... wild,” explains the developer of the popular local camoufl age brand.

“All men are born equal, but some men are born more wild. Wildebees is raising the stand-ard of manhood – manhood not talked about, but lived.”

He adds: “Wildebees is not here to play it safe – you can’t tame it ... embrace it!”

For more information contact Crown Footwear on Tel: 031 700 1601.

Call for industry members to help with recreational fishing impact study. p54

Industry

2 People on the moveNews about people in the industry.

6 Brands on the moveNews about brand activity in the industry.

16 Companies on the moveNews about companies in the industry.

18 New Balance: ready for 2016New Balance had a good 2015 and expects an even better 2016.

26 Retail newsNews relating to retailers and retailing.

50 Lite Optec Group growingThe Lite Optec Group, which came from humble beginnings, continues to grow.

On the cover

Clothing & footwear

10 Footwear newsNews from footwear brands.

22 New in technical outdoor clothingThe latest outdoor technical clothing trends, which can be expected in the near future.

28 Athleisure still growingThe athleisure trend is a global phenomenon that continues to grow.

Outdoor

27 Shop talk: This Way OutThis Way Out launched unique Cape Town store that takes outdoor shopping to a new level.

51 Selling tips: outdoor cookingTips for selling outdoor cooking products.

54 Ensure the future of recreational fi shingIndustry members to help with study to deter-mine the value of recreational fi shing.

Sport

30 Sport newsNews from sport brands.

What to advise schools and clubs buying winter team sport products. p32

Cycling reasearch and development has led to safer and more comfortable products. p48

Sports Trader :: 2016 January

ASICS ambassador and Springbok Sevens player Werner Kok beat fellow team mate Seabelo Senatla and Fijian Semi Kunatani to the World Rugby Sev-ens Player of the Year Award. He is only the second South African player to win the award — after Cecil Africa in 2011 — since it was introduced in 2004.

Kok played a key role in every round of the 2014/15 World Series, helping gain his team second place in the fi-nal and automatic qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. In only two seasons with the Springbok Sevens team, the athlete has quickly estab-lished himself and played 18 World Series tournaments, formed part of the national team that won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glas-gow, and ended the 2014/15 season as the World Series’ leading tackler.

K-Way athlete AJ Calitz is an ambas-sador for the Movember Foundation — a global charity, which funds pro-grammes focusing on prostate and testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity. He participated in the Movember Foundation’s first 30-day Move campaign, which encour-aged physical activity, reminded men of the dangers related to inactivity, and the physical and mental health benefits they receive from exercising. During November he posted a Move every day, and challenged both men and women to commit to also perform-ing 30 minutes of activity daily.Regularly being photographed with a moustache and living the campaign message of regular physical activity and good health made him the ideal ambassador.

Above: Lexi Thompson achieved her eighth career win at the 2015 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship, which took place in Incheon, Korea. Thomp-son, who then ranked #4 in driving dis-tance, played with the same Cobra golf equipment she used when she won her fifth LPGA title in July last year. She also wore apparel, accessories and footwear from Puma’s Autumn/Winter 2015 collection.

People on

Image: Ben Hoskins / Gallo Images.

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Below: PUMA has signed Canadian sprint sensation Andre de Grasse as their latest running ambassador. De Grasse is the National Collegiate Ath-letic Association’s 100m and 200m champion and rose to fame after claiming a 100m bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships in August 2014. As part of the long-term part-nership, the athlete will feature in a number of running campaigns leading up to and beyond the 2016 Olympic Games — becoming the focal point in the post Usain Bolt competition era.

Phot

o: Jo

n W

John

son.

ASICS South Africa has renewed the partnership with Springboks Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira (below) and Eben Etzebeth (above), which will continue until 2018.During the 2015 Castle Lager Rugby Championship and Rugby World Cup both were constantly in the Spring-boks’ starting 15 and ASICS values the contribution that these players have made in cementing it as a true sport performance brand.

Left: Two-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton — who drives for the PUMA-sponsored Mer-cedes AMG Petronas Formula One team — took part in the PUMA event that welcomed Formula One racing back to Mexico after more than two decades. It also included a wrestling bout against one of Mexico’s wrestlers.

Left: Lebogang Phalula won the 2015 SPAR Grand Prix and beat last year’s winner, her twin and fellow PUMA ath-lete Lebo Phalula, who was the runner up. Lebogang won the Durban and Jo-hannesburg legs of the SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge Series and finished among the top three in the Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria races. Overall she collected 95 points and won R150 000 for her achievements. Lebo accumulated 75 points. Photo: Reg Caldecott

Stuart Hopwood (above) recently joined the Bolton Footwear Group (Jordan & Co and Watson Shoes) as group marketing manager. He has more than 20 years’ experience of building brands in senior marketing positions in the cosmetics, fashion and sports/leisure industries: most recently as Speedo brand president at Brand ID. Before that he was MD of Triumph International, and held mar-keting positions at Melbro and JMC.

Jacques Pretorius (above) is the new group sales manager for Bolton Footwear. He has close to two dec-ades experience working with big brands: he was sales and marketing manager for Coca-Cola at the ABI Group for 14 years. After this, he was general manager of Pepsi in Tanza-nia for three years. In June last year, Pretorius returned to South Africa as consultant. He joined the Bolton Footwear Group on October 1, 2015.

p2 :: Industry


ASICS ambassador and Springbok Sevens player Werner Kok beat fellow team mate Seabelo Senatla and Fijian Semi Kunatani to the World Rugby Sev-ens Player of the Year Award. He is only the second South African player to win the award — after Cecil Africa in 2011 — since it was introduced in 2004.

Kok played a key role in every round of the 2014/15 World Series, helping gain his team second place in the fi-nal and automatic qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. In only two seasons with the Springbok Sevens team, the athlete has quickly estab-lished himself and played 18 World Series tournaments, formed part of the national team that won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glas-gow, and ended the 2014/15 season as the World Series’ leading tackler.

K-Way athlete AJ Calitz is an ambas-sador for the Movember Foundation — a global charity, which funds pro-grammes focusing on prostate and testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity. He participated in the Movember Foundation’s first 30-day Move campaign, which encour-aged physical activity, reminded men of the dangers related to inactivity, and the physical and mental health benefits they receive from exercising. During November he posted a Move every day, and challenged both men and women to commit to also perform-ing 30 minutes of activity daily.Regularly being photographed with a moustache and living the campaign message of regular physical activity and good health made him the ideal ambassador.

Above: Lexi Thompson achieved her eighth career win at the 2015 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship, which took place in Incheon, Korea. Thomp-son, who then ranked #4 in driving dis-tance, played with the same Cobra golf equipment she used when she won her fifth LPGA title in July last year. She also wore apparel, accessories and footwear from Puma’s Autumn/Winter 2015 collection.

People on

Image: Ben Hoskins / Gallo Images.

Phot

o: S

tuar

t Fra

nklin

/Get

ty im

ages

.

Below: PUMA has signed Canadian sprint sensation Andre de Grasse as their latest running ambassador. De Grasse is the National Collegiate Ath-letic Association’s 100m and 200m champion and rose to fame after claiming a 100m bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships in August 2014. As part of the long-term part-nership, the athlete will feature in a number of running campaigns leading up to and beyond the 2016 Olympic Games — becoming the focal point in the post Usain Bolt competition era.

Phot

o: Jo

n W

John

son.

ASICS South Africa has renewed the partnership with Springboks Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira (below) and Eben Etzebeth (above), which will continue until 2018.During the 2015 Castle Lager Rugby Championship and Rugby World Cup both were constantly in the Spring-boks’ starting 15 and ASICS values the contribution that these players have made in cementing it as a true sport performance brand.

Left: Two-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton — who drives for the PUMA-sponsored Mer-cedes AMG Petronas Formula One team — took part in the PUMA event that welcomed Formula One racing back to Mexico after more than two decades. It also included a wrestling bout against one of Mexico’s wrestlers.

Left: Lebogang Phalula won the 2015 SPAR Grand Prix and beat last year’s winner, her twin and fellow PUMA ath-lete Lebo Phalula, who was the runner up. Lebogang won the Durban and Jo-hannesburg legs of the SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge Series and finished among the top three in the Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria races. Overall she collected 95 points and won R150 000 for her achievements. Lebo accumulated 75 points. Photo: Reg Caldecott

Stuart Hopwood (above) recently joined the Bolton Footwear Group (Jordan & Co and Watson Shoes) as group marketing manager. He has more than 20 years’ experience of building brands in senior marketing positions in the cosmetics, fashion and sports/leisure industries: most recently as Speedo brand president at Brand ID. Before that he was MD of Triumph International, and held mar-keting positions at Melbro and JMC.

Jacques Pretorius (above) is the new group sales manager for Bolton Footwear. He has close to two dec-ades experience working with big brands: he was sales and marketing manager for Coca-Cola at the ABI Group for 14 years. After this, he was general manager of Pepsi in Tanza-nia for three years. In June last year, Pretorius returned to South Africa as consultant. He joined the Bolton Footwear Group on October 1, 2015.

p2 :: Industry

2016 January :: Sports Trader

DE WET SPORTS honours Paul Whysall, their agent and friend, with the following obituary:

“On Tuesday 17 November 2015, De Wet Sports’ usual sea-sonal hustle and bustle was si-lenced by the sad news of Paul Whysall’s sudden and unexpect-ed passing in a horrific car acci-dent outside Ermelo. Paul had been our representative in Gaut-eng, the Free State, Polokwane, Limpopo and Mpumalanga since 2000.

Paul was such a loyal and sin-cere person, who at the age of 74 only wanted to scale down slightly, as he would put it. He loved his customers whom he called his family — and there are many! Paul always carried his customer’s best interest at

heart. We laughed together, we cried together and we did excel-lent business together.

De Wet Sports is not just mourning the passing of a mere colleague, we are mourning the passing of a family member whom we respected greatly and will remember forever.”

New Balance has signed World Junior 100m record holder and 100m IAAF World Championship bronze medallist Trayvon Bromell to a multi-year en-dorsement contract.

“I’m thrilled to join the New Balance family, a brand with which I share many of the same values and princi-ples,” says Bromell.

The sprinter is the first American teenager to qualify for the World Championships in the 100m, the first high school athlete to complete the world junior 100m event in under 10 seconds and the youngest American athlete to win a medal in the 100m at the World Championships.

“We build innovative product for the fastest athletes in the world and we look forward to working with Trayvon as he drives the future of US and global sprinting,” says Tom Carleo, vice-pres-ident of Running at New Balance. “In addition to his performance on the track, New Balance and Trayvon share a commitment to giving back, which makes him a natural fit for our brand.”

the move

Rassie Pieterse, MD of TK Sports SA, has been appointed global managing director of the top TK Hockey Equip-ment International brand. He will take over the reins from TK founder Thomas Kille, who has stepped back from the position to concentrate on his role as CEO of the company.

“For the past six years Rassie has been working very closely with myself in the global company, and with our designers, manufacturers and sales team around the world. I am therefore highly confident that the transition will be extremely smooth and seamless,” says Kille.

He believes that Pieterse - who is a double Olympian - is not only one of the best hockey goal keepers in the world (with 120 matches for South Africa), but has been highly successful as MD of TK in South Africa since 2009.Pieterse will still be based in South Africa and has taken over all of Kille’s responsibilities, including all of the company’s international sales teams, who will report directly to him.

Paul Whysall honoured

Industry :: p3


SKECHERS AND CONVERSE are both claiming victory in the fi rst rounds of the ongoing US lawsuit Converse instituted against 22 compa-nies and brands they blame for infringing on the Chuck Taylor midsole and registered trade-marks. But, Converse failed in their attempt to prevent the importation of shoes featuring the toe cap bumper the brand claims is pro-tected under common law trademark laws.

Skechers’ Twinkle Toes and BOBS models had not infringed on Converse’s Chuck Taylor mid-sole or design elements, the chief administra-tive judge at the US International Trade Com-mission (ITC) ruled.

Judge Charles Bullock found that the promi-nent branding of the Skechers sneaker models and the Twinkle Toes design features creates a clear distinction from the Chuck Taylor shoe. He also presented additional survey evidence

THE LAUNCH of the UEFA Euro 2016 match ball and the fi rst high performance boot for elite street soccer players are sure to help adidas keep its momentum into the new year.

The offi cial UEFA Euro 2016 match ball, Beau Jeu (meaning the beautiful game), features an improved panel shape, offers better grip, and has enhanced in-fl ight visibility compared to Brazuca, the FIFA World Cup offi cial match ball. The blue, white and red are the colours of the fl ag of the host country (France) and sil-ver highlights represent the UEFA Euro trophy.

During testing, the Beau Jeu performed bril-liantly, says Gareth Bale, Wales forward.

Federations competing in the tournament will re-

ceive the ball at the end of November in order to have am-ple training and playing time be-fore the start of the tournament,

10 June 2016. It runs until 10 July in

France.The brand’s fi rst high per-

formance soccer boot for the elite street player, the new ACE 16+ TKRZ, offers players good control, which assists in mastering cur-rent street tricks or creating new ones.

The shoe’s TKRZ CTRL/FRAME outsole pro-vides control in the cage while the outsole design enables the wearer to easily acceler-

ate, brake or change direction. The TKRZ skin upper wraps around the outsole for 360 degree control and enables a truer touch and purer connection with the ball. The TKRZ compres-sion tongue also improves stability and com-fort by providing a lockdown fi t.

In an effort to strengthen its presence on the basketball court, adidas has partnered with Houston Rockets basketball player James Harden who will be wearing the Crazylight Boost 2015 on court during games.

“After meeting with adidas I knew we could create something people won’t see coming,” says Harden, who believes the brand wants to celebrate who he is and what he stands for. “They want to help me tell my story and make incredible product together. I see an opportu-nity to become one of the best players in the world — adidas is the partner who will help me get there.”

Blow for Converse in ongoing lawsuit

New adidas products and partnership

Brands onthat consumers will be unlikely to confuse the shoes from the two brands.

The judge also ruled that Converse has no common law trademark rights in the Chuck Taylor midsole because it does not have a unique design, is not famous and has not yet acquired any secondary meaning. Because judge Bullock found no violation of Section 337 under Converse’s common law trade-marks, the ITC will not restrict the importa-tion of shoes featuring the toe cap bumper, which Converse claims is protected under common law.

Judge Bullock did, however, fi nd that the imported shoes from 22 companies violated three trademarks held by Converse and there-fore contravened the Tariff Act.

Although they had expected the result, they were very pleased with the outcome, said Ske-chers president Michael Greenberg in a state-ment. “Skechers is an ardent brander that spends more than $100-m a year in advertis-ing for the very purpose of distinguishing its brands and products from those of its compet-itors. Our investment in our distinctive designs

and brand identity has helped build Twinkle Toes into the number one shoe line for young girls and both Twinkle Toes and BOBS into household names synonymous with Skechers — not with Converse or any other brand. The Judge’s ruling recognizes this.”

On the other hand, Converse claims the judge validated their intellectual property rights and supported their right to enforcement.

In 2014 Converse fi led infringement lawsuits against 22 companies, but several, including Fila, the Aldo Group and Ralph Lauren, had settled out of court. New Balance, which owns PF Flyers, are among the brands that have not settled with Converse.

ASICS FIVB clothing sponsor

ASICS HAS partnered with the Federal Inter-national Volleyball Association (FIVB) in a fi ve-year global sponsorship agreement, which will run from 1 January 2016-31 December 2020.

“ASICS is thrilled to be able to support the FIVB as an offi cial supporter,” says Motoi Oy-ama, president and CEO of ASICS. “We hope our new uniform styles will contribute to the spread of volleyball and beach volleyball and create a new image for the two disciplines.”

As part of the agreement the brand will sup-ply athletes’ tops and uniforms for the beach volleyball court personnel and offi cials, as well as for the volleyball referees and offi cials.

ASICS will also be creating a new line of uni-form to help the FIVB — which is constantly looking to modernise volleyball — strengthen its position as one of the world’s most innova-tive and dynamic sports.

“Together we can help enhance volleyball’s reputation and popularity around the world as we aim to realise our vision of becoming the number one family sport entertainment,” says FIVB president Dr. Ary S. Graça F°.


ceive the ball at the end of November in

runs until 10 July in France.

p6 :: Industry


SKECHERS AND CONVERSE are both claiming victory in the fi rst rounds of the ongoing US lawsuit Converse instituted against 22 compa-nies and brands they blame for infringing on the Chuck Taylor midsole and registered trade-marks. But, Converse failed in their attempt to prevent the importation of shoes featuring the toe cap bumper the brand claims is pro-tected under common law trademark laws.

Skechers’ Twinkle Toes and BOBS models had not infringed on Converse’s Chuck Taylor mid-sole or design elements, the chief administra-tive judge at the US International Trade Com-mission (ITC) ruled.

Judge Charles Bullock found that the promi-nent branding of the Skechers sneaker models and the Twinkle Toes design features creates a clear distinction from the Chuck Taylor shoe. He also presented additional survey evidence

THE LAUNCH of the UEFA Euro 2016 match ball and the fi rst high performance boot for elite street soccer players are sure to help adidas keep its momentum into the new year.

The offi cial UEFA Euro 2016 match ball, Beau Jeu (meaning the beautiful game), features an improved panel shape, offers better grip, and has enhanced in-fl ight visibility compared to Brazuca, the FIFA World Cup offi cial match ball. The blue, white and red are the colours of the fl ag of the host country (France) and sil-ver highlights represent the UEFA Euro trophy.

During testing, the Beau Jeu performed bril-liantly, says Gareth Bale, Wales forward.


ceive the ball at the end of November in order to have am-ple training and playing time be-fore the start of the tournament,

10 June 2016. It runs until 10 July in

France.The brand’s fi rst high per-

formance soccer boot for the elite street player, the new ACE 16+ TKRZ, offers players good control, which assists in mastering cur-rent street tricks or creating new ones.

The shoe’s TKRZ CTRL/FRAME outsole pro-vides control in the cage while the outsole design enables the wearer to easily acceler-

ate, brake or change direction. The TKRZ skin upper wraps around the outsole for 360 degree control and enables a truer touch and purer connection with the ball. The TKRZ compres-sion tongue also improves stability and com-fort by providing a lockdown fi t.

In an effort to strengthen its presence on the basketball court, adidas has partnered with Houston Rockets basketball player James Harden who will be wearing the Crazylight Boost 2015 on court during games.

“After meeting with adidas I knew we could create something people won’t see coming,” says Harden, who believes the brand wants to celebrate who he is and what he stands for. “They want to help me tell my story and make incredible product together. I see an opportu-nity to become one of the best players in the world — adidas is the partner who will help me get there.”

Blow for Converse in ongoing lawsuit

New adidas products and partnership

Brands onthat consumers will be unlikely to confuse the shoes from the two brands.

The judge also ruled that Converse has no common law trademark rights in the Chuck Taylor midsole because it does not have a unique design, is not famous and has not yet acquired any secondary meaning. Because judge Bullock found no violation of Section 337 under Converse’s common law trade-marks, the ITC will not restrict the importa-tion of shoes featuring the toe cap bumper, which Converse claims is protected under common law.

Judge Bullock did, however, fi nd that the imported shoes from 22 companies violated three trademarks held by Converse and there-fore contravened the Tariff Act.

Although they had expected the result, they were very pleased with the outcome, said Ske-chers president Michael Greenberg in a state-ment. “Skechers is an ardent brander that spends more than $100-m a year in advertis-ing for the very purpose of distinguishing its brands and products from those of its compet-itors. Our investment in our distinctive designs

and brand identity has helped build Twinkle Toes into the number one shoe line for young girls and both Twinkle Toes and BOBS into household names synonymous with Skechers — not with Converse or any other brand. The Judge’s ruling recognizes this.”

On the other hand, Converse claims the judge validated their intellectual property rights and supported their right to enforcement.

In 2014 Converse fi led infringement lawsuits against 22 companies, but several, including Fila, the Aldo Group and Ralph Lauren, had settled out of court. New Balance, which owns PF Flyers, are among the brands that have not settled with Converse.

ASICS FIVB clothing sponsor

ASICS HAS partnered with the Federal Inter-national Volleyball Association (FIVB) in a fi ve-year global sponsorship agreement, which will run from 1 January 2016-31 December 2020.

“ASICS is thrilled to be able to support the FIVB as an offi cial supporter,” says Motoi Oy-ama, president and CEO of ASICS. “We hope our new uniform styles will contribute to the spread of volleyball and beach volleyball and create a new image for the two disciplines.”

As part of the agreement the brand will sup-ply athletes’ tops and uniforms for the beach volleyball court personnel and offi cials, as well as for the volleyball referees and offi cials.

