Sports Trader May 2015

2015 May :: Sports Trader

Southern Africa’s business-to-business magazine for the sport, outdoor and leisure industries • Vol 36 No 3 • May 2015

The future of racket sportsOutdoor footwear is doing wellHow to combat loadshedding

Sports Trader :: 2015 May

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

Nelle du Toit Claassen,Rhianah Rhode, Trudi du Toit,

Yamkela MkebeDesign: 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

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 36 Nr 3May 2015

www.sportstrader.co.za

Highlights:Racket sports growing at grass roots level

The new Draft Amendment Firearms Act has serious implications for retailers

Outdoor footwear sales are growing well

What to recommend for the social runner p18

Outdoor

40 LoadsheddingSuppliers offer a variety of products retailers can offer customers for use during power outages.

44 HuntingDo hunting and agricultural shows like HuntEx and NAMPO benefi t the retail trade?

48 Draft Amendment Firearms ActHow the proposed changes to the act affects retailers catering for hunters and sport shooters.

52 Practical shootingSA practical shooting championship is good enough to attract the world champion.

54 Outdoor newsNews from outdoor brands and companies.

The Hi-Tec V-Lite Walk-Lite Witton is equally at home on a mountain trail as a city pavement … wherever people walk. This range is stylish enough for everyday wear, but features seri-ous technologies like light-weight Vibram soles that incorporate the midsole Rolling Gait System, which was specifi cally developed for Hi-Tec to support the natural rolling movement of the foot while walking to reduce fatigue, and durable leather uppers. Contact Hi-Tec SA on 021 506 6900 or visit www.hi-tec.co.za. Also see pp 12-13, 16 and 37.

Development initiatives and top performances by players help grow participation in tennis, squash and badminton p33

Industry

2 People on the moveNews about people in the industry.

4 O’Brien bids industry farewell Industry stalwart Miles O’Brien retires.

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

8 Companies on the moveNews about companies in the industry.

12 Hi-TecHi-Tec’s versatile footwear makes all walking more comfortable and enjoyable.

38 Brand IDBrand ID partners with sports associations.

Clothing & footwear

14 Outdoor footwearConsumers purchased more outdoor footwear in 2014, despite tough economic conditions.

17 Running shoesMore technical than non-technical pairs sold.

18 Social runningWhat to recommend for the social runner.

22 Footwear news Footwear brands introduce their latest collections.

30 Baselayers and compressionTips on selling baselayers and compression.

On the cover

Proposed changes to the Firearms Act will have an impact on retailers selling to hunters and sport shooters p48

Sport

33 Tennis, squash and badmintonRacket sport is growing at junior level.

36 Racket range newsThe latest on offer from racket sport brands.

Trade shows and events

55 Running and cycling exposThe latest news from the big event expo’s.

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

Sports Trader :: 2015 MaySports Trader :: 2015 May

Four of the fi ve Speedo-sponsored South Afri-can cold water swim-mers won medals at the fi rst International Ice Swimming Associa-tion (IISA) World Cham-pionship and the 10th Annual Russian Winter Swimming Competition held recently in Mur-mansk, Russia. The ice swimming event was the brainchild of South Africa’s Ram Barkai, who is the IISA president. He and co-founder Ryan Stamrood won silver medals at the event where 50 swimmers from over 15 countries competed for 1km in 0oC water (ambient temp -1oC). Zani Müller won one gold while Kieron Palframan, who is also one of IISA’s co-founders, won a bronze medal.

People on

Cobra Puma Golf has announced that surfi ng legend and keen golfer Kelly Slater will be their new global brand ambassador.

The American used the equipment and apparel for the fi rst time at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am held from 9-15 February in Pebble Beach, California, and continues to use Cobra Golf equipment and wear-ing Puma Golf apparel and footwear for all on-course appearances.

Last year, Slater announced a new partnership to develop and launch his own clothing line under the umbrella of the Kering Group, the Cobra Puma Golf parent company.

Haile Gebrselassie – adidas’ champi-on distance runner and multiple world record holder – was in Cape Town recently to take part in events associ-ated with the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, of which adidas is also the offi cial technical sponsor, and to meet with runners. The decorated runner participated in the 5km International Friendship Run that was held the day

before the Half- and Ultra marathons. He was also at the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon Expo in the days leading up to the marathon to meet, encourage and talk to runners about long distance running, and attended various signing sessions with fans dur-ing his visit, and he also welcomed the Half- and Ultra Marathon runners at the fi nish line on race day.

KAREN ROUX joined Brand ID’s Dunslaz division in the beginning of March with almost a lifetime’s worth of retail experience, much of that selling sports equipment. Roux, who says she is thrilled to experience the sports industry from the other side, calls on re-tailers as the sales representative for brands like Dunlop, Slazenger, Opro, Swingball, Karrimor, etc.

Before this appointment, she had been the sporting goods buyer for Strand retailer Fried-man and Cohen and “she has a very good understanding of our company, our brands, our retail call cycles and the business,” says Dunslaz Brand President Steve Gallienne. “She can immediately hit the road and start calling on retailers.”

After studying Consumer Sci-ence at the University of Stellen-bosch Roux started her career as a sports buyer at Friedman and Co-hen. Her next job was at Sports-mans Warehouse, where she credits Steven van Niekerk with providing her excellent training in the ins and outs of sports re-tailing. She learnt more about re-tailing working for a home store, an independent sports store in Grabouw, Total Sports, before re-turning to Friedman and Cohen, where she was a sports buyer dur-ing the past 3-4 years.

Always active — she has Boland colours in athletics (javelin and hurdles) and enjoys jogging and mountain biking — Roux is looking forward to be meeting the people involved in the sports industry.

Dunslaz’s new sales representative Karen Roux with Steve Gallienne, Dunslaz brand president.

Umbro recently signed a spon-sorship agreement with Ma-melodi Sundowns striker Cuth-bert Malajila (above) who now plays in the new Umbro Velocita boot. At the time of going to press, Malajila was the leading goal scorer in the South African Premiere League. “With the new Velocita, Umbro have proved that they understand a modern player’s needs, as it performs well in all the right areas and will help me continue my goal-scor-ing this season,” says Malajila.

Puma has extended the 12 year part-nership with Italian Football Associa-tion (FIGC), that makes the brand the exclusive Master Licensee, into the next decade. As part of the agree-ment, Puma will help grow the profi le and commerciality of the FIGC. Puma will also continue as the offi cial techni-

cal supplier to all FIGC teams.Above: Johan Adamsson, global director of sports marketing for Puma; Gianluigi Buffon, Italy captain; Björn Gulden, Chief Executive Offi cer for Puma; Carlo Tavec-chio, President of the FIGC; Antonio Conte, FIGC’s fi rst team manager and Michele Uva, general director of FIGC.

New rep has retail expertise

p2 :: Industry

2015 May :: Sports Trader2015 May :: Sports Trader

riders in the Pro Class at the event held in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on the 20th of March.

The 21-year old also fi nished fourth, second and second in the qualifying rounds of the UCI North American Continental BMX Cham-pionships. He went on to fi nish eighth in the quarter fi nals.

the move

CorSport, sole distributor of the swim-ming brand Zoggs and BOLA bowling machines, has appointed Mike Wal-lace (above) from Mike Wallace Agen-cies as its agent for the Western Cape. Wallace is familiar with the brands, having been involved with the brands as an agent before. “We feel that Mike is well positioned to represent our brands and has a wealth of experience in the industry,” says Colin Farrer from CorSport. His years as an agent for a number of respected and well-known brands have allowed him to build good relationships with many retailers.

JEEP TEAM SA’S athletes have been dominating in recent races.

Mikaela Jonsson became the Junior Mudman ladies champion after winning the aQuellé Mud-man Series U18 women’s catego-ry, which took place at Beaulieu Dam in Richmond, Northern Cape. She came third in the overall women’s category.

Thomas van Tonder and Dominique D'Oliveira fi nished second in the men’s and women’s Black Ops races respectively in the third round of the Jeep War-rior Series, held in Rosemary Hill in Pretoria East recently. Claudia Richard competed and placed second in the Elite Commando ladies race.

Jeep Team member and African Continental Elite BMX Champion, Kyle Dodd, fi nished third at USA Cycling’s BMX National Champion-ships. The South African was com-peting against top American BMX

Jeep Team continues to shine

Above left to right: Dominique D’Oliveira; Thomas van Tonder (middle) with team mates Hlubi Mboya and Claudia Richard. Below: Kyle Dodd.

New face of CanterburyCANTERBURY SA has a new face in South Africa: Justin King, who was appointed GM Canterbury and SKLZ at local distributor Brand ID in the beginning of March.

King had a working relationship with Canterbury while it was still distributed by Super-Brands and he was general manager of the national golf handicap company in the same group, Handicaps Network Africa. Always a sports fanatic — fi tness, golf and rugby his special interests — King stud-ied fi nance and therefore entered the sports industry with a good un-derstanding of the business side. Before joining the golf handicap company as project manager, he got a degree in investment man-agement, followed by a fi nancial planning diploma.

Justin King, GM Canterbury and SKLZ at Brand ID.

“He has been a true and loyal friend to Puma throughout our long relation-ship together — you could say we have become almost family,” says Brett Bell-inger of Puma SA about Schalk Burger, who won the 2015 Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award for his sterling rugby performances after sur-viving a near-fatal illness. “He is an ab-solute ambassador for Puma, for the sport of rugby and for sport in general, we are very lucky to have him in our (in his case very large, UK15) boots and the very size of these boots on the pitch has provided a fantastic walking billboard,” he jokes. “But seriously, he is the model of the type of sports per-son Puma would want to endorse and work with. Congratulations and acco-lades fully deserved — the cream al-ways rises to top.” Burger joined Puma about 10 years ago, right after he was elected IRB Player of the Year in 2004. He has also been SA Player of the Year twice — in 2004 and 2011.

This was an ICC Cricket World Cup to re-member for the Slazenger bat collectors who obtained one of the bats signed by the dignitaries who sent the Protea team into battle: Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula and Cricket SA’s Haroon Lorgat (photo far right), Deputy Minister of Sport Gert Oosthuizen, Crime Line head Yusuf Abramjee, and AB de Villiers (photo right).

Cesc Fàbregas was the fi rst player to wear Puma’s new evoPower 1.2 soccer boot when he played in the Chelsea FC vs Manchester United game mid-April. "As a Spaniard I can't resist a red boot,” says Fàbregas. “It’s really striking and the dragon skin graphic on the heel gives it a special look. It is a real honour to be the fi rst player to wear it." The lightweight boot is designed for power and accu-racy when striking the ball and, inspired by the movement of a bare foot, the boot provides maxi-mum fl exibility to increase shooting power. Olivier Giroud, Mario Balotelli and Dante are among the other top players who also play in the new boot.

Industry :: p3


“Ihave nothing but appreciation for the amazing career that I was gifted with. Over the years, the people I have interacted with, the excitement of the

business opportunities I enjoyed and the sup-port of all my colleagues at Jordan has been indescribable. No need to have any regrets about how my business life unfolded, thanks to my Jordan colleagues,” he says.

O’Brien’s fi rst job was at Golden Arrow Bus services in 1970, where he worked for 12 years, rising to the level of General Manager.

In his early 20’s O’Brien had played for the Western Province rugby side, which was cap-tained by former Springbok captain Morné du Plessis, with whom he also became good friends.

In 1982 Du Plessis convinced his friend to leave the transport business and join him at Sportshoe, which manufactured adidas foot-wear under the Conshu umbrella.

He loved the shoe business from day one in the factory and the fact that he no more started work at 4am, which he did during his Golden Arrow days, was by far his biggest in-centive at the time, he says. Shortly after he joined Sportshoe, Du Plessis left making him the successor as MD. “I was at the right place just at the right time!” explains O’Brien.

After his promotion, O’Brien tried to diver-sify their product range beyond making only adidas products and soon his efforts were rewarded with a 120 000 pair gym shoe or-der from the South African National Defence Force. This blew the Sportshoe factory’s pro-duction ability apart and in 1989 Conshu pur-chased the Jordan Shoe Factory and moved the Sportshoe factory into their top fl oor. “The

Jordan factory, with the extra adidas and army sales, really took off,” he says. “Luckily for me, I was the adidas and army connection, so Rob Jordan, the Jordan MD at the time, had no option but to employ me.”

During his time at Jordan & Co. he resur-rected their Olympic sports brand and was instrumental in adding Bronx safety shoes to their corporate shoe range. “We now have a successful Safety Shoe division, focused on the upper end of the market place.”

O’Brien plans a retirement full of activity and connecting with his friends and family. “Retirement will obviously include many early morning cycling and running outings, and also regular gym sessions,” he says. He hopes to keep his wife and himself healthy and that she will learn the trick of having “double the husband and half the salary”. He also hopes to learn how to play a musical instrument and will be offering his DIY skills to his family and friends.

O’Brien retiresfrom industry

Industry stalwart Miles O’Brien from Jordan & Co. hung up his hat in March after a 33 year career in the footwear industry when he reached the compulsory retirement age of 65.

“I was at the right place just at the right time!”

p4 :: Industry

2015 May :: Sports Trader2015 May :: Sports Trader2015 May :: Sports Trader

Brands on the move

PUMA HAS launched their latest PWRCool collection, a range of thermo-regulating apparel and footwear that feature a cool-ing technology, which keeps the wearer’s body at an optimal tem-perature to help preserve energy.

The range is designed to help keep athletes comfortable

in hot weather condi-tions to enable them to maximize their workouts.The brand’s long history

of working with Jamaican athletes allowed them to test PWRCool in this envi-ronment during the devel-opment process. “Living and training in Ja-

maica is a wonderful thing, but the heat is challenging and at times pretty exhaust-ing. PWRCool is a great tech-nology to help counter that; it

works well in both the shoes and training wear, says Puma athlete and Olympic medallist Hansle Parchment.

The footwear range includes the

Ignite PWRCool, which features Ignite Foam — a cushioning mate-rial that disperses impact while providing good responsiveness — for step-in comfort and long last-ing performance. The FAAS 500v4 PWRCool is the everyday runner’s shoe that features lightweight cushioning and a ComfortTemp tongue liner to regulate body temperature.

The PWRCool Graphic SS Tee features a visible PWRCool mois-ture-activated cooling print that delivers an instant cooling ef-fect when activated. It features CoolCell, a functional material that wicks sweat away from the wearer’s body, and anatomically placed air fl ow features, which help improve the products’ tem-perature regulatory function.

The women’s PWRCool ¾ tight has an all over moisture-activated cooling print and also features CoolCell technology. The Men’s PWRCool 2-in-1 short has a built-in tight underneath the shorts, which features the PWRCool print.

Usain Bolt wears PWRCool.

Puma athletes keep their coolSPEEDO, LOCALLY distributed by Brand ID, recently opened its sec-ond concept store. Due to the popularity of swimming in Menlyn and Speedo’s association with the High Performance Centre (HPC) of the University of Pretoria, the brand opened its concept store in the Menlyn Park Shopping Centre in Pretoria on 1 April.

Their other concept store is in Canal Walk, Cape Town.The store will offer Speedo’s top quality equipment and swimwear

at one location in Pretoria and they look forward to helping swimmers select their ideal product, training aids and swimwear for their specifi c purposes, says Stuart Hopwood, Speedo SA’s brand president.

Speedo’s new store

THE NEW XEO19R headlamp from Led Lenser, locally distributed by Awesome Tools, features two inde-pendently operated LEDs that can be focused and controlled separately.

Not only can the wearer adjust the focus, he can also have one light on spot and one on fl ood, for example, or both on the same setting for a more defi ned light.

It features a new user-friendly dynamic control pad that lets the operator easily adapt the light between settings. Five intuitive programmed but-tons on the top of

the light control the light modes and brightness.

The headlamp also boasts other features such as a USB charger and power bank, Optisense tech-nology (an integrated bright-ness sensor measures the output needed in real-time and adjusts accordingly), and an air intake chamber that allows air into the

headlamp as the user moves, which cools the LEDs and

allows the XEO19R to maintain peak

performance and brightness

for longer.

Led Lenser’s headlamp with independent LEDs

YOU MIGHT have no-ticed the two Afrikaans adverts in this issue for Kakiebos apparel (p1) and Wildebees camo for the huntsman (p45). The brands, distributed locally by Crown Footwear, are two South African brands: both are locally owned and developed and tar-get the Afrikaans consumer.

“The Kakiebos range is selling very well,” says Jeremy Nel of lo-cal distributor Crown Footwear. The Afrikaans brand started ten years ago as a fi fties-style slogan T-shirt range, with expressive slogans like Skaapie, Mampoer or Strydbyl. It has since been ex-panded to include shorts and trou-sers. They have even introduced a sandal into the Kakiebos range.

The Wildebees brand special-ises in hunting camo apparel and footwear. Their hunting boots are especially quiet and soft — ideal qualities for long hours on the feet while sneaking up on the prey. The brand claims the boots are taai soos ‘n wildebees (as tough as a wildebeest).

The fact that they proudly pro-mote their Afrikaans heritage, should come as no surprise, as Af-

rikaans has bur-ied its language of the oppressor

image very deeply, and is now widely used by youngsters across cultural and race groups. Rappers like Bittereinder and Jack Parow, alternatives like Die Antwoord, and rock stars like Karen Zoid have made it cool to perform in Afrikaans.

It is the home language of the third largest group of South Afri-cans (13.5% or 7-m people), and is considered to be the second or third language understood by most South Africans. It is the lan-guage spoken by most people in the Northern Cape, Western Cape and the second most in the Eastern Cape, Free State and Northwest.

Your Afrikaans customers there-fore comprise an infl uential demo-graphic group who are again proud to use their language.

Local Afrikaans brands hit the spot

Industry :: p5


Brands onSKINS IS now the offi cial com-pression partner of the Stoke City soccer club. As of the beginning of the next season, Skins will sup-ply the club’s fi rst team, academy players and staff with baselayers for the next three years.

This is the fi rst compression partnership in soccer and gives them a competitive edge, says Andrew Billingham, Stoke City’s head of commercial.

“This now offers us a nice op-portunity to penetrate the South African soccer market,” says Paul Copson of the local distributor Brand-ID.

“The Premier League is a truly global product and Stoke City's association with historic names such as Sir Stanley Matthews and Gordon Banks, together with the international status of its current squad, reinforces our presence in the world's most popular team

Photo: Phil Greig/Stoke City FC

Skins sponsors Stoke City

sport,” says David Ling, general manager of Skins. The partnership with Stoke City reinforces the brand’s position within interna-tional sport and the soccer team joins the likes of Wallabies Aus-tralian Rugby Union team, Bath Rugby, Exeter Chiefs, etc.

Umbro hosts Swansea CityUMBRO RECENTLY hosted Swansea City in Cape Town when the club visited South Africa.

The Swansea City soccer club from the English Premiership League was invited to participate in the 27th edition of the Metro-politan Premier Cup, which is sponsored by Umbro.