ASICS will also be creating a new line of uni-form to help the FIVB — which is constantly looking to modernise volleyball — strengthen its position as one of the world’s most innova-tive and dynamic sports.

“Together we can help enhance volleyball’s reputation and popularity around the world as we aim to realise our vision of becoming the number one family sport entertainment,” says FIVB president Dr. Ary S. Graça F°.


ceive the ball at the end of November in

runs until 10 July in France.

p6 :: Industry


AFTER THREE years’ extensive and intensive testing ASICS has launched the MetaRun run-ning shoe, which provides users with weight, stability, fi t and cushioning functions that per-form to the highest level.

The name Meta (which means beyond), re-fl ects the philosophy, science and technology in the shoe, which ASICS believes is their best ever long-run shoe. The product was tested in multiple countries by 25 test-runners with different biomechanical profi les. The research and development took place at the ASICS Insti-tute of Sport Science in Kobe, Japan.

The MetaRun features a FlyteFoam midsole, which is approximately 55% lighter than in-dustry standard foam and more resilient with built-in organic fi bres that enable it to return to its original shape after every stride. The carbon fi bre-reinforced AdaptTruss technology ensures good stability and fl exibility for any runner — it allows fl exibility, but can also be-come rigid if the wearer’s foot rolls too much. It also features an accurately shaped and po-sitioned dual density midsole, which adjusts to dynamic motion and collaborates with the AdapTruss to allow a smooth transition.

Other features include an optimised upper with a single-layered Jacquard Mesh that re-duces the shoe’s weight, has unique weave patterns that enhance fl exibility and breatha-bility, and also improves the fi t to prevent the wearer’s feet rubbing against the upper. A MetaClutch exoskeleton external heel counter with a built-in memory foam lining also helps to further personalise the fi t and X-Gel used in new shapes and positions provides increased cushioning.

A limited number of the 60 000 pairs, which will be manufactured globally, will be avail-able in South Africa.

Speedo partners with SA SchoolsSPEEDO IS the new offi cial swim partner of the SA Schools U18 waterpolo team, who wore tailor made Speedo kit when they competed in the round-robin test series at the Old Mutual Wealth Schools Waterpolo South Africa Tournament against Australia in Cape Town from 10-14 December.

“We are extremely proud to be backing the U18 SA Schools’ waterpolo team,” says Deidre Scodeller from local Speedo distrib-utor, Brand ID.

“We are thrilled to have a prominent and established brand such as Speedo on board,” says Steve Le Marque, chairperson of Schools’ Water Polo South Africa.

DRIMAC HAD an exciting 2015, and a number of additions to the company and brand ranges promises an even better 2016. They acquired the Southern sub-Saharan Africa distribution rights for the interna-tional Karrimor brand, which will be incorpo-rated into the retail and wholesale divisions from March 2016.

The Drimac product range has also expanded hugely and now includes men’s and ladies’ lei-surewear, as well as an exciting rugby lei-surewear range, for which Springbok Eben Etzebeth (pictured) is the brand ambassador, says Operations Man-ager Ian Currie. “We are delighted to have him aboard as brand ambassador, along with Kobus Wiese.” He believes they are true South Afri-can characters.

the move

Adidas sales grow 18% in Q3THE ADIDAS GROUP reported that their sales increased 18% (13% in constant currencies) to €4.8-m for the third quarter. Every region, ex-cept Russia and Eastern Europe, experienced double-digit growth.

The group’s growth was a result of sturdy development of the adidas brand (14% sales growth), as well as growth of Reebok (3%) and TaylorMade-Adidas Golf (6%).

For the fi rst nine months of the year, sales improved 17% (9% in constant cur-rencies) to nearly €12.8-bn due to growth from adidas and Reebok.

Profi ts for the same period improved 14% to €719-m compared to the previous year and the loss from discontinued operations — including the sale of Rockport — was €36-m.

In Western Europe sales increased 18% and 6% in North America due to growth of the adi-das brand, which was balanced by Reebok’s performance. In China sales improved 15% (in constant currencies), Latin America 20% and Japan 6%. In Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, however, sales dropped 7% as a result of retail operations closing down in the regions.

Puma sales improve 8.4% in Q3PUMA REPORTED a 8.4% sales increase to €914.4-m for the third quarter. This is attrib-uted to good performance in the running and training footwear categories and the Ameri-

cas, where sales have improved as a re-sult of the brand’s collaboration with singer Rihanna.

Creeper, the fi rst Puma by Rihanna shoe, has also been a success, with most retailers having sold

out within hours or days.

The company’s foot-wear category grew 3.5% (currency ad-justed) to €408.4-m and was the main contributor to its sales increase. The growth in the cat-

egory was a result of growth in running and training segments from Ignite and Descendant products. Apparel sales increased 2.5% (cur-rency adjusted) to €346.9-m, also from good sales in training products. Sales in the acces-sories category improved 3.7% to € 159.1-m.

In the EMEA region sales dropped 3.6% (cur-rency adjusted) to €375.7-m. Sales in the Americas grew 10.8% to €325.1-m. The dou-ble-digit growth in the US was one of the main reasons for growth in the region.

Drimac, which is owned by the Soviet Group, experienced progressive business growth in 2015, particularly in the retail sector, where they had good growth and opened new stores,

says Currie. They already own 21 branches, but plan to have 54 retail stores by the end of 2019. “Our plan and objective is to grow the brand as well as open further Drimac stores to have 30 by year end 2016,” he explains.

Before he was ap-pointed Drimac op-erations manager in

September 2014, Currie worked for the Next Field group of outdoor stores for four years, looking after the business and its expansion. Before that he worked for Totalsports and the Moresport Group for approximately 16 years.

Exciting developments at Drimac

ASICS launches MetaRun shoe

Industry :: p7


Black Diamond appoints new president

ASICS EUROPE, which includes South Africa, reported a 14% increase in net sales for the fi rst three quarters of 2015 and double-digit sales across the EMEA region. This is mainly attributed to good growth in the running and ASICS Tiger lifestyle categories, and outstand-ing sales in tennis.

The brand’s key strategic category, running, had above-market growth: the running foot-wear segment increased 15% overall, with women’s footwear up 18%. ASICS has been rated as the fastest growing brand amongst fe-male runners, according to NPD Sports Track-ing data.

Tennis apparel sales grew 41% and footwear 16%. The brand is also rated #1 in performance tennis footwear in Italy, Germany, France and Spain.

The ASICS Tiger had triple-digit growth af-ter it was relaunched earlier this year. The Gel-Kayano Evo — a revitalised version of the

brand’s fl agship running shoe released in 1993 — has had the highest sell-through at premium and lifestyle sports-fashion retailers to date.

Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Austria, Poland, Benelux and Russia are among the EMEA markets that achieved double-digit sales growth. The UK, Germany and Italy have had single-digit growth and the brand’s retail store sales have increased 26%.

“The growth across running, as well as other key strategic sports such as tennis, reinforces our position as the true sport performance brand,” commented Alistair Cameron (pic-tured right), CEO of ASICS Europe.

He believes that the Rugby World Cup 2015, where the Wallabies and the Spring-boks — wearing their high-tech jerseys — established ASICS as a world leading rugby brand, further supported an ever-increas-ing brand awareness and retail conversion around ASICS and rugby.

COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR COMPANY reported record net sales increase of $767.6-m for the quarter ended 30 September — a growth of 14% (18% constant currency) from the same period in 2014.The growth includes double-digit sales growth from each of the company’s brands.

The EMEA region, however, experienced a 14% (3% constant currency) sales decline.

The company experienced several personal records: sales increased by 14% (19% constant currency) in the fi rst nine months of 2015, to $1 626.8-m, third quarter operating income grew by 35% to $132.3-m (or 17.2% of sales), and income grew by 36% during the fi rst nine months to $111-m and by 39% in the third

Mizuno sales grow 8%MIZUNO CORP. sales grew 7.8% to ¥96.9-bn for the six months period that ended on 30 Sep-tember, spurred on by sales in running shoes. But, the company’s operating and net income dropped 46.6% (to ¥1.4-bn) and 16.4% (to ¥1.5-bn) respectively.

In the EMEA region sales increased 10.2% (9.5% on a currency-neutral basis) to ¥8.52-bn, but the region suffered a ¥435-m operat-ing loss compared to the same period in 2014. Strong running shoe sales in Germany, where Mizuno sponsors the Hamburg Marathon, helped improve sales in the EMEA region. The golf club market in the region also remained highly competitive, but some of its new irons were highly rated and helped gain a larger market share.

Sales in the Americas grew 12.6% to ¥16.3-bn, but dropped 3.2% on a currency-neutral basis. The brand’s partnership with the na-tional volleyball team helped ensure volleyball product sales remained strong and sales in the golf segment improved compared to last year.

In the Asia and Oceania region sales grew 25.3% to ¥11.4 billion and 10.6% on a curren-cy-neutral basis.

In Japan sales grew 3.5% to ¥60.8-bn and the operating income improved 28.4% to ¥1.46-bn. Sales in the region were driven by health catego-ries such as running, walking and training shoes and competitive sport categories and golf.

BLACK DIAMOND COO Mark Ritchie will take over as president when founder and CEO Peter Metcalf retires at the end of the year after a 26 year run.

Metcalf has tirelessly led Black Diamond Equipment from creation to where it is to-day and we wish him great success in his future endeavours, said Warren B. Kanders, executive chairman of Black Diamond Inc., in a statement.

Ritchie has been promoted to president of the brand to help restore its historical levels of profi tability. His more than 20 years’ expe-rience in a number of operational manage-ment functions and as COO makes him the ideal candidate to lead Black Diamond Equip-ment during its next phase of growth, says Kanders. “We have challenged Mark and

his team to build the number one climbing brand in the world and to return Black Dia-

mond Equipment to its 2011 cost structure.”Black Diamond Inc. has reported a 11% (5%

in currency-neutral terms) drop in sales to $39.3-m for the third quarter. This is attrib-uted to the weakening of foreign currencies against the US dollar and lower product vol-umes in some regions.

Despite weakness in some international markets, the company’s core North Ameri-can business remains strong with 12% sales growth year-to-date, Kanders assures.

The company expects constant currency sales of approximately $160-m for fi scal year 2015, which will include the $64.6-m sale of the POC sports brand in October. This is $1.7-m higher than in 2014.

Brands on the move

quarter alone to $91.1-m. Income includes the incremental profi t from the Prana brand. Op-erating income grew 43% to $167.4-m through the fi rst nine months of 2015.

Globally, the company’s brands grew sales: Columbia’s increased 10% (14% constant cur-rency) to $609.7-m, Sorel’s grew 48% (59% constant currency) to $86.2-m, Prana’s sales increased 22% (22% constant currency) to $34.4-m, and Mountain Hardwear’s sales grew 12% (17% constant currency) to $34.8-m.

Columbia Sportswear sales grew 14%

ASICS sales up 14% in Q3

Alistair Cameron, CEO of ASICS Europe.

p8 :: Industry


Have you placed your Eid orders yet?

Footwear news

Recent changes to the distribution of the Jordan footwear ranges have paid good dividends: the re-positioning of the brands distrib-uted by Jody Henry of Jordan & Co

now help retailers to select what will appeal to their customers, while the success of the win-ter pre-selling encouraged retailers to commit in larger numbers for the summer range.

The fresh, modern look of the new Jordan showroom reflects the categorization of the brands into clear-cut sectors. “We’ve given the ranges a bit of a personality,” says Henry.

“Jordan is now out and out a sneaker range,” he says. Whether hi-top, lo-top, bright colours or neutral, every style in the range is a sneaker.

Renegade, aimed at the an edgy, young, fashion aware customer “is Bronx in synthetic. Solemate, in synthetic, and Supernaturals, in leather, are our comfort ranges.”

These categories give them a lot more focus as each brand has its distinctive personality.

Retailers have shown their appreciation by upping orders by 20%.

Henry attributes this success to the good work done by their agents, who provide feed-back from retailers, to which he and product developer Wayne Roos listen — and act upon. “Retailers tell us what their customers want. If we listen and give them what they want, we deliver what the consumer wants.

“Sometimes brands can become arrogant and think they have all the answers. But, sitting in Cape Town, we don’t know what is happening on the streets of Joburg. You have to act on feedback: if you launch a range and retailers say it’s rubbish, act on it. Don’t pursue a range that is rubbish, you will not get results.”

Henry therefore relies a lot on his agents, who form a bridge between the brand and re-tail customers.

Another reason for their success is that they

aim to put the best possible range together that will service all regions and will cater for everyone. “We’ve got product for everyone,” he says. “Our outlying areas buy into Super-natural and Solemate, which are safer prod-ucts, while the Johannesburg customers want more fashion ranges.”

First pre-sell successfulThis winter season they did pre-selling for the first time — with good results. In the past they only launched their winter ranges in Septem-ber and October, now they had put the winter range to bed by end August.

This was done to reduce the risk of stock-holding and to come in line with the sales

strategy of their new owner, Bolton Footwear.By November they had already sold 80% —

“which is phenomenal,” says Henry, who is con-fident that the rest will be taken by the retailers who only wanted to see them in the new year.

“We were asking retailers for quite a bit of commitment at an early stage,” he comments on the changed strategy, which is now benefit-ing them with the selling of the summer range to retailers prepared to back them because the winter season is doing well for them.

Agents will be wrapping up the summer sea-son orders in March, for July-August delivery.

Jordan sells mainly to independents, which remains a strong market segment, says Henry. Over the past six months they grew their cus-

Jordan & Co’s first pre-sell — of their 2016 winter ranges — has gone exceptionally well and this boosted the confidence of retailers com-mitting to their forthcoming summer ranges

tomer base 25% “and our agents are opening new accounts all the time.”

The secret is always to try and stay one step ahead, he believes. “If you are too far ad-vanced, you lose customers, if you don’t keep up, you also lose.”

Something for all ladiesOver the past two years Wayne Roos had been so successful with building the Bronx Ladies product range, that he has now been given responsibility for developing the new ranges for all the Bolton Footwear ladies brands — in-cluding Dr Hart, Franco Gemelli, Step on Airs and Young Klinik, distributed by Watson Shoes from Groot Brak.

And if that doesn’t keep him busy enough, he also helps Henry with the development of the Renegade, Jordan, Solemate and Super-natural ranges.

He is looking forward to the additional chal-lenge as the Watson Shoes ladies brands are dif-ferent to the high fashion, sophisticated Bronx Ladies brand. “The other ranges have a lot more leather and the groupings are smaller as there is some carry-over of core product,” he explains.

On the other hand, the all-encompassing high fashion synthetic Bronx range requires a lot of research to ensure that he stays on trend. As a fast fashion brand, every season

‘You have to act on feed-back: if you launch a range and retailers say it’s rub-bish, act on it. Don’t pur-sue a range that is rubbish, you will not get results.’

“EvEry yEar Eid is celebrated earlier and earlier, making stock harder to come by, due to the China holiday shutdown,” says Jody Henry of Jordan & Co. “If you are thinking of holding back till the last minute, you will lose out.

“Our kids winter 2016 pre-selling or-ders are done and dusted,” he adds. “We acknowledge that a few retailers prefer to see us only in January/Febru-ary, so we catered 15% of surplus stock for them. Our kids range of Jordan sneakers will be very limited for the winter season, with repeats only avail-

able in later months. “In order to ensure you have a good selec-

tion of product for this period, please con-tact your Jordan agent and arrange a May/June in-store delivery,” he advises.

Jordan kids’ styles Nicholas, Axel,Tucker and Crew.

Kayli, from the Bronx Ladies range, is a favourite of the range developer Wayne Roos. “Courts are cool because you just change the material and it's a whole new shoe. This one was actually named after one of our Facebook winners.”

To p12

p10 :: Apparel & Footwear

and he had already sold nearly 95% of his boot range by end November.

“It gives me the confidence to grow the brand,” he says. “I have gone quite big for summer 2016 and if summer sells through as good as it has sold in, we have a good step in.”

Olympic takes a step upSouth Africa’s own sports brand, Olympic Inter-national, has been upgraded and relaunched as a more technical, visually appealing, yet still affordable, footwear brand.

Olympic cycling shoes have always been very good sellers, but to the entry level custom-er. “We have a very good entry level cycling shoe,” says product developer Gordon Gassert of Jordan & Co. The new range takes a step up and is far more technical.

Jordan & Co will also be responsible for the distribution and marketing of the new range, as the agreement with their for-

heels, wedges, spikes, flats.Although the Bronx Ladies customer profile

is 18-35, he tries to offer something for eve-ryone and has no problem with mothers and daughters wearing the same shoe styles.

“I break the range down into basic styles, high fashion, corporate and comfort,” says Roos, whose ranges just keep on growing every year.

Summer is a difficult season for ladies shoes, because all sandals have to compete with the entry level beach sandals that consumers will

discard at the end of the season. That is, however, not where he wants to po-

sition his brand. “I try to add a bit more to my product, but the exchange rate is killing us. Every bit you add, costs.”

He therefore concentrates more on corpo-rate and sophisticated high fashion styles for sandals, where he can add value because it sells at a higher price. They are also styles that won’t be discarded after one season and the customer will therefore be more inclined to pay a bit more.

Their first winter pre-sell went very well,

Footwear news cont. from p10

Gordon Gassert with some of the new Olympic shoes.

To p14

A lot more thought goes into creating a ladies range than mens

demands a complete new look that he has to anticipate long before he knows how popular it will be. He is, for example, currently busy with the winter 2017 campaign.

It is a question of finding the right balance, especially as everybody reads about the same new trends in overseas magazines, says Roos. The trick is to introduce a new trend, but have a range that will sell locally. The object is, af-ter all, to build a durable a brand.

They visit international sourcing fairs to spot new trends — it is easier to spot a new trend when several of the exhibitors duplicate it, rather than doing trend-spotting by walking the streets, he found.

“A lot more thought goes into creating a la-dies range than mens,” he says.

Bronx Ladies is a sophisticated, sexy brand and he only makes shoes that he believes look good on the foot. “My first priority is that it should look nice on the shelf so that people want to buy it — and once you try it on, it should look nice on the foot so that you want to buy it. It should be a little bit different from other brands.” He would, for example, incor-porate a leather heel, so that it stands out.

He also does not want to be pigeonholed into a specific style, which could mean that he loses sales because he cannot supply what a customer prefers. He therefore makes sure that he caters for all tastes: various height


and the growth of the Jeep footwear brand has been in fashion, where we have started to target the trendy young, black consumer.”

Typically, they see an 80:20 split in summer sales for men:ladies, but in winter it’s closer with a 60:40 ratio. “In the malls, actually, some of the chains report better winter sales for ladies than men,” says Picker. “This is very interesting, because traditionally this used to be a men’s footwear brand.”

The Gecko range, is the star of their inner-city urban collection for men and women. The inner-city urban fashion boot is a trend that has been adopted across the world. “Ladies wear this boot with skinny jeans, jeggings and leggings, tights, and so on,” says Picker. “The Gecko is a look that has done well and we’re going to promote heavily for winter, especially the new colours.”

The ladies Gecko is available in various sil-houttes: • Gecko is available in a nubuck upper. Last

winter they offered Gecko in blue and pink fashion colours — this winter they’ll be fo-cusing on the Dark Honey as well as Mono-chrome Black colourways.

• The Gecko Lo is an ankle boot with a full grain nubuck upper. It comes in Buffalo Yel-low or beige.

• The Gecko Canvas upper is a combination of leather nubuck and canvas, with a fl oral lining giving it a feminine look. The fold-over collar can be worn up or down. The Gecko canvas boot comes in navy, burgundy or honey.

In the men’s range, Jeep continues to of-fer the regular Gecko in the existing colours (black, beige, brown, etc.), but has added two new ones for winter 2016: Dark Honey and Dark Navy.

In high winter, the Racoon, Falcon and Vul-ture boots will keep ladies’ feet warm.

Racoon features a sheepskin fold-over collar that gives it more of a winter look and feel, says Picker. It fi ts the Gecko profi le and is simi-lar to Gecko Canvas, and will be available in the khaki and honey colourways.

Falcon and Vulture are full leather suede boots. Falcon is a fur-lined, fold over ankle

boot that can be worn as slippers or as fashion footwear. Vulture is a complimenting high cut boot.

For the fi rst time, Jeep is introducing a rugged boot

with a steel toe: the Chizzle

boot. “Chizzle is

workwear with a fashion element: it’s very technical and hardwearing. In store, the boot is also supported by its swing-tag, which features all the technical informa-tion.” says Picker. The men’s boot is available in two colours: Buffalo Brown and black.

The Lumberjack is aimed at a similar type of customer as says Chizzle. It is also a hardwear-ing boot with a rugged outsole, but it doesn’t


Jeep Legend

Footwear news cont. from p12mer distributors has come to an end.

They aim to further establish the Olympic In-ternational brand amongst cyclists by introduc-ing a clothing range in the near future.

They have also introduced a new hockey specifi c shoe with all the technical details like ankle and forefoot support, traction, etc. that players require.

In addition, the new, upgraded netball/ court shoe will provide the support, fl exibility and technology that athletes, who twist, turn, accelerate and stop suddenly on a tennis or netball court, require.

The new Olympic range will also feature an entry level running shoe with good stability and cushioning and pronation and anti-prona-tion correction. “We are taking it up a bit from the entry level,” says Gassert.

Bronx Men goes local“We are growing the local production of Bronx Men and our aim is to have more locally pro-duced than imported styles,” says Gassert.

There are several benefi ts to manufacturing the quality leather men’s range in their own factory, he points out.

“We can get a vast selection of good leather from our local tanneries. This means that our products can take on their own unique look, rather than look like everything else.”

The quality of the local leather is not only excellent, but they also offer a bigger and bet-ter variety to choose from than in Asian facto-ries, says Gassert.

Local manufacturing also gives them more control over the product, which is a big ad-vantage, and they are able to supply retailers with stock as the need arises.

Due to the exchange rate, locally manufac-tured leather products can also compete very favourably on price with imports from Asia. “The Bronx quality is very, very, good, and we are able to supply leather product at an entry level price.”

Bronx is aimed at a younger, edgy, customer who also appreciates comfort and quality, he explains. “We try to capture the guy who is aware of fashion and quality.”

Jeep for thefashion-consciousJeep footwear originally offered a range for the traditional kerk en werk consumer, a more conservative client who wants a good shoe that he can wear to work and that looks good enough to also wear out.

Today, however, the footwear side is also focusing strongly on catering for the young, fashion-conscious consumer.

“We’re not ignoring the traditional consum-er,” says Lynton Picker Jeep Footwear brand manager of distributor Footwear Trading. “The traditional and outdoor markets are very strong categories and important to us.”

“We are, however, well established in these markets,” he explains. “The recent expansion



have a steel toe. The boot features stitch-down ren-dering, a gilly lace system with steel brass eyelets, cushioned padded collar, and a comfort insole. This boot looks so good in its Dark Honey col-ourway, that it’s also worn as a fashion boot.

Legend, a brand new style that Jeep has just introduced, was built to last. “It is a proper, technical, hardwearing farmer’s boot with all the bells and whistles,” says Picker. “But people also buy it as a fashion boot.”

The pull-up boot features a full grained and waxy crazy horse leather upper, with a rug-ged, heavy rubber, non-slip traction outsole with a midfoot supporting metal shank inside, and it offers independent movement of the heel and forefoot.

Additionally, it features a breathable Cam-brelle lining, a waterproof and durable Texon board between the inner and outer sole, triple stitching for extra strength and durability, and a comfortable memory foam insole.

The boot also comes with an additional insole in the packaging, for people with narrower feet: simply remove the comfort insole from the boot, insert the extra insole, and then put the original insole back inside the boot. Leg-end is available in Brown and DK Brown.

Levi’s shoes are ready for winterFor its winter 2016 collection, Levi’s keeps true to its recognizable silhouettes, from sneakers to ladies’ and men’s boots and formals. “As hard as it is to let go of summer we have to embrace winter and build on some new looks for the cooler months ahead,” says JonathanChaimowitz, brand manager at local distribu-

tor Footwear Trading. Casual, com-fortable and versatile, the men’s and ladies collections have been

constructed in a wide array of materials and darker

palettes. In the men’s range,

inspiration for the Trucker Lo and Hi (left)

has been taken from the dressed up sneak-er trend, which is reining this season, says Chaimowitz. “Levi’s has gone back to basics: a more down-to-earth vibe shines through in den-im, reversed denim, twill fabrics, faux leathers and combinations. All the while, still keeping its silhouettes and adding new upper designs.”

In ladies, the Dunk Pitch range comes in a vari-ety of shimmery fabrics and metallic faux leath-er uppers with contrasting white rubber soles. The style is available in a variety of colours: whites, black, burgundy, navy and silver adding a subtle detail to any outfi t, says Lara Slotsky, Ladies sourcing manager at Footwear Trading.

The Dunk Vintage Cone range is inspired by the laid-back cool that is synonymous with Cali-fornia’s street-style. As stylish as they are com-fortable, the range features the iconic denim fabric Levi’s is famous for, says Chaimowitz.

Taking inspiration from the renowned her-

itage of the Levi’s brand, the Vintage sneakers fea-ture the highest quality

denim and come in high and low tops.

The original cone denim enables the sneak-ers to mould to the way they are worn — just like a favourite pair of Levi’s jeans would, Chaimowitz explains. Detailing includes the iconic Red Tab label, signature stitching, and authentic Cone denim.

The men’s Dunk Vintage (above) continues, with a new colour (washed navy) that has been added to the two carry overs from the previous season (black and indigo).

Off-fi eld footwear from UmbroIn its Summer 2016 range, Umbro has extend-ed its offering for retailers: the brand, which is normally forcused on soccer, has responded to the demand for off-fi eld footwear.

“This is an exciting chapter for Umbro here in South Africa,” says Umbro SA brand man-ager Tristan Karakashian. “We are now using our experience and knowledge in the footwear industry to bring an exciting range of off-fi eld footwear to the retail market.”

Umbro has positioned these new styles within their range as a strong value offering — not only for the professional football play-er, but also your everyday football fan, says Karakashian. Umbro’s latest footwear col-lection includes pro and entry level football boots, sport and lifestyle trainers, as well as a wide range of sandals.

Umbro has invested in extensive R&D to de-velop its soccer boots, both on the top-end and entry level ranges. “We have seen success at every level, and found our offering to be extremely competitive in the market, which is what we aim to achieve with this range,” says Karakashian. With both multi-stud and turf op-tions available on boots, Umbro is confi dent that what it has defi ned the brand on over the years, will continue to sell to consumers across the country.

While sport and lifestyle footwear may not be Umbro’s primary focus, it is certainly not unfamiliar territory, as the brand has been manufacturing and selling footwear to soccer teams for a long time. It has now decided to use that knowledge and experience to create a footwear range for the retail customer. The range will also give Umbro a boost in the life-style/fashion footwear market and will help retailers to see Umbro in a different light. This offering includes technical trainer options, en-try-level trainer options, as well as a lifestyle trainer, which Umbro feels will be a perfect fi t for the sport consumer.

For a brand entering a new market, Umbro has created a wide range of sandals, and it shows the brand’s positive intention to start strong, says Umbro SA sales manager Byron Mulholland. “This is an entirely new space for Umbro,” he says. “We are excited to go to market with a range that has been developed after extensive research into a footwear category that forms a major part of South African retail.”

F O O T W E A R

Apparel & Footwear :: p15


SA company wins international awardDURBAN-BASED Lowrance SA recently beat Navico distributorships ac-tive in 21 countries to win the award for the Best Marketing and Innova-tion in the group. This was one of only three awards presented at the recent annual Navico conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

Navico is the world’s largest marine electronic company and their range includes Lowrance electronics for sport fi shing craft, distributed in Africa and South Africa by Lowrance SA. Their other brands, Simrad and B&G are also available in South Africa, from a different distributor.

TFG Sport grows 46%DESPITE THE tough economic conditions, TFG Sport reported excellent results for the fi rst half of the 2016 fi nancial year, which ended September 2015. The Sports Division contributed 17.9% to the TFG 6-monthly turnover of R9.8-bn, namely R545-m. This is 46% up from the same period the previous year.

During the period the Sports Division also opened their online trading portal.

The fi nancial report does not give a breakdown of the perfor-mance of the different Sport Divi-sion stores, except for growth in the number of stores: Duesouth now has 45 stores in South Af-rica (40 last year) and fi ve (4 last year) in the rest of Africa, which is 6 more than the previous year. Sportscene has 215 (179 last year) stores in South Africa and 15 (10 last year) in Africa, 41 more than last year. Totalsports has 271 (257 last year) stores in South Africa and 20 (16 last year) in Africa, 18 more than last year. The division now has 65 stores more than last year, namely a total of 571.

The group turnover grew 33.6% in the same period, with 15.8% growth in cash sales.

The acquisition of a majority stake in the UK retail chain Phase Eight with 523 outlets in 23 coun-tries contributed signifi cantly to turnover and store numbers. With Phase Eight included, TFG now has 2 913 outlets in 31 countries global-ly and 2 226 stores in South Africa.

MAJOR SPORT and outdoor group Holdsport bucked diffi cult South African and international trading conditions by growing sales 11.9% to R758-m in the 6-monthly pe-riod ending 31 August 2015. The group includes Sportsmans Ware-house, Outdoor Warehouse and Performance Brands.

Retail sales increased 13.1% to R733.5-m for the period.

Outdoor Warehouse was the star performer with sales growth of 23.4% (16.5% like-for-like) to R184.5-m and a 50% growth in operating profi t compared to the comparable period last year. They now have 22 stores.

Sportsmans Warehouse is the biggest contributor and grew sales 10% (8.7% like-for-like) to R549-m. Operating profi t in-creased 22% from the fi rst half of last year. There are now 36 Sportsmans stores.

Performance Brands, which distributes brands like First As-cent and Capestorm, reported an external sales loss of 14.6% to R24.5-m, but their intergroup

sales grew 50.6%. Their operating profi t was 25.8% higher than the same period last year.

One new Outdoor Warehouse store in Woodlands and two new Sportsmans Warehouse stores in George and Watercrest Mall were opened during the period, for a weighted space increase of 7.2%. Outdoor Warehouse in West Rand was relocated and the stores in Centurion and Pretoria East were expanded. A Sportsmans Ware-house store in Durban was closed.

Inov-8 now owned by DescenteTHE MAJORITY of Inov-8 shares are now owned by Descente, after the Japanese sportswear maker purchased 80% of the inov-8 Group.

“This alliance signals an exciting new phase in inov-8’s develop-ment following a number of years of sustained growth with our cur-rent investors, Livingbridge,” says Gordon Baird, CEO of inov-8. “The expertise and experience provided by Descente will en-hance our ability to release the full potential of the brand.”

Descente has been distributing the brand’s products in Japan, Ko-rea and Hong Kong since 2013 and the signifi cant acquisition allows Descente to give full play to the strengths of both Descente and inov-8, says Masatoshi Ishimoto, President of Descente.

They will help inov-8 develop and expand its global operations, and thereby ensure growth of the group’s overall shoe business, which forms a major part of their current management planning, he explains. “By assimilating inov-8’s impressive research and development capabili-ties we create many exciting new possibilities for product develop-ment within the group.”

Locally inov-8 is distributed by Rebel Elite Fitness.

Companies on the

Mikala Plotz, National Sales Manager Lowrance SA, Lisbeth Plotz, MD Lowrance SA, Marc Jourlait, Deputy CEO of Navico Holdings and Navico EMEA International Sales Director Simon Claxton.

New brands for Lite OptecLITE OPTEC has recently been appointed distributors for two top brands: Oregon Scientifi c and Böker.

As a leader in innovation and design, Oregon Scientifi c creates Smart Living products that em-brace innovations that help the end user live smarter, happier, and healthier, says Brendon Lambert of Lite Optec. “Since its founding in 1989 on Portland USA, Oregon Scien-tifi c has become world-renowned as a brand that offers cutting-edge lifestyle consumer electronics and gadgets to enhance the way people live, work and play so it is a natural partnership with Lite Optec that are leaders in providing innovative outdoor products in the local retail market.”

The products fall across a range of sectors, such as time and weather, health and fi tness, wellness, beauty, and learning and play. “Our prod-ucts are more than beautiful accessories — they enable the user to pur-sue his personal goals for better health and a better living environment, so that he can fi nd more satisfaction in all he does,” says Lambert. The new Oregon Scientifi c products will arrive in South Africa in May.

Böker has an impressive heritage — dating back to the 17th cen-tury. “The history of Böker has been affected by eventful times, but two things remained: their passion and enthusiasm for extraordinary knives,” says Lambert.

Böker is a global brand — manufacturing in Germany, UK, Argentina and China — and offers knives for all budgets. The brand caters for both the knife conneoisseur as well as the person looking for more than a classic Swiss army knife. “From pocket carry to presentation swords — Böker will appeal to most,” he adds.

Holdsport stores grow sales 13%

Holdsport CEO Kevin Hodgson.

p16 :: Industry


K-Way honoured for creating opportunitiesK-WAY HAS been recognised as the 2015 Best Practice Workplace Provider in the Learner-ship category by the Fibre Processing & Manu-facturing SETA (FP&M SETA). The award hon-ours the company for providing opportunities for young people to work and acquire skills in the clothing industry.

K-Way has addressed skill shortages in the clothing industry through learnership pro-grammes and by offering young people an op-portunity to work and grow with the company.

“We have a shortage of machine operators at K-Way and by investing in both employed and unemployed learnership programmes we have promoted employment and succession planning in our business,” says Belinda Wolffe, HR manager for K-Way.

The company has already trained 20 unem-ployed individuals with no background or ex-perience in operating a sewing machine, some of who are now working for them and making a positive contribution to the company.

K-Way also runs a number of employed learn-ership programmes, which allow individuals to move onto more senior positions within the company.

They pride themselves in their people and believe that this has been the key to their suc-cess, says Wolffe. Their ongoing internal and external training programmes and staff devel-opment have led to more promotions, which have helped improve staff morale, teamwork and create a committed workforce.

move

The ladies from K-way hard at work in their Cape Town Factory.

The Platinum Group down to five storesTHE PLATINUM GROUP’s number of stores has dropped down to five, from 68, which are situated in the Gateway centre. The group has negotiated a lease structure with the centre that will allow it to keep these open and possibly allow it to launch a comeback campaign, reports Fin24.

The Platinum Group owns luxury brand stores Hilton Weiner, Jenni Button, Urban, Aca Joe and Vertigo.

“Although certainly not ideal, those five flagship stores have historically generated a staggering 35-40% of the group's turnover and almost 100% of the group’s profit,” said Marcel Joubert, CEO of The Platinum Group, told Fin24 (‘EXCLUSIVE: Urban owner in final bid to save iconic SA stores’, 8 December 2015). “So, if needs be, we can fly the plane on just that engine as we recover, rebuild and regrow from there.”

He is determined to return the 30 year old company to its former heights. In August 2015, the group was placed into voluntary business rescue, under guidance of

practitioners Jacques du Toit and Hans Klopper.Joubert had previously blamed his poor health for the company’s rapid financial de-

cline, with further illness keeping him in hospital for October.

MRP Sport sales grow 12.6%MRP SPORT grew sales 12.6% (compa-rable stores 3.6%) to R559.9-m during the first six months of the 2016 financial year.

“An improved markdown performance and cost curtailment resulted in a mean-ingful increase in operating profit,” the group describes the MRP Sport perfor-mance in a press release about the un-audited group results and interim cash dividend declaration for the 26 weeks ended 26 September 2015. The division grew trading space 11.3% in the period.

Sales of MRP apparel, which includes sportswear and sporting equipment, grew 10.7% (comparable 5.1%) to R5.1-bn.

The Mr Price group grew retail sales 8.6% (4% like-for-like store growth) to R8.6-bn for the period. Cash sales grew 9% to 81.4% of total sales, while credit sales increased 6.7%. Operating profit grew 16.3% to 1.5-bn.

“The economy is not in good shape and consumer confidence is understand-ably low, but our resilient fashion value model is built to withstand these condi-tions,” said CEO Stuart Bird. “We were trading off an exceptional performance in the corresponding period last year, especially in MRP apparel which rep-resents 60% of our business. Last year, MRP apparel grew sales in the same pe-riod by 20% and comparable sales by 15%. In so doing it created an extremely high base to beat in a softer trading environ-ment. The timing of the Easter school holidays and the late onset of winter also did not aid the first half trading pe-riod. These factors largely resulted in the comparatively lower sales and unit growths.”

Group sales outside South Africa grew 9.8% to R756.6-m.

F O O T W E A R

Industry :: p17


New Balance SA is starting 2016 on the forefoot: ready to run with exciting campaigns around high-profile events planned out of their new offices. They are eager

to deliver product that they predict will cause envy in the market and are basking in the at-tention created by the first athletic shoe de-veloped with a 3D printed midsole (see box).

They ended 2015 on a high, moving into more central offices in Claremont with a view and a patio that begs for parties, and meeting targets ahead of budget. Large windows that now give all staff members a view of either Devil’s Peak or cityscapes create a pleasant backdrop for the branding and storytelling on the walls that speak of the brand’s heritage.

Cricket everywhereEven the low-key introduction of the new Proteas cricket shirts into retail in October at the height of the IRB World Cup excitement,

exceeded all expectations. Now its cricket, cricket everywhere with a gluttony of live matches for fans to show off their replica shirts: England is playing here until end Febru-ary, and then the Aussies arrive for a short T20 World Cup warm-up series, leading into the T20 World Cup from 11 March–3 April in India.

The T20 WC jersey will look like the cur-rent replica, except with a new name spon-sor that will be announced soon. The top-end replica, which resembles the players’ ODI jer-sey — apart from some features like the laser cut eyelets to increase breathability — is also

available in a ‘non-alcoholic’ version without the Castle branding. The more affordable take-down is also available without the beer brand logo.

And in April the new Comrades shoe will be arriving on the shelves — this time in ladies and men’s colourways, featuring the latest Fresh Foam technology. “It is beautiful!” says marketing manager of New Balance SA Kath-arine Tromp, who cannot wait for the new ranges to land.

The 1080 range, their premium neutral cush-ioning shoe with the Fresh Foam midsole de-veloped in their R&D laboratories “is looking absolutely magnificent,” she says.

“The colour palette is on trend, the silhou-ettes are right on trend, our range for Com-rades is something to look forward to!” she en-thuses about the new season’s ranges, which will also have a strong women’s element.

The fact that the brand is leading global 3D print innovation, is another

2015 was a good year for New Balance. 2016 Promises to be even better: consumers have em-braced the repositioning of the brand, globally they are leading technological inventions, and exciting new ranges are on the way. Plus, the focus will be on their cricket shirts until April, and then retailers will be stocking the new Comrades shoe

New Balance: Ready to run in 2016

Katharine Tromp enjoying the view from the ‘party terrace’ at the New Balance head office in Claremont. Insets: Big windows and brand messages in the new offices.

To p20

Now its cricket, cricket everywhere with a glut-tony of live matches for fans to show off their rep-lica shirts

p18 :: Industry


exciting development that shows that New Balance is at the cutting edge of footwear development. The first prototype of the shoe was shown at the recent New Balance sales conference in Boston, where the process was demonstrated to delegates. “It is amazing to see — even though it is difficult to compre-hend the whole process,” says Tromp.

This is the ultimate in New Balance’s ‘data to design’ production — in which data col-lected from athlete footstrikes are used to de-velop the most beneficial technologies. With 3D printing, individual midsoles can be printed to fit the exact specifications of an individual elite athlete’s foot. Limited to pinnacle tier product — for now — futuristic applications open up all kinds of interesting possibilities.

Locally, this development re-affirms the repositioning of New Balance as one of the world’s leading athletic brands, which started about two years ago. “Our change in strategy has begun to shown positive signs of success,” says Tromp.

The consumer segments they are now tar-geting are embracing where the brand is now, the measuring metrics they use indicate, she explains. “We use various metrics to measure consumer sentiment — we measure brand sen-timent online and measure all the analytics of

social channels. There has been a significant increase in traffic to our site.”

There has especially been a massive in-crease in online interaction from the metro-politan and game changing athlete consumers — exactly the demographic groups they target. “Our two targets are beginning to connect and engage with us as a brand.”

Clear consumer targetsShe defines the New Balance met consumer as a city dweller aged 24-34, quick to pick up trends, very tech-savvy, quick to share trends with friends, and active online. “They enjoy our data to design philosophy and are very heavily focused in Gauteng. They are basically business professionals, for whom running is a part of life, but it is not all the sport they do, they are very interested in other sport and en-gage in the latest fitness categories. “

A contributing factor to the success of their marketing strategy and overall brand perfor-mance is their laser focus on who we are target-ing, she adds. “Our strategic approach in devel-opment of content, where we serve this content and the mediums in which this content lives is very important in beginning and maintaining a conversation with our target consumer.”

The way they communicate the brand will

have an overall effect on retailers, she contin-ues. And the successful repositioning of New Balance on par with other leading athletic brands was all about communication through campaigns.

“Our top tier footwear is in line with the world’s best,” says Tromp. “It was just a ques-tion of changing the mindset, which came with restructuring the marketing campaigns, the stories we were telling and the product we were launching.”

Communication about the technology and R&D that goes into the shoe also help to change mindsets. “To position the brand as one of the top three in the world, you always have to position it on par with other top end products. But, we are confident we are right considering the position of the brand at the moment and how we’ve grown.”