The club’s academy coaching staff and Umbro also hosted coaching activities across Cape Town for the youth and local coaches — they reached about 1 000 children in areas such as Mitchell’s Plain, Bothasig, Gansbaai and Hout Bay. The international coaches were impressed with the young South African players and were surprised by the level of con-trol they displayed on the ball in diffi cult playing conditions.

CAPE TOWN swimwear manufac-turer Second Skins is launching new and exciting additions to their goggle and accessory range.

“Great fi tting goggles free swimmers to concentrate on their stroke and breathing without eye-watering distractions,” says Brad Gale, Head of swimwear at Second Skins. The new range in-cludes racing, open water, rec-reational and children's goggles and cap sets.

“Athletes serious about their swim training will love Second Skins range of hand paddles, kick boards, pull bouys, fl ip-pers and drag suits,” says Gale. “The new range has been tried and tested by some

of South Africa's top swimmers.”The new Speedskins Elite and

Speedskins Racing Goggles com-pliment their FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) Ap-proved race suit. “It’s the only suit of this type made in South Af-rica,” explains Gale. “This means that records broken while wear-ing Speedskins will be recognized by FINA, the international swim-ming body.”

swim training will love Second Skins range of hand paddles, kick

been tried and tested by some

New goggles from Second Skins

K-Way shows off winter ranges K-WAY RECENTLY introduced the latest technologies and designs in their new winter apparel, footwear and equipment ranges, exclu-sively available at Cape Union Mart stores, during a media day.

The K-Way Kili and Ridge boots with Vibram outsoles, waterproof/breathable membranes and a European style, were the highlights of the footwear segment. They were designed for the types of moun-tains South Africans climb, said Cape Union Mart footwear buyer Shuaib Smith.

This includes Mt Kilimanjaro, where you would normally need three diff erent pairs of shoes to get you through the various terrain and climatic conditions. They have combined technologies to create a product that can encounter all these types of terrains and climatic conditions. Although the products have been in the making for at least a year, the programme is still in its foetal stages and Smith fore-sees design and material changes in the coming months, until they get the product they really want.

The K-Way apparel segment has three themed ranges, including the Expedition Series, which covers top-end shell jackets and soft-shells for men and women. Their Fash-Tech range features techni-cal jackets with a fashion element, which are suited to a variety of activities such as hiking, travelling or skiing. The Down range is made of 100% genuine quality goose or duck down, which ensures optimal functionality, apparel buyer Ryan Weideman explained.

The equipment segment showcased the brand’s down and Prim-aloft Eco sleeping bags, self-infl ating mats, 25-85l backpack and Ne-rolite 2-person tent as well as accessories like trekking poles and trav-el towels. The Lite 400 sleeping bag has a goose down fi lling, which makes it more durable than its synthetic counterparts, said Cape Union Mart equipment buyer Paul Frier. The Extreme Lite 500 fea-tures a smart diamond pattern, which prevents any tears in the fabric from spreading. The Chamonix 850 Eco is suited to wilderness hiking, summer or autumn camping, and hutted trails. It uses PrimaLoft Eco, which is an earth-friendly insulation material, which off ers the same performance and comfort as other less eco-friendly materials.

Factory manager Bobby Fairlamb demonstrate how they test sealed seams.

K-Way design manager shows some of their different garment designs.

p6 :: Industry


the moveTHERE’S T20 cricket, rugby sevens and also hockey sixes. Dur-ing February this year Slazenger sponsored a new six-a-side hockey tournament in Johan-nesburg for boys and girls from U9–U18.

The month-long tour-nament, from 1 Feb-ruary to 1 March, was the brain child of John Houghton, the hockey coach at St Stithians School.

“The action hockey tournament played on astro turf generated a lot of new interest in hockey, as it requires new techniques,” says Steve Gallienne, Dunslaz Brand President at the Slazenger dis-tributor, Brand ID.

The tournament was also an op-portunity for the brand to iden-tify new up-and-coming hockey talent at school level to offer them sponsorships. Sixes hockey is growing in popularity world-wide and an International Sixes

Slazenger sponsors hockey sixes

tournament has been held in Sin-gapore since 1992. This year, the 21st edition of the tournament at the end of February attracted 64 teams, including teams from the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia.

Traditional hockey is also growing tremendously in South Africa, says Gallienne, espe-cially amongst boys where the traditional Afrikaans schools are adopting the game in growing numbers. The establishment of pubs next to astro turfs have also contributed to a whole new social hockey culture developing among adult players, he says.

Update on Converse lawsuitWHILE SOME of the 32 brands sued by Converse for trademark infringement of their Chuck Taylor sneakers have settled with the brand, retailer Walmart filed a brief with the International Trade Commission (ITC) promising to “fight Converse’s anti-competitive actions to preserve Every Day Low Prices for Walmart customers”.

In the lawsuit filed in the Federal District Court in New York at the end of last year, Converse accused the 32 brands and retailers of copying the distinctive Chuck Taylor toecap, toe bumper, side strip and diamond pattern on the bottom of the sneaker’s sole.

Among the fashion lifestyle brands who have reached settle-ment agreements with Converse are Fila, Ralph Lauren, the Aldo Group, H&M, Tory Burch, etc. Among the brands still contesting the lawsuit are K-Mart, Zulily, Skechers, Kitson, etc.

Walmart claims that Converse has not had exclusive use of the toe cap, toe bumper and midsole striping for at least 50 years, if ever. Converse’s “sudden launch of this surprise ITC action against the industry and its use of this forum to extort monetary settle-ments and drive product out of the market must not continue to be permitted,” Walmart told the ITC.

In the article on the lawsuit in the March issue of Sports Trader (Sneaker Wars on trademarks and rights, p26), we erroneously re-ported that Superga Italy had won a court case against Fila for dis-tributing a look-alike. This is not correct, as the court case is still on-going and no verdict had been given at the time of going to press.

We also referred to the late Abdullah Mohamed Dajee who had registered the Posture Foundation trademark in South Africa. His son, who bears that name, called to let us know that his late fa-ther, named Mohamed Dajee, registered the brand name. Abdul-lah Mohamed Dajee of City Outfitters, who is very much alive, is currently the holder of the Posture Foundation — PF trademark in South Africa.

Industry :: p7


Gelvenor

Companies on the move

Bottle sales grow for CamelbakCAMELBAK SALES grew 6.2% to $148.7-m for the fi nancial year ended December 31, 2014. While sales of bottles grew $16-m, sales of hydration systems dropped $7-m. Glove sales also grew $1.2-m, but accessory sales dropped $1.7-m.

The drop in hydration system sales is attrib-uted to the US Marine Corps not ordering any products during the period.

Bottle and hydration system sales contribute about 87% of the company’s sales, with sales to the military contributing 21% (down from 29% the previous year). The draw back of US troops resulted in a lower demand.

Fila grows revenueGLOBAL REVENUE for the Fila brand, owned by Fila Korea, improved 8% to 797.5-m Korean Won ($722.2-m) during 2014, but the brand’s net income for the year dropped 37% to 60.4-m Korean Won ($55-m).

In the fourth quarter, Fila global sales grew 2% to 213 446 Korean Won, but net income showed a loss of 11 253 Korean Won.

Fila US is, however, continuing to show im-provement in both sales and profi t since its re-turn to profi tability in 2010, says a statement from Fila Korea. Despite a competitive market and limited marketing investment, Fila US has grown its revenue and operating profi t. Fila US’ revenues increased 29.2% to $279.2-m in 2014.

HEAD NV reported an 4.7% increase in net revenues to €375.4-m for 2014, or 5.3% in currency-neutral terms, which was driven by a growth in all its segments.

In the racket sports division revenues in-creased 3.3% to €149.5-m due to the increased volume of tennis rackets and branded tennis balls sold, having a good product mix in key categories and better revenues for acces-sories. Its diving revenues increased 9.2% to €57.1-m and revenues from SSI — its dive cer-tifi cation business — compensated for lower equipment sales. The company’s sportswear revenues improved 3.4% to €6.8-m as a result of increased sales of winter sports apparel. Its winter sports division revenues increased 2.9% to €164.7-m too, despite late snowfall.

Gross profi t grew by €16.3-m, but cost in-creases of €14.9-m resulted in net adjusted operating profi t growth of €1.4-m.

Nike earnings grow 16%NIKE INC. grew its earnings 16% to $791-m in the third quarter that ended February 28, 2015.

Sales increased 7% to $7.46-bn, with sales on a currency-neutral basis growing 11% for the Nike brand and 33% for Converse.

Emerging Markets (including Africa) grew earnings 12%. North America had the small-est gain (6%) and other regions increased their earnings as follows: Western Europe had the strongest gain of 21%, Greater China 17%, Ja-pan 8%, and Central and Eastern Europe 7%.

“Our strong third quarter results show that our growth strategies are working, even under challenging macroeconomic conditions,” says Mark Parker, Nike President and CEO.

Head grew revenues in 2014

ADIDAS GROUP is estimating its net income to grow 15% on average for the next fi ve years through to 2020.

The group is also aiming to increase its in-come at a high-single-digit rate on average an-nually on a currency-neutral basis during the same period.

The group’s new business plan is focusing on three major strategic areas - Speed, Cities and Open Source.

Speed: The group has set itself new stand-ards with regard to speed to market by signifi -cantly decreasing production lead times and increasing in-season creation.

Cities: The adidas Group plans to continue its growth in all relevant geographic markets

with a focus on six global key cities including: Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Shang-hai and Tokyo.

Open Source is a strong commitment to fur-ther strengthen the company’s ties with its consumers. The group will focus investments across its core brand portfolio including adi-das, Reebok and TaylorMade.

“In the future, we will not only talk to and talk with our consumers. We will be the fi rst sports company that invites athletes, consum-ers and partners to be part of its brands. We will open up so that they can co-create the fu-ture together with us,” says Eric Liedtke, ex-ecutive board member responsible for global brands.

Adidas Group expects 15% growth through 2020

Wilson buys Louisville SluggerWILSON SPORTING GOODS CO. has bought the brand, sales and innovation rights to baseball brand Louisville Slug-ger from Hillerich & Bradsby (H&B), which will be Wilson’s exclusive manu-facturing partner for wood bats.

Visser to “Beat the Sun”ASICS SA is looking for a highly motivated amateur runner to join their training and pro-motions specialist Dawid Visser as part of the African team participating in the annual Beat the Sun challenge.

This tough relay race around Mont Blanc — the highest mountain in Western Europe — takes place between sunrise and sunset on 21 June, the longest day of the year.

The company has launched a global search for 15 amateur runners to form part of the fi ve continental teams that will not only compete against each other, but also try to beat the sun by covering the 148km around the mountain before the sun sets. Each team will comprise of three professional and three amateurs rep-resenting America, Asia-Pacifi c, Africa and Eu-rope. Amateurs will be selected based on their running ability and motivation to accept the challenge. In the two months leading up to the event, each continent’s candidates will be mentored by a professional athlete from their continental team — in South Africa, a trail and road champ will perform this task.

Each runner will receive ASICS apparel and footwear, and complete two 3-19km sections of the 148km course, which spans France, Italy and Switzerland.

A TV-documentary about the challenge will be broadcast worldwide in late 2015.

Amateur athletes who feel inspired to take part in this challenge can fi nd more informa-tion at asics.com/beatthesun.

Photo: Chris Hitchcock

p8 :: Industry


“Our 50 year anniversary marks an important mile-stone for the company as we look back on our incredible heritage of

talent and accomplishments,” says CEO Dicky Coetzee. “Gelvenor is continually investing in a new generation of talented staff through mentoring and education, as we continue to push the limits of what fabric technology can achieve.”

The Gelvenor storyThe company’s story began in 1965 when Dutch company Gelderman and Zonen embarked on a joint venture with Grosvenor Holdings, South African fi nance company, to establish a textile company based in Hammarsdale, Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Having the background and experience, Gel-derman and Zonen supplied the textile equip-ment and technology to drive the venture, and Grosvenor Holdings provided the fi nancial backing for the project, including setting up the infrastructure and facilities at the mill.

Originally the company manufactured basic lining fabric, but today, fi ve decades later, Gel-venor Textiles is a global player in the technical and speciality fabrics market, driving local de-velopment initiatives as well as supplying a so-phisticated export market on a worldwide basis.

The Gelvenor story is multifaceted, refl ecting a continuous evolution from basic to complex products, while at the same time adapting to the changing economic and political climate. “Adapt-ability and continuous innovation has been the mainstay of our success,” explains Coetzee.

The company opened its doors as a Greenfi eld operation in the industrial development area of Hammarsdale. Initially the production areas of the factory were equipped with redundant textile equipment brought over from Holland. Recruitment of the pioneer contingency of staff, their training, and the teething problems while the company began to produce the fi rst basic lining fabrics, turned the introductory years into a challenging learning curve.

Gelvenor met the challenge, however, and already began to show profi ts from its sec-ond year. From the start, Gelvenor followed a

Gelvenor Textiles50 Years of Innovation

Gelvenor’s key product categories include• Personal protective fabrics for the ballistic, inherently fl ame retardant and medical mar-

ket sector.• Aeronautical fabrics for the parachute, paraglider and aerospace industries• Military textiles for uniforms and personal equipment.• Apparel fabrics for school- and corporate wear.• Specialised sport and outdoor active fabrics• Base fabrics for digital printing and PVC coating• Multifi lament fi ltration fabrics• Glass scrims for reinforcing applications• Multiaxial composite grids

“Our primary focus is on value chain integrated solutions directed towards high technology and speciality fabric applications,” Coetzee points out.

strategy of combining the manufacturing and selling of textile products into providing engi-neered textile solutions in all their targeted market areas.

Gelvenor is committed to the ongoing pro-duction of sustainable solutions to satisfy their customers’ needs, by continually exploring new opportunities for product innovation and striving for continual growth and development of speciality and technical fabrics into a range of niche markets.

They strive for excellence, honesty and in-tegrity in all of their business relationships and Gelvenor positions itself as a leader in textile manufacturing for their chosen market areas. “We are the world leaders in parachute fabric innovation and position ourselves glob-ally as not just as another textile company, but as the textile company for speciality and technical fabrics,” says Coetzee.

EnvironmentGelvenor is an ISO 9001:2009, TS16949:2009 QMS and ISO14001:2004 Environmental Man-agement listed company. They employ six Sigma management principles to monitor and ensure that they implement continuous im-

provement in all activities to add real value for their customers and to their products.

“Our commitment to the environment is clear with our status as an ISO 14001 listed company,” says Coetzee. “Using this as our baseline, Gelvenor developed a program called Distinctly Blue where we design fab-rics, which are not only innovative, but at the same time employ production processes for their manufacturing that are dedicated to be-ing environmentally sustainable and compati-ble. We regularly revaluate our manufacturing practices, product life cycles and supply chain to assess the impact on the environment and what we can do to reduce this.”

RelationshipsA key element of Gelvenor’s success, and one that they are very proud of, is their long and enduring relationship with staff, suppliers and customers.

“This has resulted in the company’s on-going success and sets us aside from other market players in the industry,” says Coetzee.

“The organisational culture is based on our core values and we strive for every employee, customer and supplier to assist us to create a value add work environment.”

For trade enquiries contact Gelvenor Textiles on Tel: 031 736 8000, [email protected] or visit www.gelvenor.com

South African textiles manufacturer Gelvenor Textiles celebrated their Golden Anniversary on the 1st of May this year.

Advertorial :: p9


Companies on the move

SOUTH AFRICA has the third highest average disposable income in Africa and our average spending power is the highest of all BRICS countries, according to Numbeo, which claims to have the world’s biggest database of data recording worldwide living conditions (www.numbeo.com).

The average monthly salary of South Africans is $1 400 (R16 710), according to Numbeo. This is above the average salaries ($700-$1 000) earned by Brazilian and Chinese workers, as well as the $400-$700 earned by workers in the other BRICS partners Russia and India.

According to this data Angolan workers ($2 650 — R31 760) and Gabonese ($1 742 —R20 877) are the top earners in Africa. Mauri-tius ($1 337 — R15 958) and Malawi ($1 098 — R13 106) follow South Africa in #4 and #5 place among African countries.

The data from Numbeo is, however, higher than other research shown on South African salaries.

For example, the latest BankServAfrica’s Disposable Salary Index (BDSI) shows that al-though South African’s take-home pay in Feb-ruary 2015 had the biggest increase in fi ve months, the average disposable income was R12 051 per month.

The average salary (before tax) in South Af-

rica is about R14 900 per month, data from Trading Economics data shows.

While previous BDSI data showed that half of all South Africans earned less than R3 500 per month, BankServAfrica reports that in January this year the number of workers banking sala-ries of less than R4 000 dropped 13%, indicat-ing that disposable income is improving.

Workers in fi fteen African countries earn more than the average workers in Russia and India, and on par with workers in other BRICS partners Brazil and China, according to Numbeo data. Apart from the countries mentioned above, the other top earning African countries are Leso-tho ($1 017), Swaziland ($7860), Mozambique ($757), Nigeria ($731) and Sudan ($650).

People in Switzerland, Luxembourg (pop. 550 000), and Jersey (pop. 100 000) have the highest disposable incomes in the world, ac-cording to research compiled by Numbeo. Australians are the ninth highest earners, but, surprisingly, people living in the US, Canada, UK and other major European countries are NOT among the highest average earners with monthly salaries higher than $3 500 (R42 112).

Cubans have the average lowest disposable income in the world, namely $25 (R300) per month.

SA salaries higher than BRICS partners

ADIDAS AG sales in Emerging Markets (including Africa) grew 19% in the 4th quarter of 2014 and the group also recorded double-digit sales growth in Western Europe, Greater China and Latin America. Group sales grew 6.5% to €3.6-bn in the period.

The adidas brand grew sales 11% and the 1% growth in Reebok sales is the seventh consecutive quarter that the brand experienced growth.

On the negative side, good-will impairment charges, neg-ative currency effects, losses from the sale of the Rockport brand, underperformance in North America and a drop of 24% in TaylorMade-Adidas golf sales resulted in bigger 4th quarter losses for the company than the year before.

In the full 2014 fi nancial year the group’s sales grew 6% on a currency-neutral ba-sis, with adidas recording 11% and Reebok 5% growth, but TaylorMade-Adidas Golf sales dropping 28%. In European Emerging Markets, sales grew 16% (currency neutral) with double-digit revenue growth at both adidas and Reebok.

The group’s sales in North America, however, dropped 4% (currency neutral) due to lower sales from TaylorMade-Adidas Golf and Reebok.

“2014 was a year with ups and downs for the Adidas Group, but we tackled the challenges resolutely and achieved our adjusted top- and bottom-line targets,” says CEO Herbert Hainer.

Adidas Emerging Markets grow big PUMA AND Wings for Life World Run have signed a multi-year partnership that will take ef-fect from May 2015. The brand, the exclusive offi cial sportswear partner for the race, will pro-vide running products to event staff and marketing support to spread awareness of the chari-table initiative.