Apart from the performance footwear, they have also experienced good growth in what they term omni-product — a cross over be-tween performance and lifestyle shoes, with performance features like Fresh Foam or Rev-Lite midsole technology in a lifestyle product . “Omni-product is a transition from perfor-mance into lifestyle, which makes it easy for the consumer to cross over from the perfor-mance category into the lifestyle category, in doing so the consumer remains wearing your brand from gym, to social, or even to work.”

determine their spe-cific needs, and walk out with a breathable 3D-printed running shoe that replicates their footprint, foot contours and pressure points precisely.

New Balance launches 3D shoeNew Balance has pioneered a high perfor-mance running shoe with a 3D printed midsole in partnership with 3D Systems. The 3D printed midsole on the state-of-the-art limited edition shoe was created using the newly developed elastomeric powder DuraForm Flex TPU.

Breakthroughs in materials science enabled them to achieve an optimal balance of flex-ibility, strength, weight and durability.

“To deliver this level of performance with a 3D printed component, we paired experts in running and biomechanics with leaders in plas-

AdidAs — in partnership with 3D printing specialist Materialise — has created the Futurecraft 3D running shoe midsole (right), which can be tailored to athletes’ individual cushioning needs. The 3D-printed midsole prototype forms part of the brand’s Futurecraft series and serves as a statement of intent to innovate in all areas of production.

“We have used a one-of-its-kind combina-tion of process and material in an entirely new way,” says Eric Liedtke, Executive Board Mem-ber of adidas AG. “Our 3D-printed midsole not only allows us to make a great running shoe, but also to use performance data to drive truly bespoke experiences, meeting the needs of any athlete.”

The concept, combined with data sourcing and foot scan technology, could one day change in-store fittings to a point where consumers only have to walk into a store, run on a treadmill to

Strong branding in the New Balance entrance hall.

New Balance campaigns cont. from p18

tics engineering, material development and generative design,” says Sean Murphy, senior manager of innovation and engineering at New Balance.

“With 3D printing we are able to pursue per-formance customisation at a whole new lev-el,” says Robert DeMartini CEO and president of New Balance. “The New Balance Innovation Team is showcasing the latest in performance running and these advancements signify an im-portant step forward to becoming one of the world’s top athletic brands.”

The new 3D shoes (right) will be launched in Boston in April 2016, and limited editions will then be made available to se-lected New Balance stores.

It’s back to the future with 3D athletic shoes The first athletic shoes with midsoles printed with 3D technology have been developed

p20 :: Industry


We have only just started the new year and are en-joying the long, warm summer

days, but apparel suppliers are already selling their 2016 winter ranges (some are even fi nished by now!) and their de-signers have their minds fi xed fi rmly on 2017.

There are several trends that retailers should keep their eyes open for in 2016 and 2017.

Locally, brands have technical apparel rang-es that will appeal to your outdoor-loving cus-tomers, complete with their own assortment of technical benefi ts.

AdidasSports brand adidas also offers its customers technical outdoor clothing with benefi ts such as freedom of movement, insulation and comfort.

The men’s Terrex Ndosphere Primaloft hood-ie, with its Primaloft Synergy 80g/m2 insula-tion, will keep the wearer warm even when the jacket is wet. “This jacket is made from the warmest synthetic insulation material, and it’s extremely compressible,” says Damon Mostert of adidas South Africa. The jacket’s Cocona lining offers moisture management, the Prim-aloft insulated stretch inserts are designed for improved freedom of movement, and the For-motion technology offers a wearer improved performance and comfort while in motion. The white jacket also features an adjustable hood, Primaloft sport insulation on the main body zones, and Primaloft synergy padded stretch inserts for freedom of movement.

Another exciting product from adidas is their Terrex Fast men’s jacket (above) that is

made from soft, stretchy Gore Windstopper fabric for breath-able wind protection. “This jacket is engineered to help the wearer maintain speed at elevation,” says Mostert. “It is light and packable, and cut for an athletic fi t.” The green jacket also features the Formotion technology, elastic sleeve bindings, elastic hems with draw-cords, and a 100% polyes-

ter interlock on the front with a 100% polyes-ter tricot on the back.

The Terrex multi pants are ideal for those times when freedom of movement is ex-tremely necessary, says Mostert. Its four-way stretch material and elastic waist band offers the wearer comfort and security in move-ment, and the pants are easily adjustable with drawcords. The knees and ankle areas are durable and can take wear-and-tear. The pants also feature the Formotion technology, has been treated with durable water repel-lency (DWR) that sheds water, and a quick dry-ing technology.

Black Diamond“The Black Diamond apparel range is relatively new in the global market and we are very ex-cited to bring this premium range to the South Africa consumer,” says Deidre Pieters of Ram Mountaineering, local Black Diamond distribu-tors.

With the Vapor Point shell, your customer will be protected if he’s caught out in a storm while mountain climbing. “It is a lightweight GORE-TEX jacket that offers packable, storm-proof shelter from sudden alpine squalls,” says Piet-ers. It features effi cient pocketing to keep all

the essentials safe, a clean design that keeps weight to a minimum for fast and light ascents, integrated cohesive cord-lock technology, an adjustable, helmet-compatible hood, a YKK Vislon Aqua-guard center front zipper, custom-molded Velcro cuff tabs, and refl ective GORE-TEX logo accent for increased visibility.

“The men’s Creek pants [below] are do-it-all climbing pants made from Cordura stretch-woven nylon,” says Pieters. They are light-weight and rugged, and protect a wearer’s legs as he scums up pitch after pitch of di-hedral, while remaining light and breathable enough for the sunny face climbing above. “The Creek’s gusseted, climbing-specifi c fi t allows for high-stepping, stemming and every-thing in between, and its belt-loop waist and classic fi ve-pocket design blends right in dur-ing the obligatory beer–and-burger stop on the drive home,” adds Pieters.

The lightweight Cordura stretch-woven ny-lon is made from a combination of Invista Ly-cra, Coolmax, and Thermolite, which can be further blended with wool for improved comfort, polypro-pylene for quick drying, and pararamids for added cut re-sistance.

The Coeffi cient jacket pro-vides quick-drying insulation without weighing the wearer down. “With its slim, body-hugging fi t it’s an ideal ad-dition to any alpine layering system,” she says. The jacket has a fast-wicking and breath-able midlayer, uses Polartec PowerDry fl eece to provide effi cient insulation with little weight or bulk, and the stretch cuffs keep the

New in technicaloutdoor clothingTechnical outdoor clothing has pushed the boundaries and is no longer reserved purely for the outdoors — softshells, technical shirts and pants, etc. are even worn as workwear. YAMKELA MKEBE found out what retailers can expect to see in the near future.

To p24

e have only just started the new year and are en-joying the long,

made from soft, stretchy Gore Windstopper fabric for breath-able wind protection. “This jacket is engineered to help the wearer maintain speed at

Wildebees’ range of camo clothing will make consumers near invisible.


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Drimac Rainwear advert.pdf 1 2015/12/04 12:06 PM


sleeves in place. It also features a zippered chest pocket to keep small items within easy reach, and a brushed microsuede collar.

The Power Dry technology gives base fabrics better effi ciency, more dependable wicking proper-ties, faster dry times and better overall performance. “Not all base fabrics are created equal, and many can only provide temporary wicking chemistry that fades and weakens with every wash,” she says Pieters.

By combining their wicking fabric with their patented bicomponent construction, Polartec created a base material that draws moisture from the skin, expands for faster evaporation and lasts the life of the fabric. For Polartec, the tech-nology used to control moisture is the top priority for their base lay-er and next-to-skin materials, to ensure the fabric doesn’t become saturated and lose performance characteristics. The continuous evaporation process helps keep the wearer cool in high tempera-tures and warm in low. Power Dry does not rely on chemical fi bre treatments to transfer moisture due to physically embedding these wicking capabilities into the fab-ric structure.

Black Diamond also uses GORE-TEX Active fabric — which is made from a lighter, thinner membrane that is combined with a fi ne (be-low 40 denier) performance tex-tile — in their clothing. The fabric makes clothing waterproof, wind-proof, durable and breathable, as well as lightweight, and soft with good next-to-skin comfort. This fabric is the ideal solution for highly aerobic done-in-a-day activities, such as running or cy-cling, even in bad weather.

“We trust what we make, be-cause we use what we make,” ex-plains Pieters. “If for any reason, your customer is not 100% satis-fi ed with his Black Diamond ap-

parel, we’ll repair, replace or re-fund it. No charge. No fi ne print. No debate. Guaranteed.”

ColumbiaJackets, shirts, vests and pants … Columbia, locally distributed by Brand ID, has a number of men’s technical outdoor clothing options available for the new season.

The Silver Ridge shirt is designed to protect the wearer from sun-burn and long term skin damage. The shirt has a classic and modern fi t, wicks moisture away, is vented for better comfort, and offers a comfortable range of motion. The Omni-Shade technology provides sun protec-tion as it blocks UVA and UVB rays. Silver Ridge is available in a long and short sleeve option.

The Low Drag Off-shore long sleeve shirt is a quick drying, performance fi shing shirt that offers UPF sun protection thanks to its Omni-Wick (high performance wicking fabric) and Omni-Shade technologies. It also has a rod holder and roll-up sleeves with tab holders.

Not only is the Voyager Convert-ible pants lightweight, they are also easy to store — it packs into its own zippered security pockets. Its zip-off legs quickly convert the long pants into shorts, which makes them ideal to be worn on days when the weather conditions are changing. The pants also fea-ture the Omni-Shade technology.

Through the Omni-Shield tech-nology, the air-permeable Water-tight II jacket stays clean and dry by resisting absorption of liquids. The rain jacket also features full seam sealing, and a microporous Omni-Tech fabric that shields the wearer from wet weather while allowing excess heat and vapor to

escape during activity. The Zero Rules

features three technologies: Om-ni-Freeze ZERO (sweat-activated super cooling), Omni-Wick and Omni-Shade.

This long sleeve shirt has a cooling technology with stretch and sun protection. “This soft and lightweight long sleeve sports our industry-leading cooling technol-ogy, which reacts with sweat to lower the material’s temperature and to keep a person cool during dynamic aerobic activity in the heat,” says Letha Viljoen of Brand ID.

With its Omni-Heat Refl ective (thermal refl ective warmth) and Omni-Tech technologies, the Buga-boo Interchange jacket is a warm, waterproof and breathable jacket that offers air-permeable protec-tion. “We’ve added our patented thermal refl ective technology to this classic winter interchange jacket, delivering an even warmer winter weather fi ghter with layering op-

tions galore,” explains Viljoen. It features the technical outer shell that’s water-proof and breathable,

with adjustable hood, hem and cuffs. The new zip-in fl eece liner features ther-mal refl ectivity, which re-fl ects body heat for warmth while maintaining a high level of breathability. Each piece works as a layer on its own during moderate condi-

tions or “wear them together when you need the jacket’s full storm-fi ghting power,” says Viljoen.

The Flash Forward Down Vest (above left) features the Heat Seal technology for extra warmth and no-sew bonded baffl es, which means that the down stays in and the cold out. This vest is light-weight, features 650-fi ll power down insulation, and the bonded baffl es reduce water penetration. It features a modern, sleek and streamlined aesthetic, and has a “body skimming fi t with end-use mobility in mind,” she says.

DrimacWith the introduction of their wa-terproof rainwear jacket, Drimac offers an excellent option for your customers who might possibly be caught outside in wet weather. It

Outdoor clothing cont. from p22Drimac’s rainwear jacket keeps the wearer’s clothing dry underneath.

can be worn for any type of an outdoor activity, such as hiking, fi shing, trail running, hunting, etc.

The jacket has a ny-lon outer shell, which has been treated with water repel-lent, and features heat sealed seams — no stitches means no holes for

the water to get through. It is also convenient to store: it wraps up into its own small bag, which leaves it as big as a size 7 shoe.

The South African Drimac brand started back in 1957 as a predomi-nantly rainwear supplier. Today the brand offers corporate and outdoor clothing in materials that have been tested for durability and comfort, and has a reputation for quality products.

Hi-TecHi-Tec has your men and ladies customers covered with their jacket options.

The Andre Vest is a sleeveless puffer jacket that is ideal for both casual and outdoor use. It’s also convenient to take with, wher-ever your customer may go: it fi ts easily into a compact bag. The lightweight insulated jacket (550g micro-fi ll) comes in both men and women options. The product is an update of the black Andre Vest, with the new men’s option avail-able in a grey/lime colourway.

Designed for the ladies, the lightweight Lady Mons rainshell (above) is a new addition to the winter 2016 range. It is “perfect for everyday walking, hiking, and protection from the elements,” says Joanne Esterhuizen of Hi-Tec SA. The rainshell has taped seams with DWR treatment making it water repellent, features a stow-away pocket at the back, mesh lining for added breathability, and a drawstring hem and hood.

WildebeesThe Wildebees apparel brand fo-cuses on outfi tting consumers in camo clothing.

The winter 2016 range of camo clothing is available in two pat-terns: Sekelbos and Bosveld. The ranges are available in mens, la-dies and boys.

Sekelbos is also available as an urban camo range, with the print used over colours more often found in the urban jungle.

Omni-Shade technology tions galore,” explains Viljoen.



THE FIRST H&M (Hennes and Mauritz) store in South Africa, situated in the V&A Water-front in Cape Town, opened its doors to select guests on 16 October. It opened to the public on Saturday 17 October at 10am.

The Swedish retail chain is currently the world’s second biggest clothing retailer, fol-lowing Spain’s Inditex/Zara chain, and ahead of America’s Gap. Founded nearly 70 years ago in Sweden, H&M now has more than 3 500 stores in 57 countries. Most stores are in European countries, but they have nearly 400 stores in the US and 13 in Africa (ten in Egypt, three in Morocco).

“Isn’t this exciting?” chirped an excited VIP while waiting in the queue for the store to open its doors. Among the invited guests were celebrities such as Joanne Strauss, Jimmy Nevis, Katryn Kruger, Kurt and Dunay Darren, Aisha Baker, Wayne Parnell and Bonnie Mbuli, as well as top stylists, bloggers and models.

Despite its massive size (4 700m2), the two story flagship store was packed to capacity with excited guests, who were given the red carpet

SPECIALIZED BICYCLES AFRICA launched their latest concept store — the former Freewheel Cycology — at 317 Main Road, Kenilworth, in Cape Town.

Since it opened in 2013, Specialized Bicycles Freewheel Cycology has grown in popularity and became renowned for having one of the best workshops in the country. But, floor space became a problem. After introducing Specialized Bicycles brand into Freewheel Cycology in 2014, expand-ing and becoming a Specialized Concept Store became the next logical step in owners Lionel Murray and Richard Coram’s growth plan.

After six months of expansion, construction and shop fitting, Freewheel Cycology now features a dedicated S-Works, road, mountain and kiddies bike areas, a ladies specific section and a Body Geometry Fitment Studio where customers can be set-up correctly to improve their comfort and reduce the chance of developing any repetitive strain injuries.

Retail news

H&M is here!

Specialized Bicycles’ new Cape Town store

treatment and eager to try on (and buy) the new stores’ clothing, footwear and accessories.

The store employs numerous staff, who were on hand to help customers — ever with a broad smile on the face. This must be the store with the friendliest staff!

H&M also employs clever methods to help customers shop: one is their large shopping bags, which mean that customers don’t have to carry the clothing in their hands, encourag-ing them to browse through clothing unencum-bered and add more items.

Another is to group different clothing styles together in their own sections of the store, with shoes and accessories that will go well with the clothing to complete the outfit.

The entire bottom floor is dedicated to la-dies‘ wear, with the top floor dedicated to men’s and children’s wear as well as home accessories.

The store even has activewear sections in each of its women’s, men’s and kids‘ departments.

The second H&M store in South Africa, a 3 100m2 store, opened on 7 November in Sand-

ton City, Johannesburg.Johannesburg has a vibrant urban energy

and with that comes an insatiable demand for global style, says Pär Darj, Country Manager for H&M South Africa. “So H&M is delighted to open the store in time for the festive season where customers can look forward to a wide variety of spring and summer collections.”

The H&M X Balmaination Designer Collec-tion was launched at the store opening and to celebrate H&M hosted a VIP Shopping Evening on 4 November for invited guests who were entertained by SA DJ’s.

Clockwise: 1 & 2) Large shopping bags means cus-tomers don’t have to carry the clothing in their hands; 3) The store’s numerous staff were on hand to help customers; 4 & 5) The store has activewear sections in its women’s, men’s and kids‘ departments.

1 2 3 4

5

p26 :: Industry

This Way Out has taken the outdoor shopping experience to a new lev-el: they have created retail spaces that encourage customers to hang around and enjoy the shopping

experience. Or simply pop in for a visit or to have a drink with friends.

Their latest store at 16 Buiten Street, Cape Town, is the third of its kind, following the opening of the Meerendal and Conterman-skloof outlets earlier this year.

The stores showcase top cycling, biking and outdoor brands like Helly Hansen, Eas-ton, Northwave, Rocky Mountain, Raceface, Alpine Stars, Evoc and many more. This Way Out store is, however, more than just a brand concept store: it will kit out patrons for their chosen activity through to the next activity, even if it is just for a braai, visit to a wine farm or to hang out with friends.

In welcoming guests, owner Abrie Botma explained his vision for the store, which he describes as “an indoor space for outside be-ings”. The aim is to be an enabler or portal for

This Way Out launchesunique Cape Town store

Unique offerings• A servicing workshop and demarcated

area where customers can be measured to have their bicycle fitted.

• The This Way Out app,which gives usersaccess to services like booking bikes in for a service online, seeing when upcom-ing events will take place, shopping on-line, etc.

• Customers can have a coffee or drink from the in-store bar, which they can en-joy at seating areas conveniently located on the shop floor.

people to be kitted out for the great outdoors — whether in the form of cycling, yachting, mountain biking, etc.

The company and its employees live by the Helly Hanson brand’s motto: “Born by the ocean, raised by the mountain,” says Botma. “We love anything that’s on water, land, on mountains…we’ve hiked most things, climbed most things and drank a lot of wine in be-tween,” he joked.

Some features that make a difference to the shopping experience include a coffee and drink bar, where customers can order drinks or coffee while they contemplate purchases, a conference room that will be used for staff meetings, a servicing workshop and demarcat-ed area where customers can be measured to have their bicycle fitted.

A This Way Out app is also available and gives users access to a variety of services including booking bikes in for a service online, seeing when upcoming events will take place, shop-ping online, booking private merchandising sessions and users can even join a coffee loy-

alty programme to receive discount on coffees from their in-store coffee counter/bar.

Adventurer Riaan Manser and his partner Vasti Geldenhuys were two of the speakers at the store opening and gave guests a bit of a peak into the adventures they have had, which included tales of Manser cycling the pe-rimeter of Africa and their 10 765km rowing journey to New York.


- 27 - Shop Talk

Above left: The This Way Out store in Cape Town. Above right: Guests socialising at tables where future customers can put their feet up while in store.Left: Store owner Abrie Botma.Below middle: Category and brand named displays make finding items and brands easier for patrons.Below right: This Way Out’s resident barista Max Jodo.


Athleisure will continue to grow

The global sportswear market — currently valued at $263-bn — is expected to grow 24% to approxi-mately $350-bn over the next five years — with sales from active

apparel expected to account for $178-bn of this, reports trend forecaster WGSN.

The trend is driven by consumers shifting toward a more active and healthy lifestyle and desire for comfortable clothing without compromising style, says Clare Varga, direc-tor of Active at WGSN. “While not all of us can include five workouts in our hectic sched-ules, we increasingly want to look like we can. Ultimately athleisure fills that need.”

Other factors such as constant develop-ments, innovations, designs and technolo-gies from the sportswear industry also help ensure continued growth. From must-have sneaker drops, to cutting-edge wearables, to sci-fi fabric technologies … the renewal is constantly taking place, explains Varga.

Different style tribesThere are five clear consumer style tribes that have emerged from the athleisure trend and should be understood in order to be successful in this sector.• The AllDayActives, which consists of both

men and women, lead busy lifestyles and want transitional active wear that offers a lot of functionality, without compromising on style.

These consumers want performance fab-rics and are very brand aware. They wear stylish and contemporary performance ap-parel, which seamlessly integrates into their regular wardrobe — enabling them to move from gym, to cycle commute, to after work drinks.

• The Protein Princesses, have emerged from the health and fitness boom and are female consumers in their early 20’s, who are all about aspirational fitness, lifestyle and look-ing good, explains Varga.

Working out five to six times a week is a part of their schedule and want active brands that offer a great deal of style. These ladies are constantly looking for the latest gym clothing.

• The Ath-Fakers are the definition of athlei-sure and wear their active wear for every activity as a result of its convenience and their desire to be comfortable.

This woman is brand savvy, and prefers female-focused sports brands that offer flat-tering fits, comfort and style.

“For every one pair of jeans this girl used to buy, she’s actually buying two pairs of leggings. So neglect this consumer at your

The athleisure trend, where consumers dress active all day, is a global phenomenon that will continue to grow, writes RHIANAH RHODE

peril,” adds Varga.• The Fash-Leisures are all about styling, look

and labels. Fitness and an active lifestyle are not important in their choices and they see function and comfort as bonuses.

These female and male consumers mix premium sportswear and non-athletic items.

Girls dress down using contrasting styles and textures to create quirky juxtapositions. Well-known sports brands are matched with limited edition products in this female con-sumer’s wardrobe.

Boys, on the other hand, combine limited-edition and premium products into cool and relaxed urban sports looks.

• The Ath-Luxers are masters of transitional dressing and have elevated sportswear to premium levels to the point where one wouldn’t even realise they are wearing sportswear, says Varga.

These consumers see a workout as luxury time and will be dressed for any occasion from working out, to the office or having drinks with friends.

It’s all about balancing style, performance and comfort, and will ensure that everything is finished off with a key accessory — “be it the latest jewellery-like wearable tracker or a must-have beaker water bottle that is de-signed specifically not to leak in their Prada bag,” she says.

Expectations for trendThe trend is currently more popular among women, but is expected to grow among men, which will result in more dedicated men’s brands and retailers moving into the sector.

The women’s fitness youth market could po-tentially flourish from targeting fashion millen-nials who grew up in the health and fitness era.

A number of active-specific beauty products are being developed and designed specifically for use during workouts and busy lifestyles, which is expected to grow fast among the Protein Princesses and Ath-Luxers.

Technology and innovations in textiles will become more important and new self-healing and intuitive fabrics that will look and feel like non-performance fabrics will be created.

These will become the norm and be expect-ed by the savvy tech consumer, says Varga.

Other expectations include a shift towards stylish instead of overtly sporty product de-signs, which will help render the term athlei-sure obsolete. Basic sport styles being used as everyday wear will become a norm, with designs and fabrics improving to offer more comfort and functionality. Travel will become a part of design consideration, resulting in adaptable and convertible styles, products with stain-resistant anti-bacterial properties and self-powered smart accessories.

“PREDATOR FLEX REACTOR lenses have to-date been Zoggs’ most advanced, and the best lenses that have been used in goggles,” says Colin Farrer of CorSport, local distribu-tor of Zoggs. “Now they’ve just got better.”

Their superior feature is the enhanced vis-ibility, provided by the Titanium lenses that offer added protection from reflected light and glare to reduce eye fatigue. Wearers will also notice that they reduce glare and soften the visual experience when swim-ming indoors.

With the added benefit of photochromatic lenses, that react to the sun’s rays and tint according to light conditions, Preda-tor Flex Titanium Reactor truly is the one pair of goggles whatever the condition, in-side and outside, says Farrer.

The Titanium Reactor lenses are light-weight, durable, impact resistant, and offer UV 400 protection.

The lenses are used on the exisiting Preda-tor Flex swim goggle frame, which already has all of Zoggs’ great technologies, says Farrer. These include 4 Flexpoint Technol-ogy, Curved Lens Technology (CLT), Fog-buster, Wiroframe technology, Soft-Seal gaskets, a Split yoke headstrap, and a quick adjust mechanism.

The Predator Flex Titanium Reactor comes in a new packaging design, which includes a

hard, zipped case.It is currently

available, and is supported by an on-line video, QR code on the packaging, advertising, POS material and prod-uct placement.

Enhanced visibility with Zoggs


Stormers Faithful and players alike will be proud to wear the new 2016 Super Rugby home and away jer-seys from adidas, the designs of which reflect the franchise’s roots in Western Province Rugby.

“adidas, together with Western Province Rugby, designed the new jerseys so that the DHL Stormers Faithful as well as the players can take a part of the Western Cape with them everywhere they go,” says Adrian de Souza, Head of Rugby at adidas South Africa.

The most notable change from the 2015 kit is on the new away jersey, which is a Disa-inspired red. “The away jersey is an exciting take on our rich history that incorporates the red of the Disa, which represents the pride, heritage and diversity of our union and teams,” says Western Province Rugby CEO Rob Wagner. “We are proud to retain an element of our history in our new designs.”

The new home jersey continues to feature the signature hoops of

Western Province Rugby, with the height of the stripes that run across the jersey updated for 2016. These now create a fade effect, with the stripes becoming thinner towards the bottom of the jersey.

Both jerseys feature the climacool technology, which ensures that airflow keeps the body cool during play through ventilation panels in key parts of the jersey, including across the back and under the arms.

“We believe that the contemporary new look of both the home and away jerseys will not only inspire the team to winning ways in 2016, but, more importantly, speak to our fans,” adds Wagner.

The home jersey will make its debut at DHL Newlands on Saturday 27 February against the Vodacom Bulls, at the start of the 2016 Super Rugby tournament.

For more information follow adidasZA on Instagram and on Twitter.For trade enquiries contact adidas South Africa on Tel: 021 442 6200.

New adidas Stormers jerseys reflect heritage

The new adidas DHL Stormers home and away kits for the 2016 Super Rugby season retain the proud heritage of Western Province Rugby

Advertorial :: p29

Sport news

ADIDAS WAS by far the most popular boot at the 2015 IRB World Cup and it was worn by 39.26% of the players counted. Mizuno was the second most popular boot — a position which the brand has worked hard to establish over the last 30 years, says Paul Copson from local distributor Brand ID.

Mizuno was worn by 27.05% of the players surveyed as part of the Rugby World Cup 2015 offi cial boot count. These two brands beat com-petitors like Nike (11.44%), Asics (10.66%), Under

PUMA HAS launched its new Pop Art-inspired evoPower 1.2 soccer boot, which provides power and accuracy when kicking the ball, features Bam!! and Pow! prints that refl ect its power theme.

It has been designed with a bare foot movement in mind and provides maximum fl ex-ibility to improve shooting power. The lightweight, soft upper material stretches longitudinally to al-low freedom of movement while maintaining

support. The GripTex print across the upper offers im-proved ball control, and a lightweight AccuFoam lining provides a clean kicking sur-face.

“This time Puma has really surprised me with the new boots they gave to me and I love the result,” says Cesc Fàbregas. “The graphics are so cool, and it actually feels

like a little piece of art that I can wear on my feet.”

Vibrant racket range from TOPPROW.E.T. SPORTS has launched its summer racket collection from TOPPRO, with most tennis, squash and badminton mod-els offering a choice of vibrant colours.

“We’ve concentrated our efforts on the junior entry level and one better, tennis and squash rackets, and offer fi ve different price points in our badminton range,” says marketing manager Patrick Franck. “We of-fer an exciting range of good quality rack-ets at an affordable price, which we hope our customers will like.”

“We’ve concentrated our efforts on the junior entry level and one better, tennis and squash rackets, and offer fi ve different price points in our badminton range,” says marketing manager Patrick Franck. “We of-fer an exciting range of good quality rack-ets at an affordable price, which we hope

PUMA introduces Pop Art boot

Adidas and Mizuno win at RWCArmour (5.87%), Puma (2.78%), etc.

Mizuno was the most popular among play-ers from Fiji (81.82%), Namibia (77.78%) — which it sponsored — Samoa (69.70%), Roma-nia (59.38%), Georgia (54.84%), US (51.61%) and Tonga (38.71%). The boots were also mostly worn by props (21%) and locks (15%).

The signifi cant Mi-

zuno boot presence at the World Cup is further strengthened by the fact that “Mizuno did not pay the vast majority of players to play in our boots in this year’s rugby world cup,” says Copson.

He believes that if this factor had been taken into account, their promi-nence would have been far greater. “This would further prove that our

Morelia Neo Mix Rugby boot is truly a fi rm favourite amongst the world’s best players,” he adds.

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Untitled-1 1 12/3/15 10:28 AM


Recommendingwinter sports

products for teamsSchools and clubs will soon be purchasing teamwear, balls and equip-ment for their winter sport teams. RHIANAH RHODE asked suppliers to recommend what retailers should advise schools and clubs buying products for their hockey, netball, rugby and soccer teams

It can be quite daunting when you have to buy sports equipment and teamwear for all the teams at a school or club, often with a limited budget. Buying in bulk means that a lot of money is at

stake and the teacher, coach or sport officer who errs will make a very costly mistake. If he is inexperienced he would appreciate guid-ance from a knowledgeable salesperson.

When buying in bulk, the temptation is often to buy the cheapest products available in or-der to get as much as possible for as little as possible. Yet, schools expect these products to

withstand the rigours of frequent play on of-ten inferior surfaces by multiple players with vastly different abilities.

Because tight budgets are a reality for ma-jority of schools, they often purchase the cheapest inferior products — especially when

it comes to balls and kits, says James Mullen from PUMA SA. “Remind customers that these garments and equipment will only last half a season and they will end up purchasing double the amount of product than previously budg-eted for.”

Buying the wrong equipment has become such a widespread problem that Sports and Recreation (SRSA) is planning on implement-ing new norms and standards to regulate what sports clothing and equipment schools and clubs they support financially can purchase.

According to their Annual Per-

Slightly more expensive and brand specific prod-ucts usually last more than one season.

To p34

p32 :: Sport


formance Plan 2015/16 they want to supply 6 400 schools, community hubs and clubs with equipment and clothing per year until 2018/19. But, the depart-ment is concerned about the inferior quality, exorbitant prices and shortage of suitable sporting equipment they’ve encountered in the past. (see box p38).

Buying the wrong equipment is, how-ever, a problem that the thousands of other schools and clubs who have to buy their own teamwear and equip-ment share.

Buying ballsTeam balls, especially, are bought in big quantities and making the wrong choice can be a very expensive mistake — for which the retailer is often blamed.

What advice can a retailer therefore offer to ensure that his school and club customers make the best choice to suit their budget?

Advise the customer to check the official ball status in school and club competitions, as well as leagues, be-

Winter team sport cont. from p32

To make life a little easier, sports governing bodies have rules and guidelines with regards to what balls may be used during competition matches. It is important to make customers aware of these rules when purchasing products for the different age groups and sporting codes.

There are also guidelines for sizes that are suitable for different age groups.

Soccer balls Different leagues will use different size balls. A general guideline to follow is:• Size 5: for ages 12 and up. This match ball

is also used in adult competitions. It must weigh between 410-450gm and the circum-ference must be 68-70cm. It must be inflat-ed to a pressure of between 0.6 and 1.1 bars at sea level.

• Size 4: for ages 8 -12 years, usually most primary school teams. They must weigh be-tween 336-364gm and have a circumference of 64-66cm.

• Size 3 is the smallest official ball and is used for players under 8 years, usually for mini-soccer. These small balls weigh between 308-336gm and have a circumference of 58-61cm.

Netball balls• Size 5 is used for players older than 11

years. This is the official size used in match-es, including adult, training sessions and for recreational purposes. The weight of the ball should be between 400-450gm and the

Ball specs for age groupscircumference 690-710mm.

• Size 4 netballs are generally used by young-er primary school players, usually aged 6-9, and for mini-netball. They are also used in training sessions for older players and for recreational play. The weight should be 375-430gm and the circumference 630-660mm.

• Size 3: these small balls will usually be used for pre-school players up to age 5, not in matches.

• Brighter coloured balls that are easily vis-ible are often used for training. Training balls usually offer lower performance than match balls.

Rugby ballsThe laws of Rugby state the balls must be oval in shape and made from 4 panels.• Size 5 is the full sized rugby ball used by

from U15 teams to senior rugby. The length should be between 28-30cm, the length cir-cumference 74-77cm and the width circum-ference 58-62cm. The weight of the new ball should be between 410-460g. It should be inflated to the optimum ball pressure of 9.5 to 10 PSI.

• Size 4.5 is used in women’s rugby for U15 and above teams, including senior rugby.

• Size 4 is used in junior rugby matches by the U10, U11, U12, U13 and U14 age groups. The average length is 27.5cm, the circum-ference length 72cm, and the girth circum-ference 55.5cm.

• Size 3 balls are used in mini-rugby by age groups U7, U8 and U9. The length is 25.5cm, the circumference length 68cm and girth circumference 54cm.

• A rugby ball may be treated to make it water resistant and has dimples to make it easier to grip. These will vary from one manufac-turer to the other.

The Advance Rugby and Advance League training rugby ball range from Summit, locally distrib-uted by Opal Sports, makes choosing the right ball for the right aged players easy. It’s written on the balls themselves! Walla is for U7’s, Mini is for ages 7-9 and, Midi for ages 10-12.

Hockey ballsThe weight of a hockey match ball is 156-163gm and the circumference 224-235mm. The surface can be smooth or indented. The colour must be white, or another agreed upon colour that is easily discernible from the play-ing surface.

Clothing regulationsFor teams’ clothing, the competition rules state:• Netball: a player’s position initial must be

150mm above the waist and be visible on the front and back.

• Soccer: players must wear a jersey or shirt with sleeves. If they are wearing an under-garment, it must be of the same colour as the sleeve. The same applies to under shorts.

fore purchasing, as this may de-termine his choice of practice and match balls, says Charles Painter from Kevro Sports, distributors of BRT teamwear, Brutal rugby, Sevenn netball, Acelli soccer and Blackheath hockey.

Only competitions played under the auspices of the national fed-eration (e.g. Craven Week rugby) has to be played with the official match ball of that federation – several other leagues and compe-titions have their own official ball suppliers, or no ball brand is an official supplier. Therefore SARU rugby and SA

Schools Netball To p36

The South African national netball team plays in Canterbury clothing and Mizuno footwear, which are locally distributed by Brand ID.Photo: Michael Bradley.

p34 :: Sport


Selecting teamwear and bibsWhen it comes to selecting teamwear and bibs, it’s important that they should fit players properly and be of good quality, says Mullen. With rugby clothing, make sure the sizes and cuts are standard for specific age groups and that garments are strong and tough enough to endure a season of matches.

Choosing rugby apparel is just as important as spending vast amounts of money on coaches

matches are all played with a Gilbert balls, as the brand is the official sponsor of both fed-erations — but at lower levels other brands are used. In soccer, the Coca-Cola Cup schools soccer tournament is, for example, played with balls bought and rebranded by the name sponsor, while the Danone league for primary schools does not specify a ball brand, only that a size 4 ball should be used.

Also make sure the balls are the correct size for the age group of players, says Mullen (see p34).

Hockey balls should roll and feel as close as possible to an international standard ball, which can be out of the price range of some schools, says Shane Schonegevel from OBO SA, local distributor of Gryphon and OBO.

He therefore suggests that retailers should recommend a well-made rotationally moulded hollow ball or, if affordable, a ball with a PVC outer and moulded cork and rubber inner.

For rugby balls, weight and balance are key features, says Evert Ferreira from Brand ID, lo-cal distributor of Canterbury. He would advise schools and clubs to purchase IRB approved balls, which have been tested and will offer players consistency and accuracy.

Customers should match balls to the con-ditions and playing surface of the school or club, advises Nick Wiltshire from Pat Wiltshire Sports, local distributor of Mikasa.

“For schools in rural areas, where children will be playing on gravel and hard ground sur-faces, recommend wound or moulded soccer balls,” he says. “These have been tested and found to be more durable and longer last-ing.” For grass field use, on the other hand, he would recommend machine stitched balls.

Ball quality and priceAdvise teachers and coaches to purchase balls from a reputable manufacturer in order to ensure that balls last longer, adds Mullen. They should offer players good grip, stitching, weight and balance. For soccer it is also im-portant that balls have a durable outer surface that can endure kicking.

In his experience, purchasing slightly more expensive and brand specific products usually last more than one season, agrees Wiltshire. He found that when quality balls are pur-chased, last year’s match balls usually become this year’s practice balls to serve schools well for quite a few years.

Retailers should also recommend that schools and clubs purchase serviceable and repairable products so that when a ball is punctured, they are in a position to have it repaired as part of the after sales service and product guarantee offered by reputable brands, he suggests.

With practice balls or training equipment the adage buy the best quality for the best price applies as they are used frequently and need re-placement more often than top end match balls,” says Patrick Franck of W.E.T. Sport Importers.

For junior level players however, more in-expensive generic brands offer products that do the job almost as well as top of the range products, for a fraction of the price, he says. Because a junior school rugby player will not kick the ball as hard as a high school player, a cheaper 2-ply, rather than 3-ply ball will work. Junior players do not require as much shape retention as the more expensive ball offers.

“By the same token, a senior player would need a better ball to perform at a higher standard.”

Winter team sport cont. from p34

to ensure good results, says Ferreira, who be-lieves that durability and quality fabrics are essential when selecting rugby apparel. “With sport having become such an important aspect in school life, schools get measured by which brand they wear and represent. Therefore, with so much at stake, the latest technologies in apparel are essential.”

Products are usually more expensive due to the use of better quality materials,

Skins partnered with Sa-moa and Tonga rugby teams during the 2015 IRB Rugby World Cup who wore their unbranded compression wear dur-ing the event. As part of the agreement with the team Skins replaced the non-branded gear of the two teams after event and even supplied new gear to the Samoan netball team.

Samoa members with new Skins gear. Image: http://watercooler.skins.net

To p38

p36 :: Sport

Website: www.kevro.co.za | www.barron.co.za

National: 08611 KEVRO (53876)

Email: [email protected]

Kevro is strictly a trade-only company supplying the industry via registered resellers. Kevro does not supply to the end-user.

NetballBalls, Apparel &

Equipment

RugbyBalls, Apparel &

Equipment

HOCKEYBalls, Apparel &

Equipment


Offering protection

Many schools have made it compulsory for players to use mouthguards in contact sports like hockey and rugby, and even soccer.

A mouthguard protects the mouth by absorb-ing impact and dispersing it more evenly to help minimise damage to the wearer. Its use can prevent teeth being knocked out, which can be especially important for young children who are just starting to grow adult teeth. Chil-dren’s adult teeth fully develop between the age of 10-12 years and losing a tooth there-after will result in a permanent gap in the player’s mouth.

How the mouthguard fits is very important, because a bad fit can minimise its ability to effectively protect the wearer, cause discom-fort, or interfere with his ability to breathe or speak. If the mouthguard is too small, the wearer may struggle to keep it in place with his teeth or tongue. If it is too big it could cause gagging and customers may then feel the need to cut off excess length, but this could compromise the amount of protection it offers.

Ready-made mouthguards that come pre-formed in set sizes do not cater to different jaw sizes and will most likely not fit every player well. If it does not fit the player’s natu-ral bite shape it will leave him unprotected and cause discomfort.

The boil-and bite type of mouthguards, which are made of thermoplastic material, is available in a number of sizes, and requires the user to heat it and place it in his mouth for it to take shape. It will offer a shape that is closer to players’ natural bite and more com-fort than the ready-made version.

The use of a custom-made mouthguard will ensure that young players get the fit that is as

close as possible to their natural shape as it will be made from an exact moulding of the user’s mouth.

Contact sports for younger age groups in primary school are usually not as aggressive and competitive as with older groups at high school levels and therefore customers can use the cheaper ready-made or bite-and-boil op-tions for young players. It will also mean that the customer won’t be wasting money should the player decide to quit the sport in a few weeks or months.

For older players a more customised fit may be more suitable as they will have more use for the product and it will last longer, because they are at a more constant grow-ing stage, which means they won’t require a change of mouthguard as often as the young-

er player will.As a contact sport with natural hazards,

rugby players often get injured and many par-ents therefore insist that their children play with protective gear that feature padding that helps to reduce or prevent injuries from occurring.

Rugby protective gear may not be thicker than 0.5cm in any area when uncompressed or have a density higher than 45kg per square meter. The International Rugby Board (IRB) formulated this standard in order to prevent players from overly padding themselves and cause injury to players who are not as heavily padded.

They specify that all padding used in the gear must be homogeneous — which means it should have the same texture, hardness and density on the side facing the player and the side facing the opponent.

A player may also wear shin guards with pad-ding incorporations under his socks.

Headgear must be made of soft and thin materials. It must not cause the wearer dis-comfort or impede his playing movements. It should also be unlikely to cause injury to the wearer or his opponents and therefore cannot be hard or have any sharp edges, seams, etc.

In soccer, players may wear rubber, plastic or similar material shin guards that are cov-ered entirely by their socks and offer good protection.

During competition, hockey goal keepers must wear headgear, leg guards and kickers. Remind customers that players with goalkeep-ing privileges also require protective headgear when defending a penalty corner or penalty stroke.