The event enables runners from 35 global locations to compete simultaneously. Runners all start at the same time (11am UTC) and run as far as they can before being overtaken by a moving fi n-ish line, called the Catcher Car, which takes off 30mins after the runners at 15km/h and stead-ily increases speed until the last athlete is caught. There is no fi n-ish line in the race and last year’s winner, Lemawork Ketema, was caught after more than 5hours and 78km.

Puma will encourage people to participate in the race by acti-vating its worldwide social and communication channels and will also be broadcasting event

content in real time and post event.

The race is more than just a run — it also helps fund scientifi c research through the Wings for Life Foundation to fi nd a cure for spinal cord injuries and 100% of starting fees and donations go into the research.

“The Wings for Life Run is a perfect partnership for Puma, bringing together two organisa-tions with shared goals and val-ues, encouraging participants to compete both by foot and wheelchair. Puma also fi ghts for fairness in sports through our humanitarian initiative of the same name. We believe that anyone who wants to compete should be able to do so, regard-less of their gender, race, sex-ual orientation, socioeconomic background or disability,” says Adam Petrick, global marketing director at Puma.

The run’s fi rst edition was held in 2014 with 36 000 runners par-ticipating and the numbers are expected to increase each year.

Puma partners with Wings for Life World Run

p10 :: Industry


Once you have cash fl ow prob-lems, you can forget about bank funding. Unless you have access to other cash resources, your business may be doomed for-

ever. The main reason for cash fl ow problems is very simple — your clients demand payment terms of 30, 60 or even 90 days from the date of invoice, while your suppliers demand im-mediate payment. As a new business without track record, you’re slap-bang in the middle and you don’t have any bargaining power.

That is where CapX provides the solution with its unique invoice discounting product. CapX has been providing cash fl ow solutions for more than 15 years and specializes in in-voices discounting for smaller companies that provide a product or service to a larger cor-porate entity in the private sector. Once you have delivered your product or rendered your service CapX can pay you for that invoice im-mediately. You don’t have to wait 30, 60 or even 90 days to receive your money anymore.

Take, for example, a smaller business which imports sports equipment to deliver to a retailer in South Africa. You have to pay for your import-ed equipment up front, then wait for it to get here in order to deliver to the retailer. Once you have delivered you still have to wait another 30

or 60 days, sometimes longer, to get paid.Invoice discounting provides a very effective

solution for this problem. Once the retailer has signed off on a particular invoice (i.e. the retailer agrees that the products were indeed delivered to its satisfaction), the business may sell (“discount”) that invoice to CapX. The business immediately receives the invoice amount, less a discounting fee, while CapX re-ceives the full amount of the invoice from the retailer on their normal payment terms.

The net result is that the business owner has converted its debtor into cash, allowing him to focus on growing the business instead of wor-rying about cash fl ows from existing clients.

CapX will focus on the credit standing of the debtor (i.e. the company paying the in-voice) and not as much on the balance sheet of the smaller business, thus enabling smaller businesses access to cash that they otherwise wouldn’t qualify for with a bank.

CapX operates in the market space for cli-ents who want to discount invoices up toR5 million per month, but nothing smaller than R50 000 per month. The invoice discount-ing product offers immense fl exibility to the client as you don’t have to discount all your debtors or all your invoices — you as the client decide which invoices issued to your debtors

More than 80% of all new businesses fail within the fi rst two years, often due to cash fl ow problems. Invoice discounting can save your business!

Turn debtors into cashAre your debtors paying at a snail’s pace? If you are a small supplier or sub-contractor to a large company, CapX can discount your invoices. Instead of waiting for 30 days (or more) for payment, you will receive your cash instantly.

For enquiries contactGerhard Greeff: [email protected]

Lize Oosthuizen: [email protected]: 021 979 1960 | www.capx.co.za

you want to discount. You also don’t have to discount each month, just do it as and when you need cash fl ow in your business. There is no minimum period that you need to sign on for or any monthly fees — you only pay the discount rate while your invoice is outstand-ing, even if that is only for 7 days. CapX also doesn’t take over your debtors’ book and all your collection processes stay exactly the same.

To arrange invoice discounting is not a lengthy process nor does it involve a huge amount of paperwork. Once an application is submitted for the fi rst time, it should not take more than a couple of days before payment can be made. Subsequent future payments should take a few hours.

In a nutshell: Invoice discounting can save your business from disaster and provides the fi nancial basis for solid growth.

Advertorial :: p11


T hese boots are made for walking, and that’s just what they’ll do … sang Nancy Sinatra in the 1960’s. Or, as Hi-Tec paraphrased it in 2015: Walking just got better …

Our shoes are made for walking.Whether walking to the kitchen to make a

cup of coffee, shopping in a mall, exercising the dog, commuting on foot, hiking in the mountains, or walking across a continent for a cause ... ALL able-bodied people walk.

The latest Hi-Tec campaign is not only about promoting the enjoyment of walking, but more specifically about informing walk-ers about the benefits of their new Walk-Lite series. The unique technologies make walking more comfortable, less fatiguing and more en-joyable, is the message.

The emphasis in the casual everyday wear

Urban and Coastal series will be on style, com-fort and utility, while the iconic Altitude will be available in the Outdoor series.

The trend for more versatile footwear has opened huge opportunities for growing sales, explains Hi-Tec SA GM Mickey Mallett. “There is a big market for outdoor inspired footwear for everyday use.”

A traditional hiking boot has a specific look, which will look out of place at a social func-tion, but the multi-purpose styles have a much wider appeal as they can be worn everywhere, from work, to an evening out, or when walking for exercise, he says.

The move to strengthen the everyday out-door styles has been an evolving process for the brand, explains Mallett.

“At first Hi-Tec was mainly an outdoor and sport footwear brand, but gradually we’ve add-ed new categories, for example, the Walk-Lite collection, which is an outdoor inspired shoe, but sold through customers catering for a wider market than just outdoor enthusiasts.”

Therefore, expect more colour, more cross-over styling and more cutting-edge technolo-gies from Hi-Tec for the coming Spring/Sum-mer season.

Go walking, invites Hi-TecHi-Tec’s latest footwear range was developed to make walking better, more comfortable, and more attrac-tive. They know that everybody walks — whether just around the house, to commute, for sport, to enjoy the outdoors, or to conquer mountains — and therefore produced a versatile range to suit all walking needs

While not losing sight of their outdoor roots, Hi-Tec now also caters for the city walkers with their attrac-tive, comfort-driven every-day shoes with all the tech-nical bells and whistles

p12 :: Industry


Expect super-light footwear with advanced technologies like the unique Rolling Gait Sys-tem midsoles, the Vibram soles, ortholite odour-resistant removable sockliners, breath-able, waterproof Dri-Tec membranes in the up-pers, to name a few of the comfort solutions.

The Walk-Lite CollectionsThe Walk-Lite series includes the V-Lite Rio Race and V-Lite Rio Quest, V-Lite Walk-Lite Witton’s and Super Lite Ezee’s Collections.

While not losing sight of their outdoor roots, Hi-Tec now also cater for the city walkers with the Walk-Lite Mens Collection: attractive, comfort-driven, lightweight, everyday shoes with all the technical bells and whistles.

This collection features technologies like lightweight Vibram soles incorporating the Rolling Gait midsole system, which was spe-cifically developed for Hi-Tec to support the natural rolling movement of the foot while walking, durable leather uppers and a con-toured footbed to add comfort while hitting the pavements and pathways ... all in a stylish multi-purpose design.

The Rio Collection, featured on their bill-boards, continues this multi-purpose light-weight walking trend for summer with eye-catching colours and a more athletic styling.

Features that will add comfort during long summer walks or strolls along the coast in-clude grippy, supportive soles and i-shield water- and dirt repellant coatings, a versa-tile lacing system to provide a secure fit and a stroballed EVA layer between the footbed and midsole to provide additional underfoot cushioning.

This collection represents a cross-over be-tween Hi-Tec’s traditional leather hiking boot and the multi-purpose urban shoe. Features like moisture-wicking, waterproofing, dirt resistance, insulation and comfort adds ver-satility to this lightweight leather and canvas

Opposite page: Hi-Tec SA MD Mickey Mallett examines the V-Lite Rio Quest i. On the table are some colourful styles from the new V-Lite Flash collection that will be introduced later this year.

range. The result is a trendy footwear range equally at home in the city that looks good when worn with jeans, chinos or shorts.

Growing traditional hiking“The Altitude family has been at the core of our business — from the very top end to the higher mid-pricepoints,” says Mallett.

The boot has represented Hi-Tec’s mas-sive lightweight hiking category for the past twenty years or so, as it was one of the early adopters of this trend started by the Sierra.

The tough Altitude hiking range features an ortholite footbed to provide cushioning, a du-rable waterproof leather upper and a breath-able membrane to keep feet dry. The stain-re-sistant i-shield repels water and dirt to ensure a comfortable hike.

But, while the big push is now for every-day multi-purpose walking shoes with a more stylish cut, Hi-Tec will continue to grow and maintain their traditional hiking ranges, which have a core following of hiking enthusiasts.

Walking better campaignHi-Tec’s current global Walking Just Got Bet-ter campaign has a distinctly South African flavour, as the catalogue, was photographed locally. Apart from scenes on billboards and other advertising media, several clips on You-Tube demonstrating the benefits of walking and technologies in the Walk-Lite collections, will look very familiar to Capetonians.

The message of the campaign is that people

are becoming more aware of the health ben-efits of walking across the world — they take stairs instead of lifts, walk instead of taking a bus and walk to enjoy nature. The entertain-ing videos suggest that this will force cities to accommodate walkers by widening sidewalks and that taxis, bus stops and stations will be used for other purposes because walkers will no longer use them.

A locally filmed TV advert showcasing the colours, styles and light weight of Hi-Tec clothing and footwear will be aired 33 times during the Vodacom Super Rugby matches throughout May. This will increase consumer awareness of the brand and what it stands for. The TV advert, also available on YouTube, stresses the brand’s outdoor heritage and also feature their urban footwear, technical out-door apparel and outdoor equipment.

Just as their clothing range, equipment like backpacks and related products, tents, walk-ing poles, etc. have been selling well since they were added to their footwear ranges a few years ago, confirms Mallett.

Bucking the sales trendBucking the trend, Hi-Tec SA had a very good year in 2014. Their clothing range, light hik-ing, traditional hiking, everyday urban wear, sandals ... all categories did well, despite the unfavourable Rand exchange rate placing an even bigger burden on cash-strapped consum-ers’ disposable incomes.

When the economy is tough, customers are more likely to buy a trusted brand at a reason-able price, acknowledges Mallett.

He therefore contributes their good perfor-mance to “a mixture of people staying with the brands they know when money is tight, and some stores just doing well despite the economy, because they know their customers well. Also, our offerings were very good. One of our strengths is that we offer good value and an honest and reasonable price.”

The emphasis in the casual everyday wear ranges will be on style, comfort and utility, and therefore expect super-light footwear with advanced technologies

After a stint at Hi-Tec Amsterdam and Canada, Ben van der Westhuizen (left) is glad to be back on home soil, where he is standing in for marketing man-ager Joanne Esterhuizen, who recently gave birth to a future Hi-Tec wearer.

The V-Lite Altitude Pro Lite and Altitude Pro with technologies like the Hi-Tec Rolling Gait System and waterproof treatment, are the latest Pinnacle Altitude hiking products made in Europe, offering good fit and comfort, for the more serious male and female hikers.

Industry :: p13


While the Rand exchange played havoc with purchases made during 2014, the out-door footwear market seems to have escaped the worst —

and actually flourished in sales.This could well be because outdoor footwear

is often bought for the intended activity as well as for casual use. This was especially evi-dent with sales of multisport footwear, which dominated outdoor footwear sales during the autumn and winter months of 2014.

During the autumn/winter months March-Au-gust, multisport footwear accounted for 46% of all outdoor footwear unit sales, reports GfK SA, a research company that, among others, tracks athletic footwear sales at participating retailers (see p16).

Multisport footwear, however, sold well throughout the year. For the period March 2014-February 2015 (from here on referred to as the year), multisport footwear accounted for 27% of outdoor footwear unit sales.

Also, these days aesthetics is not far from

the designer’s mind when creating a new out-door footwear style, which would further en-courage the consumer to buy a pair of shoes even when money is tight. If he can rationalise that he’s making a 2-in-1 purchase, the con-sumer is more likely to buy a pair of shoes.

Retail respondents in Sports Trader’s survey** agree that aesthetics is an important factor for their customers. Aesthetics tied with com-fort as the top qualities that respondents’ con-sumers look for when buying an outdoor shoe.

Weight (consumers prefer lightweight foot-wear) and affordability were the next most popular qualities.

That said, most retail respondents indicated that their customers are mainly active outdoor people such as trail runners, watersport en-thusiasts, etc. or casual outdoor buyers — and not people such as hikers or backpackers who might be after a more technical shoe.

It’s also mainly men who buy at their stores, 88% of respondents indicated. With aesthet-ics at the top of consumers’ minds, this shows that it’s not only women who care about what their shoes look like.

Leather is their customers’ upper material of choice in outdoor footwear, indicated more than a third of the retail respondents (38%) in our survey.

The same percentage of respondents, how-ever, also indicated that their customers don’t seem to have a specific preference when it comes to the upper material of their intended footwear purchase.

Mesh and synthetics also come into the equa-tion. An eighth (13%) of respondents indicated that these materials are the most popular for their customers.

Outdoorfootwear trends

Despite a tough economic climate, consumers bought more outdoor foot-wear during 2014 than during 2013, GfK* data shows. CARIN HARDISTY looks at consumers’ shopping trends when buying outdoor footwear

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Monthly price point sales (% of month)

R0-R200

R200-R300

R300-R400

R400-R500

R500-R600

R600-R800

R800-R1 000

>= R1 000

Consumers bought more than double the number of outdoor footwear pairs during December 2014 compared to the same time the previous year

p14 :: Apparel & Footwear


A third of the outdoor footwear pairs sold during 2014 were priced between R300-R400 and 17% of the pairs sold were priced in the R400-R500 range.

Sandals account for 82% of the year’s out-door footwear unit sales in the R300-R400 price range. Looking at sandals alone, 54% of purchas-es were units priced in this category, and 28% of sandals sold cost between R400-R500. Only 15% of sandals sold were priced below R300.

Another item with the majority of its sales in the low price points, watershoes, accounts for 13% of December’s unit sales. Of the wa-tershoes sold during the year, 63% were priced below R200 — during December, 73% of water-shoes sold were priced R200 or less.

And yet, 10% of all footwear priced R1 000 or more that were purchased during the year, were sold in December. These high priced pur-chases only account for 3% of December’s sales.

The majority of the higher price point sales took place during the first half of the year. During the months March to July between 12-19% of the outdoor footwear pairs sold were in the R1 000 or more price point.

Compared to the sales for the year, the ma-jority (19% and 17%) of footwear purchased for R1 000 or more were sold during May and June respectively. Another 15% of footwear purchased for R1 000 or more was sold during February 2015.

When is what bought?The most popular outdoor footwear purchases during winter are walking shoes and hiking boots, our respondents indicated.

Hiking boot sales peaked mid-year between June-August, when the boots accounted for 30% of outdoor footwear units sold during this period. Hiking sales peaked in August (32% of unit sales for the month), before starting to dip again from September.

Sandals, watershoes and trail running foot-wear were the purchases of choice for sum-mer, according to our survey’s respondents.

Sandals accounted for the majority of spring and summer outdoor footwear unit sales — 61% of unit sales between September 2014-Febru-ary 2015 were sandals.

Sandal sales peaked in December, when it accounted for 72% of all outdoor footwear unit sales for the month. In fact, more than a third (38%) of all sandals sold during the year were sold during December.

During the year, sandals accounted for close to half (48%) of all unit sales.

Despite watershoes being a top seller dur-ing summer months for our retail respondents, this footwear category only accounted for 14% of outdoor footwear unit sales during summer months (December 2014-February 2015), ac-cording to GfK data.

Buying trendsFor the most part of 2014, monthly unit pur-chases were similar, if not better, compared to the same months in 2013.

It was during the last half of 2014, however, that unit sales started to increased dramatical-ly. From August, monthly unit sales were sig-nificantly higher compared to the same months the previous year. August unit sales were up 31%, September 67%, October 52%, etc.

Sales picked up so well that in Novem-ber 2014 almost double the number of pairs were sold compared to November 2013 (96% increase), while consumers purchased more than double the number of outdoor footwear pairs during December 2014 compared to the same time the previous year (109% increase).

A quarter of the outdoor footwear pairs sold during 2014 were purchased during December.

Price pointsDecember unit sales might have been sky-high, but 88% of units purchased were priced below the R500 price mark. Compared to the rest of the year, the highest number of purchases in the R300-R400 and R400-R500 price points took place in December.

The vast majority (72%) of December sales were sandals that aren’t normally sold at high price points — 65% of sandals sold during De-cember were priced between R300-R500. To p16

-100%-80%-60%-40%-20%

0%20%40%60%80%

100%M

ar-1

3

Apr-

13

May

-13

Jun-

13

Jul-1

3

Aug-

13

Sep-

13

Oct

-13

Nov

-13

Dec-

13

Jan-

14

Feb-

14

Mar

-14

Apr-

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May

-14

Jun-

14

Jul-1

4

Aug-

14

Sep-

14

Oct

-14

Nov

-14

Dec-

14

Jan-

15

Feb-

15

Outdoor footwear unit sales year on year growth/decline

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% of the year's sales (units)

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Apparel & Footwear :: p15


Data suppliers

* Sales data kindly supplied by GfK SA, a re-search company that specialises in data col-lecting. Retail sales data is collected with the assistance of South African retailers who opt in to the program. To fi nd out more about South African retail sales data, as well as how individual brands perform in the mar-ket, contact GfK SA on 011 803 1300 or visit www.gfk.com/za. The graphs used with this article were drawn up with the help of data supplied by GfK SA.

** Sports Trader conducted an online survey among retailers on our database to fi nd out more about their customers’ buying prefer-ences and what their customers look at when buying outdoor footwear.


Rogue’s anti-trackable soleROGUE FOOTWEAR, which has been manufac-tured in Hazyview since 1976, has a range with a unique anti-trackable sole pattern. “Our styles include the traditional vellie to elastic-sided boots, half-boots and hiking boots,“ says Trevor Selke of Selke Leathercraft.

They make boots for various game parks and reserves, including a range for the KNP fi eld rangers and anti-poaching teams, which have a unique anti-trackable sole pattern.

“In the last few years we have developed the Raggie range of canvas vellies — something along the lines of the old Rhodesian vellie, but for the modern generation, ideally, worn bare-foot,” he explains. “Our designs are driven by a need in the outdoor sector for practical, tough, functional and affordable footwear.”