The value for money the gear offers, its per-formance and the protection it offers are the main areas to consider when selecting hockey goalies’ protective wear, says Schonegevel. Advise customers to select durable protective wear that offers players a good level of pro-tection, yet allow the keeper to

Sport cont. from p36 Register to supply schools and clubsCompanies wishing to tender to supply government schools, take note: in order to supply goods or services to govern-ment structures in future, all retailers and suppliers have to register on the Central Supplier Database, which serves as a cen-tral source of suppliers for all government spheres, by 1 April 2016.

In order to stop monopolies, SRSA will be limiting the number of provinc-es service providers can deliver prod-ucts to.

They will also institute a feedback sys-tem from the provinces that will be con-sulted before appointing new service pro-viders for future sports equipment and clothing tenders.

The Limpopo school team who competed in the second annual National Championships, which is sponsored by Milo. The event saw thousands of learners from government schools across South Africa compete for the prize of R20 000, which was awarded to seven schools.

To p40

components, construction and extensive prod-uct development, rather than purely due to the brand name, says Angus Thomson of Rhino Rugby South Africa.

He suggests advising customers to ask them-selves the following question before purchas-ing: do the costs translate into a longer last-ing, better made task-specific engineered product, or is it just a generic product with a well-known brand on it?

Although every sporting code is unique, learners’ soccer apparel should be all about lightness and breathability, says Ferreira.

Check the soccer garment’s stitch quality, weight, and general cut, adds Mullen.

If customers are looking for economical or easy-to-use products, suggest in-stock kits,

p38 :: Sport

Untitled-5 1 12/4/15 3:04 PM


says Painter. Numbered bibs will be more af-fordable than customised apparel and can be used instead of numbering each individual’s shirt/top — making the bibs useable across dif-ferent age groups. Kevro Sports offers both kit and bib options for netball, he adds.

It stands to reason the teachers should know the age group, size and level of players they are

Protective cont. from p38

The SPAR Protea netball team, which is sponsored by Canterbury (clothing) and Mizuno (footwear) — both locally distributed by Brand ID — won the Diamond Challenge, held in Margate, Kwazulu-Natal, and finished second in the European netball championships held in Belfast, Ireland, earlier this year.Photo: Reg Caldecott/Gallo Images.

Winter team sport cont. from p38buying for, in order to determine which apparel products will suit them best, adds Thompson.

Hockey sticksWith younger learners, or those trying their hand at hockey, entry level wooden hockey sticks will suffice and will help the player learn the basic skills needed, advises Franck.

move and play in it. He suggests a three-dimensionally moulded

and heat bonded product, which uses denser foam and offers more durability than glued gear. Their moulding process creates gear that offers more mobility and protection, he explains.

And it’s important that a hockey goalie’s protective wear fit properly, adds Painter. Be-cause the level of protection offered differs between senior and entry level kits, the same kit would not suffice for use by both junior and senior teams, he warns.

Retailers should compare apples with apples with regards to the components offered in the kit, he advises.

Good year for Proteas

Three kits for Bulls fansVODACOM BULLS supporters have three new kits to choose from, which were recently launched by PUMA for the 2016 Super Rugby season. There is something for everyone in the new kits, which feature a Bull imprint across the front with reflective material embellish-ments, says Brett Bellinger, PUMA South Af-rica’s marketing director.

The Stellar Kit introduces the first signature Black kit with a jersey that features an orange and red ombrè effect across the front. It takes inspiration from the star-filled night sky, which is fitting for the Bulls — stars in their own right — and makes for a great signature kit, says

CANTERBURY SOUTH AFRICA has launched the new Lions Super Rugby Jersey for 2016, which has been developed in response to a challenge from the Emirates Lions Rugby Union to create a jersey that can withstand the physicality of the game and represent everything the Emir-ates Lions and Johannesburg stand for.

The jersey has undergone seven months of research, design and development. “We feel we’ve succeeded in developing a technically advanced jersey that brings the Pride of Jo-hannesburg to life,” says Du Toit Botes, from Brand ID, local distributor of the brand.

Their Star product range is designed to pro-vide good value for money for school or club players.

Hockey sticks used for competition must be smooth and able to pass through a 51mm diameter ring, even with any additional cov-erings. Any curvature along the length of the stick can only have a 25mm depth and must be continuous and smooth. This may occur along the face side or back of the stick, but not in both places.

black and gold and features the city’s unique skyline, which represents Johannesburg’s his-tory of being born from the gold rush era and its people’s tenacity, pride and hard work. The golden sunrise also reflects a new era for the Emirates Lions.

Both jerseys feature a traditional loop collar design with a 360° loop bound neckline, which has been changed to endure the game’s physi-cality, provide resistance and enhance elastic-ity as well as shape retention. This is Canter-bury’s toughest collar yet, says Botes.

Bellinger.PUMA has brought back the hugely successful

pink kit, which the team will wear during one of their home games in support of CANSA and those

persevering the fight against cancer. It will only be available in a ladies cut for supporters.

For the traditional Bulls supporter, there is also a blue kit.

The latest kit launches from brands

Because tradition is important, they have kept the Lions’ traditional red and white in the home jersey. The away jersey is in a combination of

New Lions jerseys signify heritage

p40 :: Sport


increase product salesWith 42 sporting codes taking centre stage at the 2016 Olympic Games, retailers could take advantage of interest in the event to generate more sales for products used in these sporting codes. RHIANAH RHODE asked suppliers for tips

During the month of August con-sumers will be keenly following the events taking place at the Olympic Games, which will be hosted 5-21 August in Rio de Ja-

neiro, Brazil. With their customers’ minds al-ready focused on the sporting codes, retailers should employ means of converting this inter-est into sales.

There are a number of marketing-related tools that retailers can use for this purpose, say suppliers. Items such as Olympic Games displays, images, banners, etc. will attract customers’ attention in-store, as will display-ing products that relate to the sports being played at the Olympic Games.

For information on which games will be played when during the 2016 Olympic Games, see the table on p44.

DisplaysAs a key way to attract customers he will use some kind of eye catching display in the win-dow that will help draw customers into the

store, says Brad Summers of The Golf Racket (local distributors of Wilson), who has years’ of experience in highlighting products by work-ing in his company’s showroom and booths at sporting events.

Once a customer has entered your store, you should have some kind of back-up display that inspires him to buy. “These can be displays or in-teractive tools relating to the sports and brands.”

A lot of what retailers can do, will obviously de-pend on the available space in their stores, he adds.

Another form of media — and one of the most successful tools he has seen — are in-store tel-evisions, advises Summers. But the key with this “is to show inspirational videos that show great or winning moments in the

How to use the Olympic Games to

To p44

Retailers should make sure that the high traffic areas focus on product that ties back to the Olympics.

p42 :: Sport

The Mikasa range of balls and related accessories for

team sports, locally distributed by Pat Wiltshire Sports,

is best known for their hard ground laminated/moulded

soccer balls that are ideally suited to our harsh African

playing surfaces and conditions. In keeping with this,

they are proud to announce the launch

of their new MCS50 machine

stitched soccer ball.

This exciting new model

offers high impact

absorption, which optimizes the softness and durability of the ball

while still focusing on shape and pressure retention.

The new range of balls features vibrant, bright colourways in the

primary colours of Black, Blue, Red and Green. With their unique

bold design these new

balls will stand

out from others in your store.

stitched soccer ball.

This exciting new model

offers high impact

primary colours of Black, Blue, Red and Green. With their unique

bold design these new

balls will stand

out from others in

New Mikasa 2016 machine stitched

New Mikasa 2016 machine stitched

soccer ball range launched

Exclusive DistributorPat Wiltshire Sports (Pty) Ltd

Tel: 27 11 466 1800/1/2 • Fax: 27 11 466 1960 • [email protected] • www.pwsports.co.za

STOP THE PRESS:STOP THE PRESS:STOP THE PRESS:


sport you are trying to highlight,” he explains.For their own campaigns, they always use a

television that is constantly showing footage of Wilson’s greatest winning moments and shots in sports, because it inspires people — and he believes that once the customer is inspired, he is more likely to purchase something.

Point of saleMost of the top brands will be able to provide stores with images and point of sale material to use, says James Mullen of PUMA. If you purchased product from top brands, then they will provide you with point of sale material to communicate the benefits of the product, as well as the link to the Olympics, to your clientele, he says.

“Point of sale materials could include pro-motional items as well as give-aways, and the retailer could also advertise sports associated with the Games by putting up posters and ad-vertising material in the store to complement the displays,” says Nick Wiltshire of Pat Wilt-shire Sports, local distributor of Mikasa.

Make the most of high traffic areasOne of the ways in which retailers could lev-erage the Olympic Games and create hype in their stores could be to dress up mannequins to represent the different sporting codes that are being screened at the time, suggests Mullen.

He also suggests using point of sale displays in high traffic areas to attract attention to products. Retailers should also make sure that

the high traffic areas focus on product that ties back to the Olympics and the store layout should force customers to walk past “planned so-called Olympic themed areas,” thereby en-suring that customers have more contact time with the products that you are selling.

Your store’s layout should scream Olympics from the minute customers see it, say suppliers.

Make sure that your customers’ first point of contact is with an Olympics campaign, says Evert Ferreira of Brand ID, local distributor of brands like Canterbury, Dunlop, Mizuno, Skins, Slazenger and Speedo.

As customers walk into the store, they should see Olympic Games-based branding, agrees Peter Wright from K&T Sports, local distributor of Malik.

Show athletesRetailers should use season-related displays and could use the local heroes that consumers can relate to with a clear message as part of their point of sale items, adds Ferreira.

Any imagery or displays that indicate an asso-

ciation or partnerships with the event, team or individual athletes, can be used as an asset to help improve sales in store. Retailers who have this type of leverage should use it to attract customers, advises Sarah Mundy of ASICS SA.

Salesmen should, for example, use images and displays of players who are competing at the Olympic Games to create awareness of the differ-ent sports products in their store, agrees Wright.

Retailers should also remember to keep dis-plays relevant to their customers. Stockists can ensure that their stores maximizes the timing of the Games by having bold and ex-citing window displays, and free-standing dis-plays at strategic positions in the store that fo-cus on certain codes that are relevant to their geographic location, says Wiltshire.

Encourage interactionAnother way of attracting customers is through banners, which can have regular designs or en-courage customers to be more interactive.

“When we do promotional events at tourna-ments the best banners are the athlete pop-up banners,” says Summers. They had a Roger Federer pop-up at The SA Open Tennis Tourna-ment a few years ago and everyone wanted to have their picture taken while standing next to him, he says. Some fans even wanted to buy it. The key was, however, that it got people on their stand and interacting with them. “I think the key with all pop-ups is that they are unique and eye catching,” he adds.

Banners with images of players attending the games will also attract customers, says Wright.

Retailers should hang banners in relation to hotspots in a store where customers will be able to see them and where possible drive a 360 degree approach to the full brand/produc-tion communication, suggests Mundy.

Unique in-store features that relate to a par-ticular sport can also attract customers’ atten-tion and get them to interact with you, says Summers. They have a chair in their showroom that is in the design of a tennis ball, and he finds that everyone wants to sit on, and look, at it.

Fun games and competitions also encourage customers to connect with your store, like having customers “come in and predict who will win the most medals at this year’s Olym-pics and win a prize,” says Summers.

These types of competitions can be run in conjunction with, or in the lead up, to the games, says Wright, which can help attract customers before and during the games. The competitions can include things like identify-ing selected athletes or other Olympic Games trivia, he explains.

Another way to generate interest is via social media, says Mullen. Applications can be used to drive traffic and hype towards your store, and it “can be as simple and planning a bunch of tweets, Facebook posts, or images of the store posted onto Instagram,” he says.

When retailers use images, banners and other point of sale items, it is important to strike a fine balance as you don’t want to have too much clutter or so much promotion that customers can’t see normal merchandise or are unable to walk down your aisles, reminds Summers.

Retailers can generate in-terest using displays, ban-ners, games, competitions and even via social media, say suppliers.

Olympic Games interest cont. from p42

Week 1 (5-11 Aug) Week 2 (12-18 Aug) Week 3 (19-21 Aug)

Athletics x x

Badminton x x x

Basketball x x x

Beach volleyball x x

Boxing x x x

Canoe x x x

Cycling x x x

Golf x x x

Gymnastics x

Hockey x x x

Judo x x

Rugby (sevens) x

Shooting x x

Soccer x x x

Swimming x x

Taekwondo x x

Table tennis x x

Tennis x x

Triathlon x x

Volleyball x x x

Water polo x x x

2016 Olympic Games dates

p44 :: Sport


Smart phone exercise apps (#17) is one of the other two new categories in the Top 20 trends identified in the 2016 report supporting the trend towards increased use of technology.

Flexibility and mobility rollers (#16) is the third new category. “It was interesting to ob-serve these kinds of programs trending positive-ly for 2016,” writes Thompson. “Although the research is not abundant, there seems to be a growing market for these specialized devices.”

YogaWith its vast selection of branches, yoga offers something for everyone. It is not really a sur-prise that it is among the Top 10 fitness trends.

“Yoga seems to reinvent and refresh itself every year, making it a more attractive form of exercise,” writes Thompson.

Functional fitnessFunctional fitness (CrossFit) has had a constant presence in the Top 10 since the ACSM started doing the survey in 2007, with the exception of 2009 when it fell just outside (#11). In the 2016 report, it holds position 7.

“Some of the survey respondents said that they typically pair functional fitness with fit-ness programs for older adults (trend number 8) depending on the needs of the client,” writes Thompson. “Even the frail elderly can improve their balance and ability to perform activities of daily living when pro-

The Health & Fitness category is a strongly expanding growth mar-ket, states Messe München, the organisers of ISPO Munich*. “70% of the current German workforce

considers life stressful; every fifth worker suf-fers from permanent stress. Chronic stress can have a negative impact on health, and the de-sire to be healthy has an increasing influence on personal lifestyles.”

The use of technologies is a big trend among fitness participants. So big, in fact, that wear-able technology is the number one fitness trend for 2015, reveals the Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2016, compiled by Dr Walter R. Thompson for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

“It seems as though the back to basics phi-losophy of the industry that was driven by the weak economy might be fading,” writes Thompson.

“Mobile services make the integration of suitable exercise programs and nutritional recipes into the every day possible,” adds Messe München. “The increasingly popu-lar wearables in the form of fitness track-ing bracelets, smart watches and even data eyewear set new standards for exercise and lifestyle. These hi-tech mini computers have become our personal exercise partners. Even though our beloved smartphones are almost never left behind, these wearables are carried

Fitness fads might come and go, but those activities that become trends can help retailers predict what might be good product sellers for the year to come … or what products might not be worth stocking, writes CARIN HARDISTY

Trendyfitness activities

To p46

Top 20 trends for 2016*1 Wearable technology2 Body weight training3 High-intensity interval training4 Strength training5 Educated, certified, and experienced fitness professionals

6 Personal training7 Functional fitness8 Special fitness programs for older

adults9 Exercise and weight loss10 Yoga11 Group personal training12 Worksite health promotion13 Wellness coaching14 Outdoor activities15 Sport-specific training16 Flexibility and mobility rollers17 Smart phone exercise apps18 Circuit training19 Core training20 Outcome measurements

* Source: Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2016.

close to the body and this opens up new types of applications.”

Interestingly enough, wearable technology is a new trend category that makes its appear-ance for the first time in the report.

Participants give it their all in a group fitness session at the announcement of the ASICS and SWITCH partnership. Photo: Yamkela Mkebe

Sport :: p45


vided appropriate functional fitness activities. It is assumed that people who are retired not only have greater sums of discretionary mon-ey, but also have a tendency to spend it more wisely and may have more time to engage in an exercise program.”

“The concern for the health of aging adults has been consistently at the top of this survey, and this year is no different,” he continues. “The baby boom generation is now aging into retirement.”

Types of trainingIn 2010, sport-specific training was among the top ten fitness trends (#8), according to AC-SM’s study. In their latest study, it has dropped to #15. While not quite on the way out, this fitness trend is today not as popular as it once was.

Body weight training, high-intensity interval training and strength training all trend higher, reports the study.

Increased interest in new technologies has pushed body weight training off its #1 spot, which it held in the 2015 report, down to posi-tion number two.

“Body weight training did not appear as an option before 2013, because it only became popular (as a defined trend) in gyms around the world during the last couple of years,” writes Thompson. “This is not to say that body weight training had not been used previously; in fact, people have been using their own body weight for centuries as a form of resistance training. But new packaging, particularly by commercial clubs, has now made it popular in all kinds of gyms.”

“As the #1 position in the survey suggested last year, body weight training is a trend to watch for the future,” he adds.

Personal trainingPersonal training, which has been among the Top 10 trends of the survey for the past nine years, holds the number six position in the 2016 report.

“While there have been some minor varia-tions of personal training (e.g., small groups as opposed to one-on-one), respondents to this survey believe that personal trainers will continue to be an important part of the pro-fessional staff of health and fitness centers,” writes Thompson.

“Group personal training will continue to be a popular trend in 2016,” adds Thompson. “The personal trainer will continue to pro-vide the personal service clients expect from one-to-one training but now in a small group typically of two to four. This approach offers potentially deep discounts to each member of the group and creates an incentive for clients to put small groups together.”

“In these challenging economic times, per-sonal trainers are being more creative in the way that they package personal training ses-sions and how they market themselves. Train-ing two or three people at the same time in

Fitness trends cont. from p45 About the surveyThe Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2016 is the tenth annual survey pub-lished by the American College of Sports Medicine. The survey received more than 2 800 responses from health and fitness professionals worldwide in the commer-cial, clinical, non-profit community, and corporate sectors.

“The survey has been designed to confirm or to introduce new trends (not fads) that have a perceived impact on the industry according to international re-spondents,” states the author, Dr Walter R. Thompson.

For the survey, respondents were asked to make a distinction between a fad and a trend. The survey used the Cambridge dictionary definitions:• Trend: “a general development or

change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving”;

• Fad: “a fashion that is taken up with great entusiasm for a brief period.”

a small group seems to make good economic sense for both the trainer and the client.”

Locally, ASICS and SWITCH have partnered to take the fitness class to a new level. The SWITCH Playgrounds fitness program — cre-ated by internationally-acclaimed fitness in-structor, Steve Uria — sees participants led in a class that combines cardiovascular training, functional training, boxing, plyometric train-ing, core stability and power-flow yoga. This offers each participant a full-body workout, not only focusing on one area, in a non-com-petitive group atmosphere.

The partnership is in keeping with ASICS’s philosophy, which is reflected in the brand’s name: Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, which means sound mind in a sound body.

As part of the partnership, SWITCH instruc-tors wear ASICS apparel and footwear during the classes.

This partnership gives ASICS an opportunity to promote their latest products in an exciting en-vironment, says Sarah Mundy of ASICS. “We look forward to a long term partnership with Switch, a platform that will enable the continuous pro-motion of our latest innovations in an exciting environment, one that encourages continual re-invention and improvement,” says Mundy.

Uria, owner and originator of SWITCH, is equally excited about this partnership and be-lieves the two brands share the same visions. “Mutually aligned brands sharing the same passion makes this venture a no brainer!” he says. “We are two likeminded businesses with similar goals, established but reinvented, with the vision of a cutting edge, hip and sexy life-style in the workout arena.”

SWITCH Playgrounds are being rolled out both across South Africa and abroad.

Outdoor activitiesIn 2010, outdoor activities emerged as a fitness trend in the survey — then at posi-tion #25. Activities such as hiking, canoeing, camping outdoor games, etc. all fall in this category. “This more recent trend for health and fitness professionals to offer outdoor ac-tivities for their clients began in 2010,” writes Thompson. “Some personal trainers use out-door activities as a form of small-group per-sonal training.”

These professionals might be slow to catch on, but the outdoor industry has known for ages that getting outside is an excellent way to get fit.

In the 2016 report, outdoor activities holds position number 14, two spots down from 2015.

Hi-Tec is sponsoring South Africa’s first walk-ing festival, Cape Walking Fest. It will feature 52 walks between George and Storms River and offer participants the opportunity to con-nect with the area and to explore its natural beauty at leisure.

“Walking festivals are a big trend globally, but this is a first for South Africa — it is a mas-sive undertaking that involves the support and involvement of all the local communities,” says festival founder Galeo Saintz. “Hi-Tec, a brand which has become synonymous with hik-ing in South Africa, are sponsors of the event, which enables us to offer a wide range of walks catering to all levels of fitness and adventure.”

The partnership is a perfect fit, says Joanne Esterhuizen of Hi-Tec. “Hi-Tec is a brand that infiltrates all outdoor recreation in South Af-rica. Walking, in many forms, has become a popular way of touring new places, improving health and fitness, and appreciating natu-ral environments. The Cape Walking Fest is a great platform for us to encourage South Africans and visitors to see what the Garden Route has to offer and to align our footwear and apparel.”