Their latest development is the Pro-hunter range of hunting boots. Made in buffalo leath-er, oily cowhide or suede, the boots have a comfortable and genuine crepe rubber sole on an EVA mid-sole.

They also make leather headwear and their products are distributed throughout South and Southern Africa, Europe and Canada.

Hi-Tec’s new V-Lite bootHI-TEC IS encouraging people to walk … and creating shoes that will make walking irresist-ible.

The V-Lite Altitude Pro Lite RGS waterproof boots feature the Rolling Gait System (RGS), which was developed especially for Hi-Tec by Vibram. RGS is a curved outsole that helps the wearer expend less energy when transitioning from heel strike to toe-off, thus helping the wearer walk further.

The V-Lite build concept strips out unneces-sary weight without sacrifi cing support. Feet are kept dry with a breathable, waterproof Dri-Tec membrane. The rustproof metal hardware never breaks and the gusseted tongue keeps debris out. Rubber heel- and toe-caps protect

and prolong the life of the boots.The polyurethane midsole

offers cushioning that lasts much longer than EVA sub-

stitutes, and the Vibram rubber outsoles

offer un-rivalled

grip.

and prolong the life of the boots.The polyurethane midsole

offers cushioning that lasts much longer than EVA sub-

stitutes, and the Vibram rubber outsoles

Outdoor footwear trends cont from p15

Between April-July, most of the pairs sold per month (50% or more) cost R500 or more.

Almost 60% of May’s outdoor footwear pur-chases sold for R500 of more. May’s sales may have sold for higher Rand values — 27% of pur-chases priced R800 or more; 19% of purchases priced R1 000 or more — but there were fewer unit sales compared to May 2013 (12% drop in the number of units sold).

With aesthetics at the top of consumers’ minds, this shows that it’s not only women who care about what their shoes look like.

0%

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Running shoe pairs sold 2013 & 2014 Rand value running shoes sold 2013 & 2014

Running shoe sale trends

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Technical Non-technical

Technical & non—technical pairs sold 2014

The number of technical running shoe (racing, trail and road) pairs sold in 2014, far outnumber the non—technical pairs sold.

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Percentage sold above R800 Feb ‘14–Feb ‘15

The % of technical running shoes sold for more than R800 grew through the year and far outnumbered the % of non—technical sales at this price point.

During 2014 fewer running shoe pairs were sold each month than in 2013, except in December 2014, when more pairs were sold, followed by slight growth in January 2015.

Despite lower unit sales, the Rand value of running shoe sales last year were higher or similar to the corresponding months in 2013. This could be attributed to the drop in Rand value and rising costs resulting in higher footwear prices.

Data supplied by GfK South Africa show interesting trends in the monthly running shoe sales recorded at selected retailers. Data from GfK Trendcharts February 2015: Sport Shoes — Running. See p16 .

For most sport and footwear retailers running shoes comprise a very large segment of their sales. Of the approxi-mately 1-1.5-m pairs of running shoes

sold in South Africa per year, between 51-63% of the monthly sales are technical running shoes. This accounts for 70-75% of the Rand value of running shoes sales per month.

Of the technical running shoes, road is the big-gest section, representing 31-45% of the running shoe pairs sold per month, while trail running

represents only 16-25% of the unit sales. Techni-cal road running accounts for 46-57% of the Rand value, and non-technical shoes for 23-33% of the value of monthly sales.

Most technical running shoes (37-56% per month) are sold for higher than R1 000 per pair. February 2015, however stands out with 60% of technical shoes selling for more thanR1 000 — especially when compared to Febru-ary 2014, when only 29% of the technical run-ning shoes sold for more than R1 000.

Most non-technical running shoes are sold for between R600-800 (30-47%), while only 8-16% of non-technical running shoes are sold for more than R800.

Road running accounts for most of the tech-nical running shoes sold above R1 000, as33-67% of the road shoes are sold at this price point, while only 19-43% of the trail running shoe are sold at this price point. Sales at the R1 000+ price point account for 66-80% of the Rand value of technical road running shoes.



First time runners, seasoned run-ners who started again after a long break, sportsmen/women from other disciplines who use running to cross train and fitness junkies who

run for cardio can all be combined into the social, not-so-seriously-elite, or run for fun category.

This huge segment of the running market is of prime importance to a retailer, not only be-cause they will feature high among the half a million South African buyers of non-technical running shoes per year. But, also because by recommending the right gear, a retailer can help a fun runner become a serious runner … or put him off for life.

The number of park run participants and events give an indication of the massive size of the social runner market. So far 126 889 South African runners from 868 clubs have registered for 3 309 events in 53 locations across South Africa. Sponsored by adidas, runners simply have to register on the park run website to join a free 5km running event in their area on a weekend morning.

Social runners are spoilt for choice when it

Kitting out the social runner

Social runners, or people who run for fun, is by far the largest and most diverse running segment a retailer can sell to. Experts advise that kitting out the social runner is more of a science, instead of a one direc-tional right—or—wrong, good—or—bad decision. NELLE DU TOIT CLAASSEN spoke to a few industry members

comes to event participation. The majority of major running events nowadays boast a short-er run on the same day as the big long distance event is held, attracting runners from various fitness categories.

Colour runs, night runs, park runs, food runs (rewarded with tasty food after the run), wine runs and dress-up runs all form part of running events that the run for fun runner can partici-pate in, all in the name of fun.

However one wants to classify the run for fun runner, when it comes to their equipment, ex-perts advise that there’s no hard-or-fast rule that can be applied to the overall majority.

These days runners are so bombarded with conflicting advice from health advisors, run-ning club mates and online articles that many

have no idea what they really should be look-ing out for prior to entering the shop.

It often comes down to the retailer to con-vince a fun-runner to take a reasonable ap-proach to running and, with that, a reason-able approach to the gear that they may need along the way.

There are a few things a retailer can deter-mine from the start.

“Body shape plays a big role in getting the right shoe on the right runner, as the bio-mechanics and weight of the individual are critical factors to know when fitting the right shoe,” says Paul Copson of Brand ID, distribu-tor of Mizuno. “Get this wrong and the overall experience for the new social runner can be a negative one, potentially putting him off run-ning.”

Footwear adviceOne of the items that the runner will most undoubtedly get emotionally attached to, if it lifts and supports their experience, are their running shoes.

Asking the runner what their goals are — what distances they’d like to at-

Trying to buy on the cheap could lead to your customer spending the money that he saved on doctor’s bills and in-jury rehabilitation

To p20



New SA Ultra Skymarathon approved

The Marloth Mountain Challenge (MMC), which takes place in Swellendam on 26 September has recently been approved by the South African Skyrunning Associa-tion (SASA) as the first South African Ultra Skymarathon event. The 55km event, climbing 3 494m vertically, is the longest and one of toughest of the ten races in the 2015 SA and Mauritius Skyrunner Series. About 30 000 mountain runners from 54 countries annually take part in Skyrunning events and “we are so excited to see the big names in trail start to trickle in, as these athletes set the 2014 records in their sights,” says Owen Middleton of the event organiser Wildrunner.

Photo: Dylan Haskin/ Lexar.

tempt and what they are currently reaching gives insight into the habits and needs of the specific runner.

A retailer can then determine the techni-cality of the shoe. “Most shoes are technical enough to support the social runner, but it all depends on what distance they are running to determine how technical the shoe should be,” John Andrews of New Balance SA advises.

“I am of the opinion that the shoe does not have to be highly spec’d,” says Brian Pollock, marketing and sales director of Jordan & Co. Their Olympic running shoes sell especially well among social runners, as they have all the necessary technologies for a comfortable 5-10km run, but not all the extras a Comrades runner would require.

Many customers will steer clear of shoes they that they would not want to be seen in. “Looks are everything and social runners want a versatile shoe for different activities,” Andrews continues. “We’re definitely selling more shoes with great styling and colour with a move to lighter semi-minimalistic shoes.”

“There has been an increase in runners wear-ing shoes with fashionable colours, especially female runners,” Pollock says. “Female run-ners will most likely go for your pinks and pur-ple cosmetics on shoes. Men are more likely to go for lime and neon’s and sunshine yellows.”

Copson warns however, “it is important to know that if the shoe is wrong and the cus-tomer is buying it purely on looks/aesthetics they will quickly return the shoe when things go wrong and they will blame the brand as well as the retailer for letting them buy it in the first place!”

Keeping in mind that many social runners may use the same footwear for running and gym, etc.

“These queries need to be uncovered when selling the shoes and making sure that the cus-tomer is purchasing the footwear for the cor-rect activity,” says James Mullen, head of per-formance Puma SA. “Ideally one would advise a cross trainer rather than a running shoe if they are predominantly using it for gym activities.”

“Explain that a running shoe is designed for running — forward motion activities and not

side to side motion gym work ideally, but a bit of cross training is part of a runner’s life and a good running shoe should be adaptive for use in gym too,” Copson adds.

Inspire trustInspiring trust in a customer is a salesperson’s most valuable trait. “Price is important for the social runner, however, if the individual is 100% confident in the information they have received they are less worried about the price and more concerned about getting the right footwear for their needs,” Copson observed.

Warn your customer that “trying to buy on the cheap could lead to your customer spending the money that he saved on doctor’s bills and injury rehabilitation,” advises Jackie Moore of Salomon.

“Runners’ feet are the most important things when running, if they are not comfortable then they will simply hate what they are doing. I ad-vise customers to seek the right shoe, then find a way to get it.”

The most important aspect of the shoe? Keep it comfortable. “From our research

and feedback, we have found that we need to keep the design of the shoe as simple as pos-sible, so major qualities of the shoe includes being comfortable and providing sufficient support,” adds Mullen.

“If the customer needs a certain amount of technicality in order to achieve comfort, then so be it,” Moore continues. “An example of this would be whether or not a customer needs a guidance shoe. If they do, then they will need the technology of a medial post or support.”

“There are always trends and social runners are no different to others,” Moore explains. “They want to have the latest toys and are often an easier target when it comes to sell-ing because they are naïve and a little unedu-cated. The term all the gear and no idea really

does apply here.”“Social runners want to have everything on

hand as novices are generally more suscepti-ble to purchasing these items before the more accomplished runner,” Copson adds.

Mullen explains that the “majority of run-ners are looking for high energy return foot-wear — shoes that are light and comfortable from the first time you slip them on.” Bright colours play a huge role as well.

Apparel and accessoriesNow, more than ever, it is trendy to live an active lifestyle and, for many, running is one of the most economic means to keep fit and healthy. As it doesn’t cost much (a pair of running shoes and some running gear) it’s relatively easy to invite active friends out for a run, increasing the pool of new social run-ners. A sport that’s become attractive for the younger generation undoubtedly needs to be visually attractive.

“Colour and aesthetics play a big role when purchasing a garment, as social runners want to look the part and stand out from the crowd, and make sure that the apparel matches the footwear,” Mullen explains.

“They are prepared to pay a bit more for ap-parel as long as they know they are paying for quality and that it looks good.”

If a new runner is starting to get serious about the sport, chances are good that the runner will either run in the early morning or late afternoon at some point. This means that reflective wear will be a important.

“More and more brands are incorporating some or other amount of reflective strips into both footwear and apparel as part of the de-sign,” Moore explains. “We need to make sure that runners are safe and thus need to take responsibility for what we make.”

Along with a good wardrobe, accessories play a role as well — headwear (such as a visor or cap), eyewear, cell phone pouches, arm-bands and key holders can all help to make the life of the social runner more comfortable and trendy.

Depending on the distances the runner may want to attempt, hydration could also be im-portant. A new runner may not yet know how often they need to drink water or how their body responds to energizing drinks, etc.

It often comes down to the retailer to convince a fun runner to take a reason-able approach to running and a reasonable approach to the gear that they may need along the way.

Social runners cont from p18


having athletes’ needs always in mind, adi-das leads in innovating sports technologies: its cooling technology helps me by regulat-ing my body temperature and releases excess moisture from my body, which enables me to

perform. For me it’s massively impor-tant to have both style and per-

formance in one product. The new black (mélange)

training T-shirt is the perfect example for sports apparel that looks cool and keeps you cool.”

“Activity in high ambient tempera-tures offers a par-

ticular challenge to the human thermoregulatory system. Humans strive to maintain a sta-

ble body core temperature of about 37oC. In response to exercise, as met-

abolic demand and heat production in-creases, the body core temperature can

increase up to 3oC in warm ambient con-ditions,” explains Dr Maarten Hupperets, Director Future Sport Science at adidas.

“To maintain a stable body core tempera-ture, the human body will make efforts to

loose excess heat.”The Climachill line has been rigorously test-

ed in their state-of-the-art Clima chamber as high as 50oC to fi nd the best possible answer to facilitate body cooling. They are confi dent that the innovation and coolest T-shirt ever helps athletes of every level keep at their peak optimum temperature to perform at their best in any condition.

Climachill products include training, run-ning, football, tennis, cycling, and outdoor tees, tanks and shorts.

tant to have both style and per-formance in one product.

The new black (mélange) training T-shirt is the perfect example for

ticular challenge to the human thermoregulatory system. Humans strive to maintain a sta-

ble body core temperature of about 37oC. In response to exercise, as met-

abolic demand and heat production in-creases, the body core temperature can

increase up to 3oC in warm ambient con-ditions,” explains Dr Maarten Hupperets, Director Future Sport Science at adidas.

“To maintain a stable body core tempera-ture, the human body will make efforts to

loose excess heat.”The Climachill line has been rigorously test-

The new adidas Climachill black training shirt launched in April with their global Uncontrol Your-self campaign, featuring interna-tional footballer Gareth Bale and

tennis player Simona Halep.Realizing that when it comes to perfor-

mance, every degree matters, the new Cli-machill product range makes sure athletes can perform at their best regardless of heat, through new age design and material selection for maximum cooling.

The revolution truly continues — in black. The campaign presents the evolution of Cli-machill (from 2014) with the new and valiant black training shirt; which is not only sleek in design and aesthetics, but also at the forefront of active-cooling technology within the sport-ing goods industry. Thanks to its cutting edge instant cool sensation, advance breathability and supreme heat and moisture transfer ca-pabilities, the shirt keeps body temperatures under control even in the hottest conditions. Enabling athletes of all levels to train harder, run longer and stay focused, enhancing ath-letic performance whether in training or in the intensity of competition.

The adidas Climachill range has been revolu-tionary in active cooling technology due to its uniquely engineered design profi le: industry-fi rst 3D aluminum-cooling spheres are strate-gically located on the back and neck to corre-

spond with the warmest area of the body, and provide an instant cooling sensation on con-tact. A micro fi ber fabric allows the garment to act like mesh and transports excess mois-ture away from your skin. The revolutionarySubZero fl at yarn contains ti-tanium and maximizes surface contact with skin, transferring more heat away from the body.

“Moving from England to Spain has been an excit-ing journey from all aspects — different country, culture, lan-guage, an amazing club and of course weather,” says Real Madrid FC, Champions League winning footballer Gareth Bale. “I keep my perfor-mance at a high level by working hard every day and pushing myself to the limits. By

adidas training revolution continues Climachill is back in black

For enquiries contact adidas SA on Tel: 021 442 6200 or visit adidas.com/climachill. Alternatively, fol-low @adidas, #climachill and #uncontrolyourself on Twitter and Instagram.

Ultimately, adidas Climachill controls your body tempso you can in essence #uncontrolyourself

An Industry-fi rst: 3D aluminum-cooling spheres are strategically located to cool on contact.

The revolutionary SubZero fl at yarn contains titanium and maximizes surface contact with skin, transferring more heat away from the body.

Advertorial :: p21

Sports Trader :: 2015 May Sports Trader :: 2015 May

FootwearMIZUNO, LOCALLY distributed by Brand ID, has signed a fi ve year partnership with Collezione Automobili Lamborghini to create a range of co-branded sports apparel and footwear from Autumn 2015.

The Wave Tenjin running shoe is the fi rst product they launched that will feature theAutomobili Lamborghini shield.

The partnership is the perfect platform through which to introduce Mizuno to enthusiasts of the Lamborghini brand, says Takeshi Shichijo, Director of Mizuno Corporation. “The Lamborghini marque is re-nowned worldwide and is in perfect harmony with Mizuno’s commitment to technology, innova-tion and quality.”

distributed by Brand ID, has signed a fi ve year partnership with Collezione Automobili Lamborghini to create a range of co-branded

Mizuno partners with Lamborghini

AS PART of their There Will Be Haters cam-paign, adidas has launched their Black Pack and the Lionel Messi-inspired Pibe de Barr10 soccer boot, which pays homage to the Argen-tinian soccer star’s humble beginnings.

The campaign celebrates the fact that the hate that players are often subjected to by soccer fans and opponents translates positive-ly: it drives players to do better in their career.

The Black Pack — consisting of their rede-signed adizero f50, Predator, Nitrocharge and 11Pro soccer boots — features redesigned up-pers with specifi c medieval characters e.g. fl eur-de-lis and Tudor rose patterns and the latest technological innovations.

The Pibe de Barr10 boot pays tribute to Mes-si’s childhood and was inspired by the Barrio of Las Heras, Rosario, where he learned to play soccer. The boot is also a representation of Messi’s beautiful yet dangerous football style.

Adidas’ campaign boots

PUMA’S NEW Faas 300 v4 training shoe fea-tures a lightweight technical platform and a minimal and deconstructed upper that gives it a lighter feel.

The shoe’s upper features airmesh for breathability and comfort, and its light-weight and breathable Supreme Ride sockliner features forefoot fl ex grooves and arch support.

Translucent no-sew overlays allow the wearer a seamless and light-weight support and a more comfort-able fi t. Its refl ective overlays, on the other hand, offer the wearer 360 degree refl ectivity and are

New trainers from Pumacoupled with a fully refl ective toe box, heel-cap and welded forefoot overlays.

The one-piece midsole with Puma’s Faas-Foam+ technology increases the shoe’s step-in-comfort and offers the wearer a 25% lighter

midsole with a springier feel. The midsole’s forefoot fl ex grooves and fl ex notches are aligned to allow smoother transitioning and

a fl exible toe-off. The shoe also features Everride+ in its outsole to enhance cushioning and durability for a smoother toe-off while Evertrack is found in high wear areas to im-

prove durability.

Rosario-born graphic artist Ignacio Valenti created a design of urban-inspired raw brush strokes with polished sleekness on a synthetic hybrid touch upper.

It has a speed traxion stud alignment and out-sole, which are modelled on sprinter’s spikes to offer Messi speed and agility. Its 360o Dribble-Tex coating allows control in any condition.Below left: Black Pack. Below: Messi with the Pibe de Barr10 boots.

breathability and comfort, and its light-weight and breathable Supreme Ride sockliner features

wearer a seamless and light-weight support and a more comfort-able fi t. Its refl ective overlays, on the other hand, offer the wearer 360 degree refl ectivity and are

midsole with a springier feel. The midsole’s forefoot fl ex grooves and fl ex notches are aligned to allow smoother transitioning and

a fl exible toe-off. The shoe also features Everride+

prove durability.

Ano 4 White

Leather collection

Ano 4 Red

Ano 7 Black

Ano 6 Red (wet look)

www.antonfabi.co.za

contact your Fabi agent orcall 021 590 7014 for agent details.

Anton FabiMILANO

Ano 7 Turquoise


newsExciting times at SkechersTHANKS TO the huge success of Skechers GOwalk, the brand continues to dominate walking footwear with nearly 65% of the US market (source: SportsOneSource, year-end 2014). In South Africa, the Skechers GOwalk market continues to grow, offering consumers com-fort, quality and lightweight design, says Yusuf Vadi of local distributor Footwear Trading.

The next generation of GOwalks is made with the latest high-rebound comfort innovation, Goga Mat Tech-nology, which is the ultimate cush-ioned insole and delivers responsive feedback. The adaptive Go Pillars shock absorbing sole underfoot cre-ates the softest stride for the ultimate comfort.

Another accolade for Skechers was the announcement that it has been named Footwear Brand of the Year and Fashion Footwear Brand of the Year at the 2015 UK Footwear Industry Awards. “This phenomenal achievement proves that Skechers’ global presence is the re-sult of increased demand for stylish

and comfortable footwear,” says Vadi.In other news, Skechers has added Ringo Starr,

Kelly Brook and Demi Lovato (left) to their al-ready impressive list of ambassadors. Former

Beatles drummer Starr will add his legend-ary talents and style to the global marketing campaign for Skechers Relaxed Fit footwear

and Brook — a British model, actress and TV presenter — will be one of the newest

faces for Skechers women’s footwear. Lovato is a multi-platinum selling

recording artist and actress whose career kicked off with the Disney

Channel movie Camp Rock. She’s re-corded numerous multi-platinum and top ten chart singles spanning four studio al-bums; appeared on television as a judge and mentor on seasons two and three of FOX’s The X-Factor and had a recurring role on the fi fth season of Glee. "My

generation grew up with Skechers,” says Lovato, “and now with all of their cool styles and fun colors I'm excited to help introduce the col-

lection to a new generation by sharing this incredible brand’s

campaign with my Lovatics!"

US market (source: SportsOneSource, year-end 2014). In South Africa, the Skechers GOwalk market continues to grow, offering consumers com-

The next generation of GOwalks is made with the latest high-rebound comfort innovation, Goga Mat Tech-nology, which is the ultimate cush-ioned insole and delivers responsive feedback. The adaptive Go Pillars shock absorbing sole underfoot cre-ates the softest stride for the ultimate

Another accolade for Skechers was the announcement that it has been named Footwear Brand of the Year and Fashion Footwear Brand of the Year at the 2015 UK Footwear Industry Awards. “This phenomenal achievement proves that Skechers’ global presence is the re-sult of increased demand for stylish

ready impressive list of ambassadors. Former Beatles drummer Starr will add his legend-ary talents and style to the global marketing campaign for Skechers Relaxed Fit footwear

and Brook — a British model, actress and TV presenter — will be one of the newest

faces for Skechers women’s footwear. Lovato is a multi-platinum selling

recording artist and actress whose career kicked off with the Disney

Channel movie Camp Rock. She’s re-corded numerous multi-platinum and top ten chart singles spanning four studio al-bums; appeared on television as a judge and mentor on seasons two and three of FOX’s The X-Factor and had a recurring role on the fi fth season of Glee. "My

generation grew up with Skechers,” says Lovato, “and now with all of their cool styles and fun colors I'm excited to help introduce the col-

campaign with my Lovatics!"

Mr South Africa visits the local Anton Fabi factoryARMAND DU PLESSIS, Mr South Africa 2014 and Anton Fabi brand ambassador for 2015, paid a special visit to the Jordan shoes factory in Elsies River, where he had the privilege of selecting his shoes for the season.

During the visit Du Plessis was shown how a pair of Fabi’s is made at the factory and he also had to make the tough choice of selecting his footwear for the season from the new range.

For Skechers Footwear orders contact Footwear Trading on 011 630 4000



UMBRO RECENTLY launched their new Veloci-ta Blue Atoll soccer boot.

The Velocita, Umbro’s lightest ever soccer boot, is now available in a new colourway. The new boot, weighing just 165g, features a single, one-piece ultra-lightweight microfi bre upper, giving the boot a degree of natural elas-ticity. The brand’s unique A-Frame is embed-ded into the upper and helps to give a more natural and seamless fi t. The boot also offers a newly designed lightweight sole-unit, with a mixture of conical and diamond shaped studs that offer better traction. The brand’s fi rst at-tempt at a true sub-6oz boot features Umbro’s favoured paint palettes in the secondary drop

of Velocita colour up-dates, which are blue

atoll, white and black.


Puma

Footwear news

THE ICONIC Italian footwear brand, Superga, held several launch events during March to showcase their new Spring Summer collection for 2015.

Associating the brand with other sought-af-ter Italian icons, Superga held the Cape Town event in the Lamborghini show room and of-fered guests drinks from the Peroni stable.

Their new collection features footwear chosen by 5FM’s Poppy Ntshongwana, who is the face of Superga locally. “We approached Poppy because she embodies so many of the values Superga, as a brand, holds important. She is elegant, chic and grounded, but she is also fashion-forward, edgy and a tad cheeky when she needs to be. She has so naturally become a part of the Superga family and I

New summer range from The Italian canvas brand

believe that only happens when something is just right,” Katy Ward, Marketing Manager at Superga, explained to Elle magazine why they chose Ntshongwana.

IN CELEBRATION of its decade partnership with Ferrari, Puma has launched the Ferrari Icon Collection of footwear. The collection in-cludes lifestyle shoes (FutureCat SF 10, Puma Suede Ferrari), the Mobium Elite Speed Ferrari running shoe as well as the evoSPEED 1.3 F947 FG soccer boot.

The FutureCat SF 10 and Puma Suede Fer-rari have uppers in Ferrari Rosso Corsa Red and the Scuderia Ferrari race shield on the heel. The FutureCat SF 10 is a newer version of the Puma motorsport footwear, launched in 2005 as part of the brand’s fi rst licensed Ferrari col-lection.

The Mobium Elite Speed is ideal for the midfoot/forefoot striker and features tech-nologies such as a Mobium band, forefoot expansion pods and a windlass chassis, which

PUMA’S NEWLY launched limited edition evoAccuracy soccer boot has been designed for, and will only be worn by Liverpool and Italy striker Mario Balotelli. It forms part of their evoPower range and is engineered to of-fer the wearer precision and accuracy when shooting and passing.

enables faster running.The evoSPEED 1.3 F947 FG soccer boot is de-

signed to offer maximum speed and has the offi cial Scuderia Ferrari Race Shield on the front and inner heel. These boots are a limited edition range of only 947 pairs.

Puma Ferrari collection celebrates partnership

dates, which are blue atoll, white and

black.

Lightest ever Umbro soccer boot Puma’s limited edition Balotelli boot

Valencia Black

Leather collection

Valencia Tan

Rizzio Cigar

Rizzio Cog�ag

www.antonfabi.co.za


Anton FabiMILANO

Rizzio Black



SPEED THROUGH EVERY SECOND IN THE LATEST evoSPEED 1.3.

6784TPumaFootballEv 2015-04-09T10:39:44+02:00


FootwearNew Levi’s sneakersFOLLOWING THE great success of the very popular Funk range, Levi’s Footwear is in-troducing four more striking high-top styled sneakers: Ted, Smith, Yves, and Safari.

“These four new styles offer a great fit and stylish look,” says Lara Slotsky of local dis-tributor Footwear Trading. The collection has comfy padded collars and every pair has its own unique style characteristics

The Ted is made of premium denim. Brown stitching and collar finishes of the look.

The zip-detail on the Smith, gives this black and white sneaker a high-end look and feel.

The Yves, a striking black monochrome, is sure to be seen on the feet of fashion conscious buyers. Black lacing and contrasting silver eye-lids makes the Yves a must have this season.

The fourth addition to the range, Safari, is an aesthetical masterpiece, says Slotsky. “White outer soles, stunning brown material and comfortable padding makes the Safari a

Front to back: Ted, Smith, Yves and Safari.

Diesel’s new zipped up footwearZIPPROUNDD IS a new generation high top sneak-er from Diesel with a sturdy zip that runs under-neath the shoe, from ankle to ankle. “The Diesel Zipproundd sneaker collection is the ultimate masterpiece in street wear,” says Dianri Luttig of local distributor Footwear Trading. “Even with its progressive looks, your customers can expect the signature Diesel DNA construction and design in the sneaker.”

The Diesel Zipproundd sneaker is available in a coated denim and leather material. The cow leath-er lining and removable sock liner ensures supreme comfort, while the outsole features contrasting stud details for additional kick.

“The Diesel Zipproundd sneaker is an old fa-vourite, restyled for maximum rockability!” says Luttig.

Anton Fabi — shoe polish or a wet rag“NO MATTER what your age or profession we are all consumers at the end of the day, and as consumers we always want the best product for our money’s worth,” says Jody Henry of Jordan & Co. “The problem when dealing with imported product is that we find ourselves paying more for a lot less these days, especially with our volatile exchange rate and increase demands from Chinese suppliers with regards to minimums.”

“Suppliers will always try and undercut the next supplier on price, as this is our livelihood and we need to protect our market share, or perish. It's like running a marathon and the finish line is nowhere in sight,” he continues.

It was for these reasons that Anton Fabi, locally distributed by Jordan & Co, decided to remove themselves from “the shark-infested market of cheap imports” and realign themselves with a niche group of independent retailers who are keen on selling better quality product to the end consumer. “In summer 2014, we relaunched the new look and feel of our locally manufactured leather range. In the six months leading up to December we increased our customer base by 120%,” says Henry.

They launched their summer 2015 range in Bloemfontein in April, and are still visiting retailers during May. They also have an exciting brand launch lined up for September.

must-have in every guy’s sneaker collection! Levi’s sneakers will never go out of style!” she enthuses.

Zenon Black

Leather collection

Zenon Red

Zenon White

Zenon Tan

www.antonfabi.co.za


Anton FabiMILANO



news

Top quality Jeep footwearTHE LATEST collection from Jeep footwear offers A grade materials, styled and designed with remarkable attention to detail. It also features breathable inner-socks and linings for optimal moisture management and comfort, with non-slip herringbone outsoles that ensure added traction.

“Jeep’s new and exciting Urban Range of men’s footwear appeals to the young, trendy, fashion conscious consumer,” says Lynton Pick-er of local distributor Footwear Trading.

The Blast in full grain leather, together with the Ghetto in rich nubuck leather, are sure to make a fashion statement.

The District has a functional and stylish zip with clean tonal stitching for a contemporary, uncluttered look.

The Zone and Swagger compliment the

range. “Targeting the young hipster market, it can easily be dressed up or down,” Picker points out. “These sneakers can be worn with skinnies or shorts.”

The urban sneaker from Jeep, makes living without limits a reality!

“IF OUR current Jordan winter sales are any-thing to go by, then summer is going to be a cracker of a season! “ says Jody Henry of lo-cal distributor Jordan & Co. “By sales, I am referring to retail sales, not wholesale. The demand for repeat business has grown signifi -cantly, especially on the fashion lines that are generally fast fashion with retailers ordering only once, making the fashion line’s lifespan very short.

This winter, our product hit the shelves in March and by April we had re-peat orders already out on delivery. Unfortu-nately, we could not satisfy everyone due to the demand. Make sure, therefore, that you are one of the fi rst to book your appointment for summer 2015.”

They are kicking off summer with a kids' range of hi-top sneakers. “We are targeting Eid trade in mid-July,” says Henry. “The stock

will be on shelves in June. We have limited the pairs for this period

with a second drop earmarked for September.”

The fi rst kids’ style is Nich-olas, which is similar to

the men’s Kevin style that featured

in winter, with its mono white, black

and navy

options. The Nicholas also features a handy inside zip.

Another kids’ style, Axel, is available in mono black, navy and beige and comes with contrasting patent panels.

“Our kids will be celebrating in style this year,” says Henry.

Tucker, also in the kids’ range, is under the Renegade label. It is available in black, navy and the iconic whiskey. This kids’ range is, however, only available from September.

“With our men's range we are able to offer a high fashion lifestyle range that mainly tar-

gets the city retailer and still provides a safer casual range for the outlying

areas,” Henry points out. “Our approach has never been to knock-off already established brands, but to

introduce our own blueprint of product. To get a sneak peak at our summer lifestyle range see our advert in this issue.”

Renegade is quickly becoming a sought after brand again, says Henry. Since its relaunch in 2013, the brand has continued to grow among retailers. “Our target market is young trend-setters who are not afraid of fashion. London is a great example of this. Zips are trendy at the moment and this style with its silver contrast zip adds a bit of fl air to the boot. We identify that big guys also want to be fashionable, so this range in size 12 is going to be popular. See our Renegade advert in this issue for more styles.”

“Be it Jordan, Renegade, Supernaturals or Solemates, retailers have realised that in order to secure stock they need to commit earlier,” says Henry. “This is mainly due to us taking on new retailers so the spread of stock needs to

go a lot further. The newer retailers are placing orders for soonest delivery

and are able to react faster on repeat orders.”

in winter, with its mono white, black

and navysays Henry. “This is mainly due to us taking on new retailers so the spread of stock needs to

go a lot further. The newer retailers are placing orders for soonest delivery

Jordan summer 2015

Above: AxelMiddle: NicholasRight: Tucker

This winter, our product hit the shelves in March

Tucker, also in the kids’ range, is under the Renegade label. It is available in black, navy and the iconic whiskey. This kids’ range is, however, only available from September.

“With our men's range we are able to offer a high fashion lifestyle range that mainly tar-

gets the city retailer and still provides a safer casual range for the outlying

London

SWAGGERCAMEL

GHETTOCAMEL

BLASTBROWN

ZONECAMEL

For Jeep Footwear orders contact Footwear Trading on 011 630 4000

F O O T W E A R

SWAGGERCAMELCAMEL

GHETTOCAMEL

BLASTBROWN

ZONECAMEL

DISTRICTBROWN



Grant Bryant was nominated as a top salesman by Paul Copson, of Brand ID, because he offers all the key ingredients need-ed in winning over a new-age and informed customer. Bry-ant’s biggest attribute is his passion for what he is selling and informing each and every one of his customers. “He makes the customer feel like the most important person in the world. His person-ality is infectious, informative and fun and his ami-able and easy-going nature immediately puts all the customers he meets at ease. Bryant’s structured ap-proach to helping and solving customers’ problems, concerns and needs is awe-inspiring, and he does it in a clear and honest manner. He goes through a me-thodical process of suggesting, trying and testing his recommendations with the customer. If thereafter he still doesn’t have a clear answer, he will always refer the customer to a specific specialist to help, which gains the customer’s trust and ultimately a happy sale where the customer feels empowered through the time, effort and technical information he has of-fered,” says Copson.

13Sel

lin

g tips from top salesmen

Selling more...baselayers and

compressionT

here is no X or Y way of doing things when it comes to selling, says Grant Bryant of The Sweat Shop in Cape Town. “You need to treat the customer with re-

spect at all times and never treat him like he is uneducated about a product,” he says.

He finds that consumers generally don’t have the same background as the salesman and walk into a store and ask questions that the salesman has heard a thousand times, but al-though you may feel like my goodness, again!, “just remind yourself that the customer is ask-ing this question for the first time and he genu-inely wants to know the answer, so treat them

with respect and honesty,” he reminds. Always be honest and open about products

and give your honest opinion about the prod-ucts you are selling. “Although the consumer might not yet know that the product choice is incorrect for him, he can consult Google and other stores and if you’re lying to a customer to try and make a sale, it’s bad ethics and nine times out of ten it’s going to backfire on you,” he says. He finds that customers walk into his store complaining that they’ve been to anoth-er store and asked for a specific product and the salesperson recommended XYZ, but from his own experience he knows the product is not the solution to the customer’s problem.

Don’t offer customers products based on your own likes or dislikes, but rather on whether or not you think it would work for them. Many customers ask him if he has tried certain items, or which brands he prefers, and because he uses many of the products himself, he is able to assist and recommend a product by taking into account the customer’s body structure and situational requirements.

Besides having personal experience with the products he sells, Bryant uses technical infor-mation the brands supply. This not only gives him the know-how, but also an idea of the tar-get market to aim at, he says.

“I am fortunate to have a good relationship

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. Please nominate yourself, or a staff member, to share your sales philosophy by contacting Trudi du Toit on Tel: 021 461 2544, Fax: 021 461 2549. Email: [email protected].



with the brands, and technical reps visit the store on a regular basis and actually explain the differences between the new products and their predecessors,” he says. His sales-men also keep notes of quirky questions that clients may have had, so when reps visit he can ask them to enlighten customers as well as himself and other staff members.

In his personal capacity, Bryant keeps up to date through various sites and blogs that of-fer information regarding products he sells. “These are really good as the people giving the information are extremely knowledge-

able,” he explains. As a salesman, cleanliness and hygiene are

very important because customers don’t want to walk into a store and go to the salesman who looks like he hasn’t slept, washed or is wearing dirty clothes, he points out. “You shouldn’t judge people on appearance, but in a retail store environment, customers ap-proach the salesman that looks neater and cleaner,” he says.

Respect personal boundaries. “You want to approach customers and be in a comfortable place,” he says. Don’t follow them around

as it could annoy them, which may cost you a sale. “When a customer walks in, you need to acknowledge him by greeting, which lets him know you are aware that he has entered and that you are there to help if there are any queries or if he needs to know any specifics,” he explains. He also feels that you usually get an indication of what a customer needs just by doing this.

Above all else, as a salesman you should be polite and courteous because the customer is paying your salary at the end of the day, he adds.

More about Grant BryantGRANT BRYANT from The Sweat Shop in Claremont, Cape Town, has nearly a dec-ade’s worth of experience in retail and has been working at this specialist running store since its Cape Town branch opened in 2011. Before then, he was the assistant manager at the Athlete’s Foot in the Wa-terfront and prior to that he was involved in the health and fitness industry. Having studied sport science, he initially worked as a personal trainer at Virgin Active for a num-ber of years, as well as the fitness manager of a private health club in Stellenbosch.

Bryant’s background in personal training, fitness science, nutrition, sport massage,

etc. gives him a good foundation and knowl-edge from an anatomy, physiology and a biochemistry point of view. In many instanc-es he has had customers coming in with strange injuries and this knowledge aids him in identifying the cause of their problems.

Bryant’s move from the health and fit-ness industry into retail was motivated by a need for change. Because running had always been one of his interests he applied for a post at the Athlete’s Foot, but since joining he has also fallen in love with the retail industry. “Retail can not only be an enjoyable career, but a good career as well, if you’re willing to work hard at it,” he says.