Cape Walking Fest takes place over the East-er Weekend, 25-30 March, and walks range from strolls along the beach to brisk walks up some of the highest peaks in the regions, such as George Peak or Peak Formosa in the Tsitiskamma. To mix in some extra fun, there will also be several festive walks.

The more unusual Walk with Poetry and Yoga Walk have a calming effect on participants, and the Naked Walk in Nature (au naturelle), evening Walk Through the Night Sky (pre-sented by local astronomers), and Connecting Nature and Community walk (conducted by a local conservation initiative) promise to bring participants closer to nature.

* The 2016 ISPO Munich takes place 24-27 January in Munich, Germany. The Health & Fitness exhibi-tors will be housed in hall B4.

The use of technologies is a big trend among fitness participants. So big, in fact, that wearable technology is the number one fitness trend for 2015.

p46 :: Sport


Bollé, which comes from a cycling heritage, has come back to cycling with a bang! Christo Snyman, sales and marketing director for local dis-tributor Ultimo, told guests at the

launch of the Bollé Cycling Solution helmets.The brand waited to introduce a cycling hel-

met, because they wanted to launch some-thing really special into an already saturated market, said Michael Sakellaris, Bushnell Eye-wear export agent for the EMEA. The Bollé Cycling Solution fits the bill as it is about of-fering the end user one product that does eve-rything, he added.

The brand moved back onto the cycling path five years ago and currently invests nearly 90% of its budget on cycling products, because it’s the biggest sporting market in the world with a $50-bn retail turnover and makes up 14% of the global market, said Sakellaris.

For Bollé, the development of cycling hel-mets is an extension of the knowledge and experience they gained by creating snow hel-mets for at least the past 12 years. More and more people are enjoying cycling as a sport or using it as a mobility solution and this move into cycling helmets was just a clear next step, he said.

Their two new helmets (The One and The Mes-senger) are available globally from January 2016.

The One road racing helmet offers the user in-creased ventilation and visibility through its re-movable aero covers and LED light, a QR sticker alerting emergency services that records vital information through an app, and also features two linings, for warm and colder days.

These linings are designed to fit as if they are built-in and won’t cause hang-ups like when us-ing a beanie, which moves around quite a lot.

The Messenger is an urban helmet aimed at community and recreational use for every-day activities like riding to work, school, etc. where there is not much competition as yet, said Sakellaris. This helmet has a top shell that covers the entire head, but keeps the wearer cool through ventilation holes in the front and back. It also features some of the same tech-nologies as The One like a LED light, Safety QR code sticker and summer and winter linings.

The brand also wants to protect the eyewear they provide and with the aid of their cycling teams developed a sunglass garage, which al-lows the user to store his glasses in the front of the helmet to protect against scratching or loss.

Bollé also offers a number of sunglasses that are right in terms of style, said Sakellaris.

They currently offer the Sixth Sense, with or without prescription. It features adjustable temples, Trivex instead of polycarbonate lens-es — which are more resistant, much lighter and offer much better optical resolution.

The Fifth Element sunglass range will also be landing in January, together with the new hel-mets. These sunglasses have been developed with the help of their pro riders. They feature a new touching point that prevents moving around, and adjustable temples for the perfect fit.

Both will fit perfectly into the sunglass garage.Because cyclists are also aware of their im-

age and want to look and feel the part, Bollé has launched a prescription eyewear pro-gramme that will enable optometrists to im-prove the look of their prescription sunglasses, which was previously thought to be too bulky and unflattering.

They are currently trying to associate op-tometrists with cycle shops in their vicinity in order to create a partnership where cyclists can have their eyes tested and select a lens and frame in order to get their perfect fit of prescription sunglasses, explained Ultimo MD David Harrington.

Science

Bollé now offers cycling solutionMichael Sakellaris, Bushnell Eyewear export agent for the EMEA, highlights the benefits of the new helmet.

p48 :: Sport


Intensive research and development has resulted in new products that not only makes cycling safer, but also much for comfortable. RHIANAH RHODE reports back about two launches she attended

The Body Fit Geometry system pro-vides relief for the hand, foot, knee and seat discomfort cyclists commonly experience due to re-stricted blood fl ow and incorrect

posture, the international experts who devel-oped the system explained at the Body Fit Ge-ometry Conference, organised by Specialized Bicycles in Stellenbosch at the end of Novem-ber last year.

Drs. Andy Pruitt and Roger Minkow, as well as Scott Holz and Matt Mangen, who are responsi-ble for the science and technology behind the programme and gear, explained how these can reduce injury, and improve cycling effi ciency and comfort.

The Body Fit Geometry products go through an ergonomic design and vigorous testing pro-cess before they can be labelled as such, said Pruitt, the US scientist who performed the fi rst medical bike fi t in 1979 on Connie Carpenter, who later became an Olympic gold medallist.

By taking a unique three dimensional view of the body on the bike he was able to observe the tracking of the knees and also noted that very few riders sit squarely on the saddle.

This developed into the global Body Geom-etry Fit programme and gear that make the bike ride more comfortable — which helps the cyclist ride faster or further, without develop-ing an injury, or to treat an existing injury.

The products developed naturally as the team sought solutions for cyclists’ problems and he just happened to be in the right place at the right time, Pruitt joked. The idea in the designs of their shoes, gloves and saddles is to

make the cyclist one with his bike.The Body Geometry Fit saddles have been

designed with the male and female anatomy in mind, explained Minkow. After cyclists ex-perienced discomfort and debilitating results from riding on regular saddles, he embarked on investigating and creating saddles that improve comfort by relieving pressure on the soft tissue.

Some saddle models restrict the blood fl ow in the genital area, resulting in lifestyle threaten-ing conditions like erectile dysfunction and sex-ual dysfunction in men and urinary tract infec-tions and sexual dysfunction in women. They therefore designed saddles with cut-out areas to create space that help remedy the problem. This proved benefi cial for ladies as well.

Traditional gloves pad the vulnerable parts of the hand, which can cause pressure on arteries, cutting off circulation and causing fatigue, said Holz. Their Body Geometry Fit gloves are designed to eliminate hand numb-ness and improve control. They are ergonomi-cally designed and feature a grail equalizer pad in the palm, which helps even pressure throughout the glove when the wearer grips his handle bars. The gloves have been shown to improve blood fl ow by 12%.

As a doctor, he dealt with many foot injury complaints resulting from cycling shoes, which is the reason he started testing and trying to improve them, said Pruitt. He designed the Body Geometry Fit shoe to accommodate vari-ous forefoot varus heights — the angling of the bones of the last four toes on a foot, which makes them naturally higher than the big toe.

The shoe improves performance and the cy-clist’s speed by 6.6 megawatts, straight out of the box, said Holz. Features like arch support and a standard varus wedge (1.5mm) increase the effi ciency, reduces injury and helps reduce medial lateral travel, which allows the legs to be straight when cycling. Without these shoes, cyclists’ knees often bend at an inward angle, which causes injuries.

The varus wedges are also available in three heights to accommodate different feet. “The Body Geometry Fit shoes are designed to fi t close to 90% of the population right out of the box, but with personalisation the wedges and insoles can accommodate anybody,” said Holz.

Apart from the ergonomically developed and scientifi cally tested gear, Body Geometry Fit consists of a comprehensive pre-fi t interview and assessment, a ride analysis and bike fi t-ment, with a follow-up session. An extensively trained and tested fi t specialist forms the most important part of the programme.

Dr Pruitt trains individuals how to fi t their customers in store, because he feels the tools alone cannot get the job done. Their Body Ge-ometry Fit Studio mechanics are trained to get the customers in the best positions on the bi-cycles by considering their unique connections with the bicycles. Therefore each customer is fi tted independently. This takes a couple of hours, but will help him climb faster, descend more confi dently, and reduce fatigue when riding for long periods.

Body Geometry Fit is offered by all Special-ized Bicycles’ Concept and Elite stores across the country.

Specialized off ers cyclists a unique fi t

helps cyclists

Dr Minkow, assisted by Matt Mangen on the bicycle, demonstrates how blood fl ows during cycling.

Sport :: p49


Almost three decades ago, in 1987, Marc Ager started manufacturing Ram gun cleaning kits in a garage he rented from a friend. A mere two years later, he was appointed

a South African distributor of internationally renowned lighting brand, Mag-Lite.

This prompted the creation of the Lite Optec Group, now consisting of Ramrod and Lite Optec: sister companies with two different ar-eas of operation. Ramrod focuses on importing and developing new products under its own brands, while Lite Optec is a distributor of top local and international brands.

The companies both focus on products that will especially be of use in the outdoors.

There is also a corporate section that offers in-house engraving, branding and gifting options.

Developing new productsRamrod, headed by Ager, is mainly focused on looking for areas where there are existing items on the market that they believe they can improve, as well as looking for gaps in the market where they can create new product to fill a need. One such example is their success-ful Tonglite range of braai accessories, which has gained popularity not only in South Africa, but also internationally.

“There is a massive need to concentrate on good quality entry level products,” says Ager. This is the drive behind developing their own products.

When the recession hit in 2008, there was a tendency among companies to save money by letting staff go. The Lite Optec Group did the opposite: they kept all their staff and their warehouses, and instead invested in their OEM (original equipment manufacturer) side by opening an office in Hong Kong. They perma-nently employed people to check the quality of the products being produced for them in their existing Chinese factories, as well as to source other good factories.

To address the big copying problem in Chi-

na, Ramrod sources components from differ-ent factories and then puts the final product together in their warehouse in South Africa. This way, it’s harder for them to copy the final product. Overall, South African products are also not as big a target for copiers.

The packaging is also done in their ware-house in South Africa.

To further discourage copying, they hold patents both in China and in South Africa for several of their products.

This also enables them to pick and choose from which factories to order which product, thereby ensuring the best quality. They have, for example, found they can source better quality stainless steel goblets for their picnic sets from India than from China.

Ramrod not only develops products to dis-tribute under its own brands, it also partners with retailers to help them develop their own OEM brands, or even to help meet minimum order quantities on imports.

They also don’t only rely on Chinese im-ported products. Ramrod also manufactures locally in South Africa, where it produces the Ram accessories and defense aerosol product ranges — both of which are very big for the company. “We are promoting many quality brands, and global points of manufacture,” Ager points out.

Distributing across the worldLite Optec distributes a strong and diverse lighting range. Their core flashlight brand is Mag-Lite, supported in different lighting cat-egories by Ultratec (emergency and solar sili-cone lamps) and Game-Pro Spotlights (hunt-ing, security and game-viewing spotlights).

Due to Eskom’s loadshedding, they have found that their own UltraTec brand is performing the best for them. International brands Mag-Lite and Isosteel, however, are also top performers.

“We like to give retailers a good, better, best option when it comes to brands and prod-

ucts,” says Kim Romanis. Their products tend to cover the entry level, mid and high price points, offering retailers — and their custom-ers in turn — a wide choice selection.

Some of their other brands are Gerber, True Utility, National Geographic, Tekut, Spyderco, Oregon Scientific, and Böker.

At the start of 2015, Marc Armstrong and Adel Al Sumait partnered with Aiden and Kim Romanis to buy a controlling interest in the Lite Optec group, which was previously owned by Timothy Oshry, James Stott and Jan Bo-shoff. Today the management team consists of Aiden Romanis (MD), Natalie Ralphs (Group Financial Director), Kim Romanis (Marketing), and Caroline Merl (Logistics).

Tonglite has an European distributor in the form of Firma Siegfried Hintz, Lite Optec’s Isosteel principals. Together they successfully launched Tonglite2 to the international commu-nity at the 2015 spoga+gafa show in Germany.

Not only does Lite Optec’s own brand have an international presence, the company itself has opened a distributorship in the UAE, where there is a big demand for outdoor product, but few dis-tributors. Ramrod Outdoor, which takes the Lite Optec Group to three companies, will service the UAE market.

Ramrod Outdoor operates as a separate com-pany, applying from new to distribute brands in the UAE. This means that it won’t necessar-ily distribute the same brands that Lite Optec does here in South Africa. Due to there being so few distributors in the UAE, Ramrod Out-door will also be able to apply to distribute brands that Lite Optec might not have access to in South Africa.

Importer, manufacturer, distributor, princi-pal, a growing group. Not bad for a company that started out in a garage back in 1987. The Lite Optec Group is one of South Africa’s fair-ytale stories come-to-life.

The Lite Optec Group is growing from strength to strength

The Lite Optec Group started out as a small manufacturing company in a rented garage, but today it is a group of top distribution and developing companies — local and international — writes CARIN HARDISTY

Aidan Romanis, Natalie Ralphs and Mark Ager. Aidan and Kim Romanis.

p50 :: Industry


Selling more … outdoor cooking products

Duncan Pattenden, owner of Orca Industries in Claremont, Cape Town, was nominated as a top salesman by Simon Larsen of Ram Mountaineering, local distributor of Jetboil. “While many may acknowledge Dun-can as one of the country’s fore-most experts in scuba diving, he is equally at home on land — and spends considerable time exploring our county’s wild places on foot, off road bike and 4x4,” says Larsen. “When speaking to Duncan it quickly becomes clear that he has tried and tested the gear that he sells — and because his ex-perience is so broad, he knows what works best in a particular environment.”

16Sel

lin

g tips from top salesmen

We’re looking for top salespeople

We’re asking successful sales people in the industry for tips on how they clinch that sale in this series on Sales tips from top salespeople. Send nominations to Trudi du Toit on Tel: 021 461 2544, Fax: 021 461 2549. Email: [email protected].

Your initial introduction to your customer is very important to sale success, says Duncan Pattenden from Orca Industries in Clare-mont, Cape Town.

A salesman should always smile and be polite with customers entering his store. You should greet the customer like you want him to be there, because otherwise it will be just as if he is walking into a shop where everybody ig-nores him: he will feel as if he is gate-crash-ing a private party, explains Pattenden. This is etiquette that should be instilled from the owner to the salesperson and it shouldn’t mat-ter who is on the floor: when a customer walks in the door he should be greeted, he says. At his store there is always someone watching the front door to ensure that within a few seconds of someone walking in, he will be greeted.

Your appearance and product knowledge has to be on point when a customer approaches you. Because the whole outdoor industry is more of a family, if people get the wrong impression, or the impression that you don’t really know what you are talking about, they will just tell you they are browsing and five minutes later they are out the door, he warns.

A salesman should aim to keep his customers

in the store beyond these critical few minutes — which can determine the outcome of a sale — by exercising good listening skills, he says. Let the customer know you are listening to him by finding out exactly where he is going, if he has an expedition lined up, and match the products you stock to his needs. This is where you need to be on the top of your game in terms of product knowledge.

Orca Industries offer after sale servicing as an add-on on a number of the products they sell, which has contributed to his own product knowledge and enables him to give customers informative answers to questions that often pop up, says Pattenden.

People want to know how a product works and that there is a reliable backup option, should anything go wrong. If a salesman can’t give them information regarding warranties, serviceability, etc. customers will not easily purchase the products. In a situation where a customer wants to know what could possibly go wrong with a product, Pattenden knows he is able to help them overcome any reser-vations by dismantling it completely and ex-plaining what each piece does, what can cause damage to it, and how to put it back together again. Customers are usually quite impressed

with how easily they can use and service their own products.

Pattenden often takes his entire staff on camping or trekking trips so that they can get to know the products and feel how they work, which helps everyone increase their existing knowledge of the products. He also welcomes any training or workshops from suppliers, be-cause he believes that no one can know every-thing and it is always nice to improve his own and his staff’s knowledge whenever possible.

He believes honesty is the best policy. Being honest with customers can make or break a sale, says Pattenden. Some salesmen can sell well from an academic point of view and bam-boozle customers into believing the product is right for them, only to realise when they use it that it is not at all the right product for them. He is not like that. Even if being honest means he has to lose a sale, he chooses to inform the customer properly, because in the future they will remember his advice and may return to purchase a product when it suits their needs or pocket.

A salesman has to remember is it is not just a matter of dumping dead stock on a customer. “He needs to feel that you have his best inter-est at heart and if he feels that To p53

Outdoor :: p51


Tips for sellingoutdoor cooking products

When selling outdoor cooking products, determining the customer’s needs and rea-son for buying a product is important to the success of

a sale, says Duncan Pattenden from Orca In-dustries in Claremont, Cape Town.

If a customer’s primary objective is buying a basic gas stove, which is sold everywhere and generally have standard fittings, do not to lec-ture him, as he might get offended and feel that you are talking down to him.

If, however, he wants something more tech-nical and is unsure about his choice, ask him about his concerns about going ahead with the purchase. Often it is just that the customer is afraid of hurting himself or is scared of using a product he has no idea how to work with, which can be remedied by showing him how to use the product correctly.

A show-and-tell approach can be very im-portant if a customer buys a stove from your store, because otherwise he will very likely worry about how he is actually going to start it. The best thing to do in such a case would be to take him outside for a demonstration and show him how easy it is, advises Pattenden.

He demonstrates products he sells and even tells customers to take it home and return it

should they not be happy with it. But gener-ally he finds that customers don’t return the products they have bought, because they have been given the proper advice.

Although you don’t need a competency course to run certain stoves, salesmen should warn cus-tomers that they could burn themselves if they don’t have the know-how to work with them.

Without being blunt, find out what is your cus-tomer’s budget and work out his price point in terms of the products you have to offer. Although he tries to avoid selling cheaper ranges to cus-tomers where possible, it is a good thing to have a budget option for customers who just can’t af-ford to buy anything else, says Pattenden.

Use product features to your advantage by advising how customers will benefit from a certain pot, pan, kettle, etc. says Pattenden. Many customers compare pricey items with similar looking products from general retail-ers and the salesman should be able to explain the more subtle differences, for example in-sulated collapsible handles that make it easier to hold the pot, holes in the lid that prevent the pot from boiling over, etc.

There are a number of stoves on the market, but some are designed to be more suitable for one activity than another.

When weight is not critical — like a braai at

home, camping with a vehicle or caravanning — a gas cooker that works with low pressure gas would be suitable, says Pattenden. Most people are already familiar with these type of products from home use and it is easy for anyone to manage.

Smaller multi-fuel stoves, on the other hand, are trickier and more of a one man operation. They have to be used by someone who is fa-miliar with that type of cooking instrument.

If your customer will be cycling, motor biking, hiking, etc. — activities where weight becomes an issue — advise him to look at products using alternative fuel and smaller gas canisters.

For one person on a hike a 110g gas can-ister should ideally do, whereas a four man hike will require something a bit bigger. The salesman should advise his customers to avoid basic small gas stoves when hiking in cold weather and altitude, which will make them very inefficient, he says.

When cooking for larger groups of four or five people, or if your customer plans to cook a number of dishes, recommend that he takes more than one cooker top on the trip.

Integrated canister stoves are ideal for cus-tomers looking to save space and weight as everything packs into the pot, making it light

More about Duncan PattendenDuncan PattenDen, who owns Orca In-dustries in Claremont, Cape Town, has spent the bulk of his adult life working in the retail industry. After completing school and his compulsory military service with the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), he joined sport and outdoor retailer Varsity Sports Adventure Centre in 1983 as a junior salesman of outdoor equipment.

After Varsity Sports Adventure Centre closed in 1993, he and Simon Larsen opened the Orca Industries store in the Claremont Medical Centre. This has “become something of an institution in the diving scene in Cape Town,” says Larsen. “In all the years since in-ception, the outdoor store has consistently offered a well thought out range of quality out-door equipment and has been staffed by well-informed sales people who take a very personal interest in their customers,” he says.

Many of the Varsity Sports staff moved with Pattenden to the new store, which spe-cialises in climbing, diving and hiking. Since then, Larsen has gone into distribution and is one of the owners of Ram Mountaineer-

ing, and Orca Industries relocated to its own premises in Claremont, with Pattenden still at the helm.

Pattenden is not only a good salesman, but has also achieved many sport and outdoor re-lated feats. During his school and SANDF days he played hockey, which led to him securing his position at Varsity Sports Adventure Cen-tre. He has also completed most of the div-

ing instructor certificates and is a qualified PADI, CMAS, and NAUI dive instructor. He uses this knowledge in his store everyday as a salesman, as well as at the Orca Div-ing Academy, which he runs from the same premises.

In addition to this, Pattenden also enjoys hiking and touring parts of Africa on his mo-torbike, and has had many experiences with a number of outdoor cooking products. “I come from a camping family and have fond memories of my father cooking crayfish on the beach using his Cadac cooker top and gi-gantic kreef pot. In true South African style, cooking outdoors was instilled in me from an early age,” he says.