Skins AD (220mm X 158mm).indd 1 4/20/15 3:35 PM



When selling baselayers or compression garments, it’s important to identify the consumer’s reason for buy-ing the product, his budget

and the specifi c activity he is buying it for, says Grant Bryant of The Sweat Shop in Cape Town. With the wide variety of baselayers and compression garments available, this will help you pin-point the product best suited to your customer’s needs. The salesman also needs to know his products “and although he might not get it 100% correct, he’ll at least get it 90% right,” says Bryant.

Baselayers With baselayers advise customers that buying one product to do different jobs is not the way to go. “Baselayers each have their own char-acteristics. Some will, for example, have sun protection factors or built-in UV fi lters, others will have different fi bre compositions such as wool or lycra polynyamide, and there are also different blends that are better suited to cer-tain activities,” says Bryant.• To keep warm and dry, you could recommend

a wool or wool fusion blend, which contains elastane for stretch and polynyamide, which will help with wicking.

• A baselayer’s weight is linked to the amount of insulation it offers. The customer should therefore choose a weight based on his ac-tivity.

“Generally, a lighter garment will require less packing space than a heavier one,” ad-vises Bryant. If a customer is going on a four day hike, where packing space is limited, he should use a lighter baselayer as it will save him space, but he has to take the conditions into account as well. • Elite athletes often sacrifi ce protection from

the elements to save weight, but salesmen should remind customers that buying what popular athletes do, may not be best because

they do not have the same technical ability, says Bryant. “If you run the same race, an elite athlete will fi nish in about four hours, whereas the ordinary runner may be out there for 12 hours and be exposed to a lot more ele-ments during that time,” he explains.

Although baselayer choice should take the customer’s elemental, environmental and budget allowances into account, there are certain character traits that work well for various sports. • For water sports like skiing or stand-up-pad-

dling, a quick-drying baselayer is advisable as it will prevent chafi ng. Because you will most likely wear the baselayer on its own, one with a layer of UV protection is also rec-ommendable for protection from the sun.

• For hiking, recommend a garment that offers alayer of insulation that will protect your customer from potential cold or windy con-ditions. This would be especially useful for longer trips where conditions could change.

Compression garmentsWhen recommending a compression garment to your customer, you will fi rst need to deter-mine if he is looking for pre-competition, com-petition or recovery compression, says Bryant. • For long endurance events, a competition

compression garment can help slow down the rate of fatigue, because it increases blood fl ow to muscles that in turn increases the fl ow of energy and oxygen. It also reduc-es muscle vibration, which prevents energy wastage, explains Bryant.

• Advise customers that tighter is not alwaysbetter, as an ill-fi tting compression garment will not perform its intended function cor-rectly and may have adverse effects. “If you place too much compression on a specifi c body part you may risk preventing blood fl ow to that specifi c area,” explains Bryant.

• Stock a variety of compression garments to ac-commodate the needs of a variety of cus-

tomers. Salesmen should however note that in the South African market, it is diffi cult to sell expensive compression garments, be-cause people are looking for lower-priced items. He has, however, found that competi-tion and recovery products are more popular than pre-competition garments.

• For recovery after training, a compressiongarment with a looser weave is better. Custom-ers will not need a tight weave as they would for training, because they do not have to wor-ry about muscle vibration, explains Bryant.

• Compression garments may assist the wearerpost-injury, but the customer should fi rst seek medical advice to determine the ex-tent of the injury, advises Bryant.

• For travelling and sitting down for long periodsof time, he advises a compression sock with mild compression.

• Take note, however, that the full compressionsock is not ideal for performance wear. In this situation, the salesperson should rather recommend a compression calf sleeve, says Bryant. “Not everyone who has a size 12 foot has a large calf and not everyone who has a size eight foot has a small calf, which could mean customers might not get a prop-er fi t when purchasing a full sock. With a calf sleeve, on the other hand, you are able to measure the customer’s calf circumfer-ence and get the right fi t for him.

Baselayers and compression garments’ fabrics are very delicate and need to be cared for ap-propriately in order for them to last. Remind customers to read the care instructions on the garment label, says Bryant.• Advise customers to purchase cleaning prod-

ucts that are specifi cally made for cleaning these products as they are an investment into the longevity of their garments.

• Warn customers to never use fabric softeners with baselayers as they clog the garment’s pores, which could affect their functioning and deteriorate the fabric.

Tips for selling baselayers and compression

Skins wins French Product of the Year awardSKINS’ NEW A400 range of compression wear was selected as the Product of the Year in the accessory and equipment category during a French Running Summit in March.

A jury of running experts, headed by Bernard Amsalem, President of the French Athletics Fed-eration, selected the A400 range, launched in February 2015, based on its quality, effi ciency and the innovative spirit shown by the brand in general. Twelve other brands competed in this category, including Raidlight (for their trail bag pack) and Jabra (for their wireless helmet).

The trophy was handed to Skins’ French general manager Emmanuel Lorenzato on their stand at the Paris marathon in April, where staff members wore a special T-shirt commemorating their award.

During the fi rst running summit held at the end of March, a variety of strategic topics aff ecting runners were discussed. It ended with the Event of the Year and Product of the Year award ceremonies.



Racket sports growingat grass roots levelTennis, squash and badminton have many development activities in place to ensure growth in these sports, especially at grass roots level, reports Yamkela mkebe

There are several interesting ini-tiatives in place to promote ten-nis, squash and badminton among juniors, in school leagues, in rural areas and at grass roots level.

At retail, tennis is again a good stock option, especially for the junior market. Sales have been growing and there has been about 200% growth in their junior racket sales in the last three years, according to Brad Summers from The Golf Racket, local distributor of Wilson.

“What we see happening is that tennis is once again a cool sport to play, but the major driv-ing force is that some schools are making tennis part of the curriculum and are pushing tennis as a sport for the first time,” says Summers. “If I look at junior racket sales compared to seniors, juniors way out number seniors,” he says.

Sales to the junior tennis market has been pretty stable “as back to school players acti-vates some nice volume sales,” agrees Steve Gallienne from Brand ID local distributor of Dun-lop and Slazenger.

The interest in tennis among junior or school players has remained stable over the past two years, according to Leon Freimond, Tennis South Africa (TSA) Manager of Performance, Coaching and Schools. “Before 2013 there was a slight drop in participation numbers, but it has gained and stabilised over the past two years. Espe-cially at primary school level, stabilisation has

occurred,” he says. “Junior players are likely to continue to play

as seniors if they are funded and supported, but if not, chances are they leave the sport,” Gal-lienne concludes.

“In my opinion there are way more junior players than seniors,” says Summers. “You should remember that many juniors no longer belong to clubs, or play official ranking tour-

naments, or leagues. There are actually many junior tennis tournaments, but the problem is that after school there is not much. There are only a handful of tournaments and good clubs to keep the kids interested in tennis. If tennis could get more senior tournaments and better club facilities, junior tennis would flourish even more,” he says.

Most kids used to get introduced to tennis through their parents who were members at a club. Because club membership is down, tennis is relying on schools to introduce the sport to

the kids, he adds. He therefore believes that it is very unlikely for a junior player to continue playing as a senior.

A number of factors influences this, including not having enough money and resources avail-able to enhance the sport locally. “This is mostly due to not having a lot of senior tournaments and no money to win locally. Because clubs have also not been maintained there are fewer club members and leagues to participate in.”

“What I have seen is that people seem to come back to tennis when they are a bit older (late 30s) they either miss it or want the exercise ten-nis used to give them,” he says.

Play and StayFreimond says the Play and Stay programme — a concept of the International Tennis Federation that was adopted by TSA — is a good initiative to get younger kids, from Grade 3 onwards, to play tennis. The programme was launched three years ago and is still in the early stages of adop-tion.

One Play and Stay court is big enough to fa-cilitate 12 players at one time. “Play and Stay is about adapting tennis to the size of the player,” he says. “The Play and Stay programme is also being taught to teachers who haven’t necessar-ily played tennis before,” Freimond explains.

Through the programme, TSA has regulated that the green dot Play and Stay

Funding from Sport and Rec-reation South Africa (SRSA) has resulted in much success in grass roots tennis devel-opment across the country.

KIA South Africa team member Chani Scheepers in action during the Federation Cup earlier this year.

To p34

Sport :: p33


Racket sport from p33ball be used in all primary school competitions and leagues. The ball is slower with less com-pression than a conventional tennis ball and it allows the ball to bounce lower and slower.

“This has made the game easier to learn and play, which resulted in more participation,” says Gallienne. “Coaches still have a long way to go to get children into their programmes but active drives are in place,” he adds.

Because they are more accessible and fun for kids, development programmes like the Kids De-velopment Academy (KDA) and Play and Stay are attracting new players, agrees Summers. The Play and Stay programme is available in most schools and clubs that have tennis courts.

Challenges in tennisThere are, however, a number of challenges to growing the sport amongst juniors.

Lack of facilities is a major challenge, espe-cially in developing areas.

“More facilities are required, but municipali-ties are not funding sporting facilities and in many cases tennis courts have been closed,” says Gallienne.

“Tennis SA found in the past that dedicated tennis courts were being converted into netball courts or the tennis courts were being made multi-purpose venues,” says Freimond, who believes this had a huge impact on the actual dedicated tennis facilities at schools.

Because there are fewer tennis courts at schools, learners often have to travel long dis-tances to practice or play in league matches, es-pecially in rural areas. In the urban areas, traf-fic congestion makes it more difficult to reach the tennis courts.

The lack of development opportunities and the inability to generate sufficient income, re-sulted in a shortage of qualified coaches, espe-cially in developing areas, he says.

Competition from other sports is a challenge “because other sports are now played year round and are no longer seasonal,” says Freimond.

But, competition from other sports has always been there, it’s just a matter an individual’s choice, points out Gallienne, who also says that some senior players dropped tennis in favour of cycling, which is growing very rapidly.

“The cost of equipment, footwear and cloth-ing is more so of a challenge in the developing areas,” says Freimond. But, the cost of equip-ment, footwear and clothing is cheaper than in Europe, where tennis is very popular, qualifies Gallienne.

TSA needs money to invest in training and de-veloping coaches, says Gallienne. Lack of struc-ture and money are a problem in developing the potential of promising junior players, he says. But, despite the lack of funds, there are fairly good and pro-active playing opportunities or tournaments for juniors to advance in rankings.

Brand ID invests into various development programmes and allocate thousands of rands to provinces specifically for development, he says, adding that each province is committed to its own development programme to drive tennis growth.

“Lack of funding for promising juniors is not only a development issue, it also affects per-

formance standards. Locally we have enough tournaments and competition opportunities for juniors — the problem is the lack of international competition opportunities,” says Freimond.

While the number of school leagues and com-petitions for juniors have decreased compared to 5 years ago, a number of leagues have com-bined to gain greater volumes. There have also been one or two new competitions introduced for tennis in the last five years, says Summers.

On the positive side, Freimond believes that there are role models like the South African Kevin Anderson that junior players can look up to for inspiration. Freimond says Anderson in particular is becoming a big inspiration not only to tennis juniors, but to juniors in other sporting codes as well.

“When our Davis Cup team play at home it is an inspiration to those able to watch the tie and any international competition hosted in South Africa does inspire the youth. The lack of top international competition in South Africa is due to a shortage of funding and sponsorship.”

Gallienne believes that the performance of South African players like the Women’s Federa-tion Cup team members, who are promoted to a higher level next year, also inspire youngsters.

Summers says that when he was a junior they were all inspired by top players as they showed that success was attainable.

Squash developingInterest among junior or school squash players has remained stable and even though there are no concrete statistics to prove it, participa-tion has been increasing, believes Liz Addison, Squash SA National Director and Development Manager.

Squash SA is initiating a registration system that will give them the actual numbers of both senior and junior players. Currently the associa-tion only have the numbers of players entering in tournaments and leagues. The five age-group Inter-provincial tournaments have a total of 1 000 entrants, the Masters annual Inter-provin-cial tournament attracts 700 players and the Inter-provincial doubles has had 430 players participating, she says.

Squash now has more leagues and tournaments than in the past, more regions are encouraging school leagues, and a number of equipment sponsors support the provinces or areas to stage tournaments, says Addison.

On the 2015 calendar there are currently 37 individual junior championships, the SA Country Festival Interprovincial in May, the U11, U13, U14, U16 and U19 Inter-provincial team cham-pionships in June and the top schools in August. A number of prominent schools are also host-ing school team invitational tournaments. It is compulsory for the junior players wanting SA Schools rankings to participate in the Bloemfon-tein Open, the SA Schools Closed and the Inter-provincial tournaments.

Unfortunately, the many opportunities do not necessarily translate into good sales. Squash sales have been flat for Wilson with growth at the top end, but not reflected in the junior mar-ket, says Summers, who believes that squash is in decline worldwide.

“As always, the success or failure of squash in an area depends on the enthusiasm or personal-ity of the person organising it. In a number of the Country District areas there have been an explosion of players.”

She mentions Cara Viljoen in the Northwest, Ian Knott-Craig at Kingswood College in Graham-stown, Maryna Fourie in the Northerns region, and Angela Difford In Port Elizabeth who has been involved in grass roots development for the past 28 years and as a result a number of players have come through the ranks represent-ing the Eastern Cape at junior and senior level.

According to Addison, 477 players participated in the U11 to U19 age groups at the Bloemfon-tein Junior Open at the beginning of March. She adds that the SA Country Festival Tournament last year attracted a record number of 77 junior teams. This indicates the huge growth of jun-ior squash in country areas, she says. “Funding from Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) has resulted in much success in grass roots de-velopment across the country.”

Other positive developments over the past few years include township school coaches qualifying as Level 1 coaches, and township schools are contributing to the sport in the form of paying for lights and team transport, she says. “Old Grey Club has become involved in assisting previously disadvantaged juniors to play senior league after leaving school and some junior players are assisted to continue playing when they enter tertiary institutions. National champion, Siyoli Waters is heavily involved in coaching and clinics in Cape Town.”

Addison says that the Egoli Squash Programme is the most successful and productive grass roots programme. The programme follows the holistic development of the child and has involved their families and life skills. To p36

Squash now has more leagues and tournaments than in the past, more regions are encouraging school leagues.

South Africa’s Zuko Kubukeli was the 2014 runner-up in the over 40 WSF World Mas-ters Squash Championships in Hong Kong.

p34 :: Sport


Untitled-1 1 4/2/15 2:41 PM


Racket sport growth cont from p34

Challenges for squashOne of the challenges facing squash growth in the junior market is the lack of facilities in rural and previously disadvantaged areas.

“A lack of interest from some schools is an-other challenge to getting more learners in-terested in squash, particularly when they do not receive colours or honours as recognition of their achievements. Lack of funding for promis-ing juniors is a huge challenge for all players. Sport is elitist and many sacrifices are made by the parents,” she says.

Very few players play in many events, mainly due to cost. “The problem is that players have to miss school on Fridays as our events start on a Friday evening and finish on the Sunday. With nine events in the first term that is a lot of time off school, particularly for those in Grade 11 and Grade 12,” she says.

Competition from other sports is good as “we need to think out of the box to attract and keep them (players),” says Addison. She adds that squash is a good cross trainer for hockey or cricket. Netball, hockey, indoor hockey, cricket and netball are all strong competitors of squash.

“On the other hand, squash is in a way a sport for late developers and the youth should play as many other sports, particularly team sports, as they can,” adds Addison.

In South Africa there are more senior squash players than juniors because of a variety of rea-sons. For example, junior players are dependent on their parents for transport to courts that could be far from schools as there is little accessible public transport, juniors are also financially de-pendent on their parents for club fees or entry fees etc. Leagues also finish too late for learners,

There seems to be a tendency for senior play-ers to be moving away from the structured league play to social squash with friends at the

gym. Work pressures, which could include trav-elling, are challenges to commitment for a six months league. Self time and family time are also a hindrance to commitment.

According to Addison, most players continue from the junior ranks through to the senior lev-el. Studies, gap years, business, marriage and children are some of the main reasons why play-ers disappear from, and return to, the squash scene. “As with any sport, to be the top player takes years of dedication, commitment, train-ing, coaching and that hunger in the belly. But, to just play, get some exercise, squash is one of the easiest sports to play at a social level and is reasonably easy when older,” she says.

Badminton at schoolsBadminton in South Africa has seen a steady growth over the past five years, and growth ac-celerated over the past three years, explains Lar-ry Keys, President of Badminton SA which has just under 10 000 members, 60% of them are juniors.

The association has a project supported by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) called shut-tle time and “we go into the schools and train the teachers and supply equipment including, nets, shuttles and rackets,” says Keys.

The number of school leagues have grown over the years. There are many competitions for jun-iors for U9, U11, U15, U17, and U19, according to Keys.

Like many other sporting codes, badminton is faced with a number of challenges.

These include the high cost of hiring facili-ties for events, lack of funding and competition from other sports, he says. “Most of the sporting codes experience a drop-off after participants leave school and develop other interests. But badminton especially at junior or school level is alive and well,” he concludes.

NewsThe Force from Dunlop

Dunlop has invested massively in order to take their new series of tennis frames to the next level, offering superior performance char-acteristics and quality, says Steve Gallienne from local distributor Brand ID. “The Force Se-ries, which has just hit our shores, has had a fantastic response from sponsored players and retailers alike.”

This series has been engineered to promote faster racket head and ball acceleration. Cou-pled with some new technology enhancements, this will ensure that all of a player’s potential energy is converted into power, he explains.

The range has been enhanced by investment in new moulds, which changed the shapes of the profiles, improving the geometry, boosting the power, comfort and performance of the rackets.

“The improved impact handle system takes

ThE GolF RaCKET is also introducing the Sony Smart Tennis Sensor, which fits se-curely at the bottom of a racket handle. The device is suited to players of every level that want to improve their tennis game and share their results. It transmits information via Bluetooth to a smart-phone or tablet that shows real-time shot visualisations and recorded videos.

The sensor technologies and newly de-veloped vibration analysis mechanics ana-lyse a magnitude of player movements — including shot count, ball impact, swing speed, ball speed and ball spin. The sen-sor is also able to pick up numerous swing types.

Its memory mode allows internal stor-age of up to 12 000 shots that can easily be saved, or downloaded to a smartphone or tablet. The product will be available at the end of May 2015.

Sony sensor for rackets

p36 :: Sport


WILSON, LOCALLY distributed by The Golf Racket, launched two new BLX tennis racket ranges for 2015. The Burn range helps a player accelerate his power to battle from the baseline and allows him to hit groundstrokes all day long. “The Burn combines explosive power with spin eff ect technology to produce the heaviest ball possible for players on the rise who are looking to burn through the

competition,” says Brad Summers from The Golf Racket.There are three rackets in the range: the Burn 100 Team (267g, 100 headsize), the Burn 100 S (300g, 100 headsize) and the Burn

100 ULS (260g, 100 headsize). The Blade range is designed for today’s big-hitting, aggres-sive game and it delivers control for the attacking players. The range is upgraded with Parallel Drilling technology for a larger sweet spot and braided graphite-basalt for enhanced feel and greater control on every shot. “The

Blade gives modern control to the next generation of hard-hitting players,” he says.

The Blade 98 weighs 304g and has a headsize of 98, the Blade 98S weighs 294g with a 98 headsize and

the Blade 101L weighs 274g with a headsize of 101.Well-known players Milos Raonic and Gael Monfi ls play with Blade rackets, while Si-mona Halep and Kei Nishikori play with the Burn rackets.


from suppliersthe frame to a new level beyond the traditional PU handle system,” says Gallienne.

“Dunlop used a combination of materials and construction methods to create the new Impact Shock Isolation System X, which fi lters violent shock impacts 35% faster — allowing players to feel the ball and not the Impact.”

Other technologies include:• Aeroprofi le: a sharper leading

edge was created through unique layering, which results in a 9% smaller cross section in the hoop to allow the beam to cut through the air faster, with more elastic power, than conventional beams.

• Flightgeometry: the pentago-nal geometry in the shaft pro-vides multi-directional aerody-namics, assisting the racket to cut through the air, whilst the 5-sided shape provides increased whip and power. “The frames look dangerous,” quips Gallienne.

• Parallelstrung: A lot of workhas gone into the grom-met holes, which are exactly aligned across the main area to allow greater string movement and response.

New rackets from Wilson

New AD Pro Elite squash shoe from Hi-TecTHE AD Pro Elite is the latest squash development from Hi-Tec with design input from

world number 1 ranked squash player, Nick Matthew. The AD Pro Elite was designed to outperform and outlast the competition. It features: Abra-

zone medial forefoot overlay for drag protection; Cat’s Tongue lin-ing material in the heel to keep feet in place and to prevent

heel slip sensation; angled heel Cut Zone and side Roll Bars for improved manoeuvrabil-

ity; mid-foot TPU shank for increased stability; while Hi-Tec’s Peak Force outsole offers maximum ground-con-

tact for superior grip.

world number 1 ranked squash player, Nick Matthew. The AD Pro Elite was designed to outperform and outlast the competition. It features: Abra-

zone medial forefoot overlay for drag protection; ing material in the heel to keep feet in place and to prevent

heel slip sensation; angled heel Roll Bars

tact for superior grip.

“The result is more power, more spin and a more forgiving feel,” he says.

• Hyperfl are offers a 30% widerfl are of the shaft, without compromising weight. The updated ergonomic fl are en-hances racket control, stability in the hand and improves the overall experi-ence of playing tennis.“As far as I am concerned this series is the

best you can buy,” comments Gallienne. “As always, we give you more for your buck and a better margin. This series offers all one re-quires to service all tennis players profession-ally — catering from the junior to the vet at all playing levels. The FORCE 100 26” has already proven to be a hit with most stock sold.”

The youngsters at the National champion-ships loved the cosmetics of the frames, he continues. “The shapes are different, the per-formance characteristics have been enhanced like never before, and all are high performance frames that you can sell with pride and con-fi dence. Also do not forget to top up on new thermo’s, etc. and ask your agent about new Dunlop mats for your store if yours are looking a little shabby.”

Sport :: p37

Sports Trader :: 2015 MaySports Trader :: 2015 May 2015 May :: Sports Trader

The High Performance Centre (HPC) at the University of Pretoria and sport and lifestyle distributorship Brand ID, representing a family of 25 brands, has formed a new five

year partnership. The partnership allows the HPC access to all

Brand ID brands with particular focus on swim-wear brand Speedo, compression brand Skins, training brand SKLZ, footwear brand Mizuno, rugby brand Canterbury and lifestyle brand Brooksfield for off-field apparel.

“We have had a long-standing relationship with the HPC and our Speedo brand,” says Brand ID CEO Wayne Bebb. “We have found them to be a perfect partner and therefore found it op-portune to extend the relationship with them further into our broader brand family.”

The relationship they have built up with Speedo over the past few years made it an easy decision to team up with Brand ID, con-firms HPC CEO Toby Sutcliffe. “The range of products is a perfect fit with what we are of-fering our athletes on a daily basis and already our Olympic gold medal rowers, top athletes, swimmers and triathletes have all reaped the rewards of being associated with some of these exciting and innovative brands,” he says.

“With the Olympic Games in Rio only just over a year off we are truly excited of what we, with Brand ID and their portfolio of

brands, will be able to deliver to our high per-formance athletes in the lead up to and during the games.”

“We have also entered into the same part-nership with the Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA) in Cape Town, the leading institute of its kind in South Africa and Africa,” says Du Toit Botes, Performance Brands Presi-dent at Brand ID. “We offer the full Canterbury TCR gear — Training, Cover-up and Recovery.”

Canterbury will not only be supplying the athletes with training wear — whether for fit-ness, running or gym wear — but also off-field clothing.

Mizuno and Skins are also involved in the SSISA partnership.

The new Canterbury for all sportsMeet the new Canterbury SA: rejuvenated and a front line player in several sporting codes, not just rugby.

Known worldwide as a leading rugby brand, Canterbury is now also becoming known among South African netball, cricket, soccer players, as well as athletes training at the elite level, through team wear contracts signed with lead-ing players in these categories. In addition, they have signed agreements with top sports schools across the country that their teams will only wear Canterbury sportswear, pur-chased through participating retailers.

These are all in line with Brand ID’s motto of aligning their brands to the “best in class in every sporting code,” explains Botes. The Ti-tans, winners of the Momentum One Day Cup, established Canterbury cricket team wear in the local market, although the brand logo was also seen in the ICC World Cup on the chests of the New Zealand team, as well as the less lucky Scots.

“We supplied the first ever away kit for a provincial cricket side,” says Botes. They also supply Titans replica and the kit for SWD crick-eters.

When the Protea netball team take to the courts during the Netball World Cup in August, they will be wearing Canterbury team wear, Skins compression and would have become fit training with SKLZ, according to a new agree-ment between Brand ID and Netball South Africa. These brands will also be seen on the screens during the locally televised Brutal Fruit netball series. “Canterbury is no stran-ger to netball as the world’s top netball team, New Zealand, plays in the brand,” he adds.

Canterbury is also a player in the most popu-lar South African sporting code, soccer, as team wear supplier of the PSL team Mpuma-langa Black Aces, who has one of the biggest youth development programmes in South Af-rica due to their close links with Manchester City. The team also stays fit with SKLZ training

Brand ID and its sport brands have been busy partnering with sporting associations, sport science centres and top schools to provide their consumers with the best they have to offer

Brand ID brandspartner with the best

Above left: Du Toit Botes, Performance Brands President at Brand ID, with Justin King, GM Canterbury and SKLZ. Above right: Wayne Bebb, Brand ID CEO.

p38 :: Industry

2015 May :: Sports Trader2015 May :: Sports Trader2015 May :: Sports Trader

equipment. The Black Aces replica jerseys will be available from July.

Rugby firstBut, Canterbury is first and fore-most one of the world’s top rugby brands, worn by seven teams par-ticipating in the 2015 IRB Rugby World Cup. One of them will be Namibia Rugby, who’ll have their ball and kit, including their World Cup jerseys, supplied by Canter-bury SA. The replica shirts will be on sale from June.

Locally, the brand lives up to its motto Committed to the game, says Botes, who explains that Canterbury covers the rugby field from primary school, secondary school, university, club, provin-cial and Super 15 level.

They are the new supplier of the FNB Varsity Cup ball after a 16hr kicking marathon testing of four rugby balls by former Springbok Braam van Straaten resulted in a recommendation that the tour-nament select the Canterbury match ball — based on the fact that their Transtech Speed ball matched the international World Cup ball in performance, but was more affordable.

Canterbury will also be the of-ficial match ball supplier to the FNB Classic Clashes tournament for top rugby schools.

At club level Canterbury is the official kit and ball supplier for the new Takealot 10’s tour-nament, where 150 rugby and netball teams compete to be crowned the champion in this for-mat of the sports.

They recently renewed a four-year contract with the Lions to supply their playing kit, as well as replica shirts. They are also the new ball and kit supplier to the SWD Eagles, who’ll be using the Canterbury ball for all games below Currie Cup level, and their team kit at all levels.

Schools through retailersCanterbury’s footprint in the main school sport codes — soccer, net-ball, rugby and cricket — enabled them to sign a unique four to six-year exclusive supplier agreement with eight of the top sport schools in South Africa, which includes a retailer component. Brand ID sup-plies the school’s sports team kit for all sporting codes through par-ticipating retail partners close to the school — except the first team kit, which they sponsor.

“We selected the top sport

SKLZ Full Page (210X297mm)(5mm Bleed).indd 1 10/20/2014 10:22:56 AM

school(s) in an area,” says Bo-tes. This includes Grey College in Bloemfontein, Paul Roos as well as Paarl Boys High and Paarl Gim in the Western Cape, Pretoria Boys High and Menlo Park in Pretoria, the Curro schools countrywide, as well as two of the fastest growing primary schools, Kenmare in Kru-gersdorp and Van Riebeeckstrand in Melkbos.

“This strategy is part of our bot-tom up and top down approach to the market,” says Botes.

The schools programme was launched with a Tour de Brands #Canterbury marketing campaign

that will be continued this year for summer sports, possibly with the inclusion of other Brand ID sports brands.

During the school tours they showed the learners a video fea-turing their brands during assem-bly and then gave the youngsters the opportunity to test product and ask questions — sometimes of their sporting heroes — dur-ing break. Experts from the HPC and SSISA went along to stamp their authority on what the learn-ers were being told. After being measured for size and receiving advice about the correct equip-

ment to buy, the learners would receive a voucher to spend at the participating retailers.

“We had direct involvement with 18 000 learners, whom we could send to retailers who would be assured of sales,” says Botes. “We remove the risk for retail-ers who not only know their stock will sell, but who’ll know that the learner received the correct advice about the protective wear products, position specific boots and correct size required, ball technology and product specific info to the individual who he is coming to buy.”

Industry :: p39


Lights-out and light meals could be quite nice in summer, but winter is fast approaching and everyday items such as light, heat, warm food and entertainment will help

customers brave colder days.As the days grow shorter and colder, the

demands on the power grid will be increasing and we can expect load shedding to become a more regular part of our lives.

Sport and outdoor suppliers offer a wide range of lighting, cooking, recharging, etc. op-tions that will give customers these comforts during power outages, although they were

originally designed for outdoor activities. In today’s always-connected age, a device

that will keep your customer connected to the world via his cell phone, tablet, etc. is sure to

be at the top of his in-case-of-load shedding shopping list.

Staying connectedThe versatile Ultra Tec Lil’ Bud is a power-house when it comes to handy features during power outages: it has a USB slot for charging mobile and electronic devices offer an all-in-one lighting and entertainment package.

It is a FM radio and MP3 player that can keep the user entertained while he waits for the power to come back on, and also offer various lighting solutions. It acts as an emergency lan-tern with 170 lumens during power

Products to recommend for power outages

With electricity supply problems in South Africa becoming part of everyday life, customers will be seeking guidance and recommendations on products to use during load shedding. RHIANAH RHODE finds out what suppliers offer that will help keep customers connected, fed and provide enough light to perform everyday tasks

Retailers should remind customers that gas- and battery powered devices can be dangerous if not taken care of or used in the correct manner.

To p42

Photo: Messe Friedrichshafen

p40 :: Outdoor


Built-in discharge protection circuit Built-in overcharge protection circuit4 LED Flashlight & 24 LED Lantern modes50 hour runtime in Lantern mode100 hours runtime in Flashlight mode

The LED life is 10 000 working hoursRegistered silver refl ector 200% brighter surround light distribution220V AC charger12V Cigarette lighter adaptor

Rechargeable, portable, independent, multipurpose, incredibly versatile electronic deviceCan be charged from AC mains, 12V DC or solar panel (AC+12V DC charging cables included — solar panel purchased separately)Emergency lantern — 30 SMD ultra-high output LED’s switch on automatically in power outage

High-power 1W LED spotlightFM radio / MP3 player (with Micro SD & USB input sockets)USB output 5V (uses cell-phone USB cable to charge mobile, MP3 or GPS)8V 2W solar panel allows operation in areas with no electricity supply.

UltraTec lighting products are distributed by Lite Optec (Pty) LtdTo place your orders call your rep or our telesales offi ce

Call 011 462-6986 Email: [email protected] Visit: www.liteoptec.co.zaPlease contact us should you wish to view our showroom at 9 Staal Street, Kya-Sand, Randburg, Johannesburg

Built-in discharge protection circuit / Built-in overcharge protection circuit / 4 LED Flashlight & 24 LED Lantern modes / 50 hour runtime in Lantern mode / 100 hours runtime in Flashlight mode / The LED life is 10 000 working hoursRegistered silver refl ector 200% brighter surround light distribution / 220V AC charger / 12V Cigarette lighter adaptor / Convenient durable carry bag

MS5123 Emergency & Camping LEDs AC/DCNew USB functionality! Now you can charge your electronic device directly from your UltraTec emergency light while in use.

Functions as an emergency lighting unit during power outages

MS5055 Lil’ Bud Solar KitEmergency light, sound & charging station, including solar panel. Ultra-compact emergency light, with spotlight, FM radio, MP3 player & cell phone charger.

MS5131 Set of 2 Emergency & Camping LEDs AC/DC

New USB functionality! Now you can charge your electronic device directly from your UltraTec emergency light while in use.

Functions as an emergency lighting unit during poweroutages


outages, and can also be used as a flashlight or 100 lumens spotlight … all in a neat compact unit, available from Lite-Optec.

The more expensive version can be re-charged with a solar panel.

The Black Diamond Ember Power Light flash-light not only provides the user with light to see by — it also doubles as a charging device. Similar to a power bank, it has an integrated USB port that can recharge handheld electron-ic devices, and its flashlight has a maximum burn time of 50 hours, says Lehan Bornman from local distributor Ram Mountaineering.

RED-E power banks are pocket sized power back-ups to charge all your electronic devices, explains Martin Gleeson from local distribu-tor Omnico. There are a variety of different sized power banks with varying capacities in the range.

Recommend that your customer keep the power bank charged so that it is loaded for when the power goes out. Power banks are charged via an input port. All your customer needs is a standard USB port or a USB charger with micro USB plug, he explains. Once fully charged, the device will hold its charge and enable the user to recharge electronic devices such as cell- or smartphones and tablets.

Power banks are ideal for home or office use and “they are perfect for camping and weekends away from all the technology,” says Gleeson. “The larger units can charge smart phones up to four times.”

These power banks are easy to use or carry around and are robust, reliable and offer cus-tomers uncompromised quality and a lifetime guarantee.

Generally these products don’t need much care, but retailers should remind customers that severe drops can damage the cells and that they should also never be exposed to an open fire or be pierced with sharp objects that may damage or cause them to explode, Glee-son says.

Lighting any situationThere are nowadays many innovative lighting solutions that will light up a room almost as well as an electric table lamp.

Lanterns are very handy to light up a room and come in many interesting formats.

UltraTec has been on the market for over a decade and offers a range of emergency lights, as well as products for recharging and entertaining. Their emergency lights offer the perfect balance between the amount of light emitted and run time, says Kim Romanis of the local distributor, Lite Optec. All their lights have longer burning time than regular load shedding intervals of 2-2 ½ hours, allowing a number of uses before having to recharge or replace batteries.

They can operate on AC and DC batteries, carry a 12 month warranty and are serviceable even thereafter. These lights are South African

Bureau of Standards (SABS) approved.Of all the UltraTec lights, the MS5123 Emer-

gency/Camping LED lantern boasts with the longest run time (100 hours) and has a USB port for charging devices such as a phone, while the MS5122 Max Emergency/Camping lantern has a 300 lumen output that it can sustain for up to 50 hours in flashlight mode.

The Nightingale Rechargeable LED Camp-ing/Auto Emergency lantern has a classic oil lamp look and produces up to 150 lumens for 30 hours.

“It is important to note that these products should not be stored without first charging the battery,” she points out. Retailers should also remind customers to be careful when handling batteries as they are corrosive.

The MS5141 two-piece UltraTec Camping LED Kit incorporates a solar panel to create the ultimate in camping lighting solutions, says Romanis.

Black Diamond’s Titan lantern, with its col-lapsible double-hook hang loop that can be at-tached overhead, is ideal for providing light in those situations when the user needs the use of both his hands, for example, when cook-ing. The lantern features a 250 lumen Quad-Power LED, dual reflector system and a frosted globe. Aside from adjusting light, its dimming switch also helps to conserve power when the light is turned lower.

The Black Diamond Moji is a pocket-sized lantern that is ideal for use at home for ta-ble-top illumination, says Bornman. Its single-piece design has a frosted globe that allows even distribution of 100 lumens on its maxi-mum setting. The Apollo lantern in the range offers an 80 lumen output over 60 hours and runs on AA batteries.

Torchlights“Any of the Led Lenser products would be very useful for anyone, under any circumstance needing light, although the brand is not spe-cifically positioned to be an emergency light in a load shedding or low power usage situation,” says Bruce Woodroffe, MD of local distributor Awesome Tools.

The range features products that provide bright and efficient light — whether for home, business, or outdoor use and includes battery-operated and rechargeable lights, which can also run on batteries when there is no power, he explains.

The P5R.2 flashlight has a “Floating Charge System” that allows the flashlight to be charged directly through a wall-mounted unit or on the go via a USB cord, which can be plugged into a car, laptop, etc. This recharge-able torch offers a massive 270 lumens of power and has a beam distance of 240m (more than two rugby fields). This device can also be stored on charge for long periods without damaging the battery.

The rechargeable M17R heavy-duty flashlight

Recommend for power outagescont from p40

LIGHTING & POWERSOLUTIONS

Headlamps

Lanterns

Powerbanks

Distributed by:Tel: 021 532 0549

Email: [email protected]

Our lighting and powerbank solutions are perfect for any situation where lighting and

power is required, from home use to car camping in the

middle of the desert.

p42 :: Outdoor


and H14R.2 lightweight headlamp offer the user a massive 850 lu-mens, which can keep a large area more than well-lit. The M17R also features Advanced Smart Light Technology (SLT) that allows the user to change the beam strength with light clicks and the patented Advanced Focus System (AFS) that combines a refl ector and a lens to provide a strong focused beam for long-distance, and a diffused light for close-up viewing.

The X21.2 torch provides ultra-bright light with 1 600 lumens and a long beam distance of up to 600m, which would be very useful to businesses that want to illuminate a large area, but can also prove handy at home, says Woodroffe. It can run for 100 hours and has a low battery message system, which indicates when it is nearing the end of its run time. Its Smart Light Technol-ogy enables the user to program light functions to specifi c tasks.

SpotlightsThe Streamlight range of prod-ucts, locally distributed by Rescomp, offers non- and re-chargeable lighting solutions that are useful for a wide range of ap-plications.

They offer energy effi cient, high output lanterns, spotlights, hand-held and area lighting, as well as specialised applications and lighting products such as weapons mounted and infrared lights.