Pattenden has been in the outdoor industry longer than anyone he knows and combines his technical abilities with real outdoor experienc-es to offer really insightful advice to his custom-ers, says Larsen. He recently completed a more than 10 000km dirt bike trip from Cape Town to Malawi (and back), which included time in Mo-zambique and Zimbabwe.

p52 :: Outdoor


The facT that Jetboil’s stoves are compact, fast and efficient are just a few of the reasons cus-tomers will want to buy them.

The brand was originally creat-ed by active trekkers as an alter-native to traditional cooking ap-paratus, which had to be forced into limited spaces in backpacks where they didn’t really fit, did not or handle wind and cold well, or took quite a bit of effort to set up and get started, says Simon Larsen of Ram Mountain-eering.

“When originally launched, JetBoil was unique in that it was the first complete system that integrated the stove with the pot. It was also the first system that integrated a heat exchanger into the base of the pot.”

Unlike other products, which could lose heat when it is transferred from the burner to the pot, Jetboil is designed to transfer most of the burner’s energy to the pot — which increases the speed at which the pot’s contents will cook. The entry level units in this range can boil 500ml of liquid in a little over two min-utes, he says.

This efficient heat transfer system also means that the stove is equally effective using a low or a high output. A low output burner consumes very little gas — and therefore Jet-Boil is the most efficient gas stove on the mar-ket, says Larsen. “A small 100g canister will give 12 boils, which is generally good for two

or three days on the hill for two people. Given the cost of gas — both on your pocket and on the environment — such efficiency leads to huge savings in the long run.”

These stoves feature a heat exchanger, which helps ensure good performance even during windy conditions.

The products are also easy to use. “I know many outdoor en-thusiasts who own liquid fuel stoves, but have just stopper using them once they bought a JetBoil,” says Larsen. He be-

lieves this is because they are quick and easy to put together, can light in an instant and can be handled with bare hands, even while hot.

Jetboil also offers expedition ready gas stoves like the MiniMo and Sumo models, which feature patented regulators and there-fore “do not suffer from the reduction in out-put due to low temperatures as soon as regu-lar stoves do.”

The performance of most gas stoves will start declining at approximately 5o C, which renders them nearly useless, these units will only start to lose performance from -6o C. The Joule model has an inverted canister and generator pipe design, which will enable it to perform comfortably at -20o C, says Larsen.

Additional accessories, like a coffee press or hanging kit that can be used in conjunction with these stoves and help make them even more versatile, are also available, he says.

Several reasons to buy Jetboil

and compact.Stoves with a piezo auto ignition could be

useful for non-smokers who may not always carry a lighter to start their stove.

If your customer likes to keep his options open, combination gas and liquid fuel stoves offer the option to cook with either benzene or gas.

Advise customers to purchase anodised cook-ing products, which are more durable and last longer than non-anodised products due to their protective coating.

When boiling water for tea or coffee, advise customers to measure the amount of liquid they need by filling their cup with it and then throwing it in the pot to boil, which will en-sure that they are not wasting unnecessary gas, fuel or hot water.

Remind customers when working with gas to always first light their match/starter and then to turn the gas on, to avoid any gas pockets from forming. They should also always work in a well-ventilated area. Make customers aware of gas’ garlic odour, which can help them iden-tify if they have a leak.

Don’t over tighten taps on a gas tank as it could shorten their lifespan. Assure custom-ers that they do not need to worry as taps are balanced in the manufacturing stage and have

you are genuine and honest you generally tend to keep him as a repeat customer,” he advises.

Low staff turnaround is another impor-tant aspect that he feels has helped his store. His staff have been around so long that they build up a relationship with re-peat customers, by remembering their faces and often their names as well, which usually makes the customers feel more welcome in the store.

special sealing to help prevent leaks.When it comes to recommending items like

cutlery and plates for the minimalist traveller, lightweight options like polycarbonate knives and forks are more suited to his needs than stainless steel.

For the more luxurious outdoor enthusiast there are a number of nice-to-haves like plas-tic pepper mills, wine glasses, egg lifts, etc., but BPA-free varieties are better than other plastic options which are known to be toxic, adds Pattenden.

Good salesman from p51

www.rammountain.co.zaDistributed by:

Outdoor :: p53


Just how valuable is the contribu-tion of the recreational fisher to the South African economy? If it can be shown that recreational fishing con-tributes as much as commercial fish-

ing — if not more — to the economy and the survival of local communities, authorities will have to lend equal weight to proposals and ar-guments from both fishing sectors.

The equipment used by recreational anglers alone could contribute a considerable sum: apart from rods and reels and other gear, an-glers use boats and all the necessary equip-ment to fit them out, as well as shelters, chairs, tents, freezers, and many other items to make the fishing trip more comfortable.

In addition, a recreational angler pays for petrol — especially if he uses a boat — and ac-commodation, food and restaurant meals dur-ing the fishing trip. He will also make numer-ous other contributions to local communities close to his fishing destination — like buying bait, refreshments, fishing licenses, etc. More often than not, his family will accompany him — or a group of friends will go on a trip to-gether.

The South African Consolidated Recreational Anglers Association (SACRAA), in partnership with Rhodes University’s Department of Ich-thyology, will this year be conducting an im-pact study to assess the economic impact of recreational fishing in South Africa.

And they are calling on industry members to alert consumers and fishermen to the study and inform them how important it would be

for them to participate in it. This study will quantify the worth of rec-

reational fishing to those involved in the in-dustry — retailers, suppliers, manufacturers, etc. — and help estimate the expenditure of anglers, the number of jobs created through recreational fishing, the revenue from taxes and income to the national economy.

The research results will be used to convince policy makers to improve management of rec-reational fishery and empower them to make more informed decisions.

From early 2016, SACRAA will distribute questionnaires to anglers via fishing tackle stores, various website and social media pag-es, and angling magazines. They will also be conducting face-to-face interviews in order to ensure that they reach as many recreational anglers as possible.

The project will be undertaken by interna-tional experts as well as scientists from six lo-cal institutions: Rhodes University, University of the North West, University of Cape Town, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiver-

The long term sustainability of the fishing tackle industry depends on the long-term availability of fishing stock. SACRAA is opposing proposals by the authorities that could threaten this viability, namely gillnet fishing by a commercial enterprise in South Africa’s second largest dam and subsistence fishing in the Tsitsikamma MPA. But, in order to convince the authorities of the negative impact of these proposals, the or-ganisation is calling on industry members to help them conduct a study to determine the value of recreational fishing to the South African economy and local communities

Data required to ensure future of recreational angling

sity, Oceanographic Research Institute and the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and For-estry (DAFF).

Commercial fishery threatThis data would especially be valuable when negotiating with authorities proposing to change policy that could potentially threaten popular recreational fishing stock.

For example, since January 2015 SACRAA has been representing recreational anglers and SASACC (the controlling body of organized sport angling in South Africa) on an advisory committee considering the proposed develop-ment of a small-scale commercial fishery on South Africa’s second biggest dam, Vanderk-loof, on the Orange River. The organisation was asked to oppose this development by concerned recreational anglers who attended a public meeting where the proposal was ta-bled.

The Northern Cape Department of Agri-culture, Land Reform & Rural Development (ALRRD) proposed the commercial fishery to address the high levels of poverty and unem-ployment and poor food security in the sur-rounding rural communities. They appointed the Rural Fisheries Programme of Rhodes Uni-versity to investigate the feasibility of the pro-ject through an experimental fishery designed to mimic a small-scale fishery. The data gath-ered during this experimental phase will be used to assess the sustainability and economic feasibility of a long-term small-scale commer-cial fishery.

SACRAA is calling on indus-try members to alert con-sumers and fishermen to the recreational angling im-pact study and inform them how important it would be for them to participate in it.

p54 :: Outdoor


The research results will be used to convince policy makers to improve manage-ment of recreational fishery and empower them to make more informed decisions

An Experimental Fishery Management Plan (EFMP) has been developed by Rhodes Univer-sity and has undergone several reviews by the advisory committee.

“While SACRAA supports initiatives that pro-mote equal access to resources and acknowl-edge that the development of rural inland fish-eries are needed, we do not support that this must be achieved at all costs,” says chairman John Pledger. “Each proposed fishery needs to be assessed on its merits and must adhere to the existing legal framework.”

They especially oppose the proposed use of gillnets by the fishery due to the threat this poses to the largemouth yellowfish, which is a nationally listed threatened species and THE prize angling species for many fly fishermen and art-lure anglers both locally and interna-tionally, explains Pledger. “Vanderkloof Dam is considered by many to be the premier desti-nation for the catching of this species and the trophy-size specimens that the venue regular-ly produces are a matter of record.”

SACRAA therefore has serious reservations about the inclusion of gillnets as a method of capture. “The nets are indiscriminate and are effective at catching a wide range of species, including the largemouth yellow.

The advisory committee, however, rejected their request to exclude gillnets from the ex-perimental fishery in order to protect the spe-cies and the catch and release fishing-based industry — and livelihoods associated with it. Instead, it has been proposed that a two-year experimental process be followed that allows

the use of a range of gear types (gillnets, rod and line, longline, Fyke nets and seine nets), and that catch data is analysed every three months.

“SACRAA remains adamant that the use of gillnets is not appropriate in the Vanderkloof scenario and that alternatives that exclude them are available.”

They base their opposition on legal princi-ples, especially the provisions in the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEM: BA) referring to listed species and the

intention of the Act regarding commercial fishing of listed species.

“Legal provisions such as these can, how-ever be complex in the way they relate to other aspects of legislation and can usually be subject to different interpretation,” says Pledger. “As such, in addition to our numerous submissions to the Vanderkloof Advisory Com-mittee to date, SACRAA will obtain a formal legal opinion on the matter, which will also be submitted to both the advisory and steering committee.”

At the time of going to print no final decision

had been made on the approval of the project. “If it appears that the committees wish to pro-ceed with the proposed experimental fishery in its current format — despite our reserva-tions — we reserve the right (and have made it clear to the advisory committee) to take matters further and challenge this through the courts,” says Pledger.

SACRAA is not opposed to a rural fishery to operate alongside the recreational fishery at Vanderkloof, per se. “If the largemouth yellow was not a factor, or if gillnets were excluded, we would fully support the fishery either as a small-scale commercial operation — if vi-able — or a subsistence-based operation like the one that operates on Lake Gariep,” says Pledger. “As it stands we oppose it not just on the grounds that a recreational angling trophy species and the industry and livelihoods asso-ciated with it need to be protected, but also on the grounds that the largemouth yellow is worthy of protection in its own right.

“National environmental legislation recog-nises that the largemouth yellow is a species under threat and has deemed it worthy of spe-cial consideration.

SACRAA will continue to represent recrea-tional angling interests at Vanderkloof until this process has run its course, and is commit-ted to doing the same wherever it is needed,” he concludes.

Subsistence fishing in MPASACRAA is also opposing the draft regulations for the rezoning of the Tsitsikamma To p56

SACRAA strongly opposes a proposal to allow subsistence angling in a Marine Protected Area.Photo: Nicol du Toit

Outdoor :: p55


Marine Protected Area (MPA) to allow for sub-sistence farming in selected areas. The draft regulations were recently published for pub-lic comment by the Minister of Environmental Affairs. “The most alarming of the proposed regulations provides for the access to four controlled zones along the shore-line, by a se-lect group of anglers, to fish and collect bait,” says Pledger.

The entire MPA has been demarcated as no-take since 2001. “Allowing access to exploit living resources does not in any way conform to this purpose and severely undermines the integrity of the MPA — as well as the public’s confidence in SANParks (the managing au-thority) and the Department of Environmen-tal Affairs (DEA), argues SACRAA.

Decades of research in MPAs provided much data that proves that even moderate levels of fishing pressure will have an adverse effect on most fish species, and ultimately the purpose of an MPA’s existence.

Political pressure appliedThe Tsitsikamma MPA plays a significant role in fish conservation by protecting species that are severely threatened due to overexploita-tion, the State of Management of South Af-rica’s MPAs report of 2009 showed. The report listed the threats to the MPA as illegal fishing and political pressure to allow local communi-ties access to fish.

“In 2007 political pressure was used in an at-tempt to gain access for local communities,” reports Pledger. “The initiative was defeated, thanks to massive opposition from the public and scientific institutions.”

Now, political pressure is once again being applied, argues SACRAA, even though “noth-ing has changed in terms of the impact such an undertaking would have. The risks to the functioning of the MPA far outweigh the ben-efits that would be enjoyed by a small section of the population.”

According to the National Protected Area Expansion Strategy 2008 (NPAES), the current network of protected areas in South Africa falls far short of being able to sustain biodi-versity and ecological processes, says Pledger. “In order to reach just a quarter of the 20-year NPAES targets, an additional 59km of no-take inshore zone needs to be added, and yet the DEA are proposing that the no-take area be reduced instead. These regulations under-mine the NPAES as well as conservation and research efforts from the past 50 years.”

The current proposal was motivated by the need to provide recreation and food security to communities that had historical access to the areas prior to the declaration of the MPA.

SACRAA, however, points out that the activi-ties will neither be sustainable, nor will they be carried out in a manner that preserves the ecological character of the MPA.

“Many of the target species are highly resi-dent, slow growing fish that are extremely

vulnerable to even moderate levels of fishing effort,” says Pledger. “Their exploitation is not sustainable, as is evidenced from declin-ing, and in some instances, collapsed stocks in areas where fishing does take place.”

They further argue that the DEA did not fol-low due process, as detailed in their own envi-ronmental legislation, when considering these regulations. “There has been no risk assess-ment, there is no indication that potential im-pacts have been assessed or that the effects of fishing in the MPA have received any attention. The opportunity for adequate and meaningful public participation has also not been provid-ed for. No information has been provided that will enable the public to contribute from an informed base.”

The organisation further believes that a pilot project supposedly as a test to assess the fea-sibility of opening the four zones permanently is nothing more than an attempt by SANParks to appease local community members.

“The pilot project is not a risk assessment and will achieve nothing; the feasibility of fishing sustainably in MPAs has been assessed by researchers for decades and the conclusion is that it is not achievable,” says Pledger.

Furthermore, they argue that it is unconsti-tutional to establish controlled zones to allow fishing for the exclusive use by Tsitsikamma anglers (members of any community in the Koukamma Municipality and Covie residents).

“The proposed zoning for the use by Tsitsi-kamma anglers excludes all other South Afri-

cans and is the worst form of exclusivity at the expense of others,” says Pledger. “There is no form of equality in this and it is uncon-stitutional.”

This implies that even people who recently moved to Covie or Koukamma will be allowed access, while everybody else is excluded. “This is completely irrational and demon-strates that the only reason for the regulations is to allow for the exclusive use of the MPAs resources by a select few who happen to have the correct residential address.

“The MPA was established in the national interest in order to protect a unique habitat, biodiversity and enhance fish stocks by provid-ing a safe haven for them to feed, grow and, in most cases, reproduce.”

No food security“The proposed regulation that stipulates each registered angler may only fish for a maximum of four days per month is particularly telling as it demonstrates that this has little to do with providing for communities that have no food-security and everything to do with providing a select few with the privilege of fishing in a pristine MPA.”

SACRAA also believes that species like dusky kob, black steenbras, yellowbelly rockcod and roman, found in the MPA, should be added to the list of prohibited species because their stocks have all-but collapsed. “The combined factors of slow growth rate, longevity and high degree of residency make them extremely sus-ceptible to over-exploitation.”

In addition, SANParks does not have the re-quired capacity to ensure any level of mean-ingful compliance. “The zones will need to be patrolled daily as the enforcement of the four-day per month access limit alone will require full-time monitoring,” argues SACRAA.

Many other sections of the shoreline are also easily accessible, which will have to be patrolled to curtail the current illegal fishing activities in these areas.

“If the DEA intends to pursue this option of allowing access for fishers, SANParks will need to provide a comprehensive monitoring and enforcement strategy that proves they have capacity to enforce these regulations. This strategy should be made available to the DEA as well as all stakeholders for comment prior to any further consideration being given to these Regulations.”

Should these regulations become law, it will set a very dangerous precedent for other no-take MPAs and greatly hinder the proclamation of new MPAs.

“Anglers need to accept that they are one of the main reasons for the decline in our fish stocks, but they can also be a part of the solu-tion by recognizing the vital role no-take MPAs play in helping preserve biodiversity for future generations. Finally, the DEA has not followed due process in the drafting of these regula-tions and they need to be withdrawn.”

SACRAA was established as an umbrella body for everybody involved with any aspect of rec-reational angling. See www.sacraa.co.za

Threats to recreational fishing cont. from p55

Decades of research in MPAs provided much data that proves that even mod-erate levels of fishing pres-sure will have an adverse effect on most fish species

John Pledger is chairman of SACRAA as well as the industry body SAFTAD.

p56 :: Outdoor


CESThe Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which takes place 6-9 January in Las Vegas, US, will showcase more than 3 600 exhibitors, which in-cludes manufacturers, developers and suppli-ers of consumer technology hardware, and will feature more than 200 conference sessions.

EFTTEXEFTTEX, the European Fishing Tackle Trade Expo, will in future be held in Amsterdam every two years.

The decision was made after exhibition space at next year’s show in Amsterdam had been sold out eight months ahead of the show, to be held June 16-18th. Previous shows in

Amsterdam had also attracted record numbers of visitors. Amsterdam is popular because it is easy to travel to and visitors like the RAI exhibition centre and the city. The request by members to permanently host the show in Amsterdam was turned down, because EFTTA fears that this will limit visitors and result in the same wholesalers, agents and retailers at-tending.

EurobikeThe Eurobike trade show will feature some changes when it takes place 31 August-4 Sep-tember 2016 in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

The show will feature a new Demo Area that runs during the show time behind the B halls, which replaces the Demo Day previously held

before the show. From Wednesday to Friday, the show will only be open to trade visitors. The Saturday and Sunday will be festival days and open to the general public — instead of one Public Day as before.

SecurexSecurex — the trade show aimed at business and personal security, protection and safety — will give visitors access to local and interna-tional manufacturers and suppliers from 24-26 May 2016 at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg. Visitors can also look forward to free educational sessions with renowned speakers on topics such as industry best practice, trends and legislation, as well as business matchmaking services.

Trade show news

A1 Star 3adidas 29Anton Fabi 13Brand ID 31, 39Bronx Men 9Bronx Women 4, 5Crown Footwear OFC, 25De Wet 47Drimac 23Footwear Trading 14, 15, 17

Jeep 15, 17Jetboil 53JFK Trading 3Jordan OBC, 11Jordan & Co 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 13, OBCKevro 37Legacy Sport and Leisure 36Levi's 14Medalist 47Medicus Shoes 21

Merrell 21Mikasa 43Mitre 36Mizuno 31New Balance 19Olympic International 12Opal Sport 33Opro 39Orbit Sport 35Pat Wiltshire Sports 43

Ram Mountaineering 53Sedgars Sport 41Stormforce 35Summit 33TOPPRO 30Umbro IFCW.E.T. Sports 30Wildebees OFC, 25Winner 41

Advertisers index

Show diaryDiarise these upocoming trade shows.• Agenda will be held 7-8 January at the

Long Beach Convention Centre in Cali-fornia, US.

• The ATA (Archery Trade Association) Show will be held 5-7 January at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louis-ville, US.

• The Outdoor Retailer Winter Market will be held 7-10 January at the Salt Pal-ace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, US.

• The PGA Merchandise Show will take place 26-29 January at the Orange Coun-ty Convention Centre in, Florida, US.

• The Shot Show, for the arms and ar-chery industry, will take place 19-22 January at the Sands Expo Centre in Las Vegas, US.

• The diving and watersports show, Surf Expo, takes place 14-16 January at the Orange County Convention Centre in Florida.

• The Imprinted Sportswear Show, which brings together buyers, suppli-ers and manufacturers of screen print-ing, embroidery and graphic design for sportswear, takes place 22-24 January at the Long Beach Convention Center in California, US.

Orbit Sports at 2016 ISPO MunichORBITS SPORTS MANUFACTURERS will be exhibiting its Stormforce Xpro brand for the third consecutive year at the 2016 ISPO Munich in Germany, which runs 24-27 January.

They are very excited to introduce new products such as the Xpro soccer shin guard - a soft and flexible alternative to hard shell — to their Impact range, says Lauren McCleland from Orbit Sports Manufacturers.

Their stand in hall B6 will also feature other padded compression wear options from their range, which can be worn for a range of activities.

For the 2016 ISPO Munich trade show, action sports exhibitors are being moved to their own three halls (B5, B6, A6). This is the first change to the hall distribution in six years and will allow visitors a more efficient overview of developments and trends.

Visitors to Orbit Sports Manufacturers’ 2015 stand at ISPO Munich showed a lot of interest in their products.

Trade shows :: IBC

Sports Trader January 2016

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Transcript of Sports Trader January 2016