“Quality, durability and innova-tion,” local distributor Tazio Res-ca sums up the characteristics of Streamlight, “which prides itself on pioneering lighting technolo-gies and supplying energy effi -cient high output lighting for all applications.” Their products op-erate on batteries that are either disposable, or built-in recharge-able packs, depending on the spe-cifi c model.

The Waypoint spotlight gives off a bright, far-reaching, piercing light, which can be useful for see-ing into the distance during load shedding. This non-rechargeable spotlight features shock-proof C4 LED technology to offer a burn time of up to 50 000 hours, has a pistol grip and can function on a low setting to offer a less inten-sive beam and conserve its bat-tery power. It can also operate on a 12 DC power cord, should your customer not have any batteries when the lights go out.

The trigger style power switch

enables easy on and off function and a secondary rotary switch is used to select various output modes. One of these modes being a strobe light that can be used for signalling if in need of help when load shedding occurs. A handy integrated stand allows hands-free lighting while a removable lanyard can be used to secure it when used as a hand-held.

It features IPX4, which enables water resistance for up to one meter and it can be used in con-junction with various coloured fi lters that are lightweight, fi t securely over the spotlight’s head and help preserve night vision. Streamlight offers users a limited lifetime warranty on this product.

HeadlampsYour customers will, however, also need light when moving around in the dark during a power outage. A headlamp offers the ideal hands-free solution when cooking, car-rying items around the house or performing other everyday tasks.

Black Diamond, locally distrib-uted by Ram Mountaineering, of-fers a variety of rechargeable and battery-operated headlamps and fl ashlights to help customers of all ages move around in the dark.

For the little ones, the bat-tery-operated Wiz is a compact headlamp that offers a 30 lumen output. It has a child-safe screw closure, breakaway elastic safety strap and automatic two hour shut down function that helps prevent accidental battery drain-age. It is ideal for children who are uncomfortable without light during night time load shedding.

The Gizmo’s ultra-compact de-sign means easy carrying in small areas such as a backpack’s side pocket or glove compartment, says Bornman. It features 60 lu-mens and has dimming and strobe functions.

The Wiz and Gizmo both feature two single power LED’s and are protected against splashed and sprayed water from any angle.

Storm, with a strong 160 lumens beam that lights up over 7m, and Ion (80 lumens over a wide 38m area) are headlamps that each have a maximum burn time of 200 hours and can therefore be used at least 80 times for the usual two to two and a half hour load shed-ding intervals.

Storm has a waterproof con-struction, an intuitive lock mode that prevents it from switching

itself on and its PowerTap tech-nology allows the user to adjust brightness with the tap of a fi n-ger.

Ion can operate on AAA as well as rechargeable batteries and also has a touch-control housing that allows the user to switch be-tween light functions such as full power, dim, strobe, etc. with the swipe of a fi nger.

Cosmo is another of Black Dia-mond’s headlamps that can last for hours. In fact, with a 90 lu-men output over 50m, the Cosmo can last 250 hours. It can be set to full strength in proximity and distance modes, dimming, strobe, red night-vision, and lock mode.

The 130 lumen rechargeable Re-volt headlamp offers proximity lighting that is ideal for lighting large areas at a time, while its dim-ming function lets the user choose the amount of light he requires.

Both the Cosmo and Revolt fea-ture a three-level power meter that displays battery life and re-minds the user to replace dead batteries.

The Led Lenser SEO 3 headlamp offers 90 lumens and is great for use around the home, campsite or fi nding necessities when the lights go out, says Woodroffe. It features three white and one red LED, and a carabiner clip for easy carrying when on the go. “This light of-fers great value,” he adds, and suggests that you recommend to your customers to keep a few of these headlamps around the house in handy-to-reach areas for when the lights go out. It uses a new top shelf LED chip and redesigned re-fl ector lens, which helps optimise illumination for clearer light.

Prohunter, locally distributed by W.E.T. Sports Importers, offers battery-operated

In today’s always-connected age, a device that will keep your customer connected to the world is sure to be at the top of his in-case-of-load shedding shopping list.

To p46

Outdoor :: p43


Hunting and sport shooting is be-coming massively popular, as the more than 40 000 visitors to HuntEx 2014 demonstrated. This annual consumer show, which fo-

cuses mainly on fi rearms for hunting and sport shooting, last year attracted more than double the 19 000 visitors that attended the inaugural show in 2011.

Over the past fi ve years, attendance at this show has grown on average 30% per year. And the organisers expect this growth in popular-ity to continue at this year’s show, held end of April (after we had gone to print) and therefore expected that 40–50 000 consumers would this year view the latest products from the 346 exhibitors.

In addition, smaller HuntEx shows have been held in the Western and Eastern Cape later in the year.

Although it is mainly an agricultural show, suppliers and retailers of outdoor and hunting equipment, clothing and footwear queue to exhibit their wares to the more than 70 000 farmers expected at this year’s NAMPO Har-vest Day just outside the Free State town of Bothaville. The 650 exhibitors at this year’s show, held 12-15 May, expect to attract far more than the nearly 70 000 visitors who at-tended last year, if the growth trend of the past 40 years continues.

More than 100 000 potential retail custom-ers will therefore be attending these shows in April and May this year. To put it into perspec-tive: if you had to attract the same number of customers to a store, the number of visitors to HuntEx equals more than 100 customers every

day of the year, and NAMPO represents the equivalent of more than 200 customers per day throughout the year.

Retailers we contacted therefore agree that the popularity of shows like HuntEx and NAM-PO are an indication of a growing interest in hunting and related products from consumers.

But, do these shows have a positive or nega-tive impact on the shooting and outdoor retail industries and their suppliers?

HuntEx is a good opportunity to remind a very large number of visitors what you supply and introduce them to new products, Rescomp Handgun Technologies (RHT) found.

Visitor interest is such that an exhibitor can usually recoup costs on the fi rst day, and just generate profi t the next two days, they found.

Awesome Tools is a veteran of both these shows, who have been exhibiting at HuntEx for more than 15 years (since when it was still the WILD show) and NAMPO since the show’s introduction, says MD Bruce Woodroffe.

These shows enable them to interact with consumers and allow them to showcase their products, which generates plenty of interest in their brands. They have had a Leatherman service stand at both shows where they offer repair services to existing customers, which

attracts many of the visitors. With nearly double the number of visitors, their stand at NAMPO is usually much busier than at HuntEx.

Lite-Optec is also a long-term exhibitor at both shows but on their retail customers’ stands, not under their own name.

“We believe that the interest generated is massive and we fi nd both shows to be a great platform to launch new products and educate the consumer on existing brands,” says Kim Romanis, who further believes both shows are worthwhile because they get the chance to interact with consumers and spend time work-ing closely with their key clients when they exhibit on their stands.

A show like HuntEx has been good for the industry because the smaller shops do benefi t, says Nico van Huyssteen from Hunters Heidel-berg. “The show exposes clients to a whole industry and all the related products. All the relevant role players are at the show, and the consumer is always attracted to the HuntEx show if there are bargains.”

While consumers think products are more af-fordable at the show, they do buy the same products from retailers after the show, he points out. Through HuntEx his shop has at-tracted new consumers who would approach him with an inquiry based on what they saw at the show.

“We always experience a positive impact after the show as the consumer would see something at the show and now wants it from his nearest retail shop. I do think that more sales are generated at by the shows,” he says.

Van Huyssteen has never exhibited at HuntEx and NAMPO shows because his To p46

Highs and lows

More than 100 000 poten-tial retail customers will therefore be attending these shows in April and May this year.

More than 100 000 consumers annually visit shows like HuntEx and NAMPO to get a glimpse of what’s new on the market. This indicates a massive con-sumer interest in hunting, sport shooting and outdoor gear — but is it good for the retail trade? YAMKELA MKEBE talked to industry members

Highs and lows from hunting shows

p44 :: Outdoor


business is too small, but he visits the shows on the open day to meet with wholesalers and have a look at the new products. He expects the semi-automatic rifles to be selling well at this year’s show(s).

Such shows have been good for the indus-try, as they have attracted newcomers, says Gerhard van Rensburg from Wildman Hunting & Outdoor Western Cape. When he exhibited at HuntEx in the Western Cape, the show gave his business an opportunity to attract new customers, who visit the shows because of the new products on display, all in one location.

“Consumers do purchase new kinds of prod-ucts at the shows, but they also buy products that will normally be purchased at the store,” he adds. Scopes and firearms, especially for hunting, have been the most popular products amongst show visitors.

Bargains affect retail salesNot everybody, however, believe that the shows have had a positive impact on their businesses — although even the critics visit the shows to see what’s new in the industry. The main complaint is about discounted specials offered at the shows, which results in retail-ers waiting to place orders before the show because they are waiting for the discounted products at the show, some suppliers found.

“I think the shows have turned into a flea market and they set sale prices that cannot be maintained under normal market trade,” says Larry Bester from Safari and Combat Arms.

“Shows do have a negative impact on the in-dustry, because customers flood these shows to get the specials from the suppliers and then the suppliers do not have enough stock for the retailers,” agrees Fanus Venter from Die Lapa Wapens.

Venter believes that consumers mainly at-tend these shows with the hope of getting good specials. His company has not been ex-hibiting at the shows because he believes as retailers they cannot compete with the spe-cials wholesalers offer at these shows. He does, however, attend the shows as a visitor to see if there is anything new and interesting to stock in his store. While he agrees that the popularity of these shows indicate the grow-ing interest in hunting and related products, he believes these consumer shows have “defi-nitely” had a negative impact on his sales.

Flora Guns has only once exhibited at the HuntEx show — a long time ago, says Leoni Nel, who believes that the shows affect them negatively because of customers expecting discounted prices after the shows. She does, however, attend the show as a visitor to see what’s new in the market.

“Consumers are attracted to the shows be-cause of specials and new products,” says Nel “Popular products at the show are clothing and accessories and I expect accessories to be selling well at this year’s shows.”

Hunting shows cont from p44

headlamps with adjustable headbands and a lightweight lamp construction, which makes them comfortable to wear.

For those situations where you want a steady light, Prohunter has developed a 5 LED head-lamp that can be removed from its headband and attached to another surface via its built-in magnet. This enables the wearer to direct light to where it is needed. The headlamp also features a strobe mode for emergencies. The Prohunter 12 has two modes — one is a focused light that can light a specific area well. This light is also ideal for fishing and camping, says Andrew Wentzel, from local distributor.

Cooking in the darkBasic needs like hunger and thirst need to be fulfilled, with or without electricity. Jetboil, locally distributed by Ram Mountaineering, of-fers customers an alternative solution to pre-paring food, as well as a way to make warm drinks that will help keep them toasty during load shedding on colder days or nights.

The MiniMo is a new personal cooking system with a valve design that allows simmer con-trol. It features a cooking cup that is the per-fect combination of size, sturdy metal handles and optimised height, says Bornman. Its height

and low spoon angling provides the user with an easy-to-eat experience.

Their Joule uses proprietary regulator tech-nology that allows consistent heat output down to -12°C. It has an inverted fuel can and liquid feed regulator that performs like a liquid/multi-fuel stove with the added benefit of the ease of use and versatility of a canister system.

“Joule’s 10 000 BTU burner provides the raw power for rapid boil times, yet still offers excellent simmer control for cooking,” says Bornman.

The Flash can boil two cups of water in less than three minutes and its design ensures sta-bility and no spilling. Its cooking cup clips onto the burner to prevent accidental spills and its fuel canister tripod ensures overall stability. It has a push-button ignite and heat indicator. It also has an insulating cozy with a colour-changing heat indicator that signals when con-tents are hot.

Keeping coolDuring warmer weather, it should be a relief for your customers to hear about UltraTec’s Tornado 2-Speed oscillating fan. The fan, which not only cools down the user, also fea-tures a built-in LED emergency light.

Recommend for power outages cont from p43

Headlamps, torches, lanterns, etc. are saf-er alternatives to lighting candles to provide light everywhere one moves around during load shedding periods, but gas- and battery powered devices can be dangerous if not taken care of or used in the correct manner.

You should therefore remind your custom-ers that when they are working with gas products, they should work in well-ventilat-ed areas as gas uses oxygen to burn and in a non-ventilated area it could deplete breath-able air.• When lighting gas, open the canister and

light the gas before placing a pot or kettle on top of it.

• Check equipment for any leaks beforeuse. If there is a leak in a pierce-able car-tridge, empty it in a well-ventilated area and do not disconnect or connect it during this time.

• When storing gas products keep themaway from heat sources or elements that could ignite them. Unless otherwise stat-ed, keep products in an upright position.

• Do not store gas products near damp, dust, dirt or any other elements that could cause damage to the container or valves.

BatteriesWhen your customer uses batteries, he should always check that they are inserted correctly because if not, they can overheat and cause leaks that can lead to explosions.• Only purchase batteries that are ap-

proved for use with the intended device and avoid counterfeit products, which could set alight.

• Only charge batteries that are recharge-able as non-rechargeable batteries can overheat and cause damage should they be placed in a charger.

• When recharging batteries, only use com-patible chargers.

• Repeatedly recharging a battery whenit has not discharged can cause it to lose its maximum energy capacity. The battery will remember the shorter charge and only reach this smaller capacity when it is re-charged being recharged.

• Do not crush, puncture or place pressureon batteries as it can cause internal short circuiting that can cause overheating.

• Do not dispose of batteries in fire as theymay explode.

Safety checks for gas- and battery-powered devices

p46 :: Outdoor


Once again, the Draft Firearms Amendment Bill of 2015 could have a major impact on the fi rearms retail industry — espe-cially arms dealers who sell to

the hunting and sport shooting markets. Issues like the application of identifying microdots to fi rearms, the licensing and marking of muz-zle loading fi rearms, ballistic sampling and making organisations responsible for verifying members’ license applications, are some of the issues that fi red up associations represent-ing hunters and shooting sport enthusiasts. At-tempts are also made to readdress the thorny issue of fi rearm license renewals in the draft amendments.

The public had the opportunity to comment on the proposals in the draft working docu-ment before 31 March this year, and several associations representing hunting and sport shooting sports or gun owners made use of the opportunity. The consultative process had already started at the end of last year, when accredited associations were requested to submit comments on the draft proposals.

Most stakeholders within the fi rearms indus-try were represented at a National Firearms Summit called by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police in conjunction with the Civilian Secretariat for Police towards the end of March 2015, during which proposed amend-ments to the act was discussed.

Among the contentious amendments that will affect fi rearms dealers and retailers are the application of microdots to fi rearms, the marking of muzzle-loading fi rearms, and bal-listic sampling.

Microdots opposedThe proposed compulsory application of mi-crodots on all fi rearms is “too costly, and no

research has been done as to whether it will achieve the intended objectives, whether they will not adversely affect the functioning of fi re-arms and whether the resources exist to apply them as envisaged in the draft bill,” comments the SA Gunowners Association (SAGA).

The microdots must contain the serial num-ber, model and other prescribed information. This must not only be applied to all new fi re-arms sold and stock, but all licensed fi rearms already sold, must also receive a microdot within six months — or the owner could lose his license.

The National Shooting Association (NSA) ar-gues that the proposed microdot system could possibly be proven to be unconstitutional as it will invariably criminalise a large number of legal fi rearms owners who will not have access to service providers who will be able to apply

the microdots to their legally owned fi rearms in the six months grace period envisaged.

“It surely cannot be the intention of the law-maker to force legal fi rearms owners to travel the country to fi nd a so-called service provider who can make and affi x said microdots,” says Dr Herman Els, executive chairman, who au-thored the NSA comments.

They point out that the lack of training pro-

viders in certain areas have already created problems for fi rearms owners in rural areas who wanted to renew their licences, but did not have reasonable access to centres accred-ited with issuing competency certifi cates.

The offi cial cost estimate for applying the mi-crodots to for instance, fi ve fi rearms, is calculat-ed at R2 250 by the compliers of the Bill, but the NSA believes the actual cost will be much more.

In order to comply with the process in six months, microdots will have to be applied to approximately 24 166 fi rearms per day in order to legalise the calculated 2.9-m legally owned fi rearms in South Africa, calculates the NSA. Taking into account the present unorgan-ised state of the Firearms Register — about which even the minister had commented (see p52) — it would be completely unrealistic to expect the CFR to cope with the additional administrative burden to manage the system of microdot fi ling, they argue.

“The procedure of microdotting is fl awed in its core and is just not realistically imple-mentable, apart from the fact that it presents unfair and unrealistic fi nancial implications for legal fi rearms owners, as it can never be legal-ly proven to be cost effective,” concludes Els.

Muzzle-loaders markedMuzzle loading fi rearms will also have to be licensed and suppliers and retailers will be re-quired to mark all muzzle loading stock. This must be done in a non-damaging way and with such serial number as may be prescribed and affi xed in the prescribed manner: provided that the serial number may not be inscribed on the muzzle loading fi rearm itself.

“We fail to understand how muzzle load-ing fi rearms kept in a dealer’s stock must be marked in the prescribed manner, but no serial number may be inscribed on the

New bill affects

sport shooters and hunters

To p50

The microdot system could possibly be uncon-stitutional as it will invari-ably criminalise a large number of legal firearms owners who will not have access to service providers who will be able to apply them

Organisations representing hunters and sport shooters are opposing several proposed clauses in the Draft Fire-arms Amendment Bill of 2015, which will also affect re-tailers and their suppliers

Muzzle-loaders will also have to be licensed and marked.

p48 :: Outdoor


muzzle loading firearm itself,” says Els. “Any form of firearm identification, which

is not etched into the steel parts of firearms, is highly unrealistic and imposes unfair cost implications on legal firearms owners as such identification marks can without any big effort be removed — irrespective of where and how these marks are affixed to firearms.”

If the identified mark is not applied to the muzzle, but on a separate article and then af-fixed to the muzzle loading firearm, “this can be interpreted as an alteration to the firearm, which is prohibited, and can legally only be done by a gunsmith,” Stephen Palos, chairman of the Confederation of Hunters Associations of South Africa (CHASA), commented on behalf of the confederation. “At whose cost will this be done?” they ask.

Ballistic sampling opposedThe proposal for compulsory ballistic sam-pling/testing when a firearm is sold or a li-cense renewed, is too costly, will lead to un-intended consequences, has serious security and safety repercussions, while there is no proof that the anticipated consequences will be achieved, says SAGA.

Ballistic sampling is defined as firing of a firearm in order to obtain a cartridge case or the firing of a missile to place details thereof on the Integrated Ballistics Identification Sys-tem used by the South African Police Service, for comparison in the investigation of crimes committed with firearms.

“There are very specific stipulations con-tained in Section 114 and 115 of the Firearms Control Act, 60 of 2000, regulating to when, where and how Ballistic testing and Inspec-tion, search and seizure for inquiry of fire-arms are allowed, why the need for blanket testing?” argues Palos.

CHASA points out that similar laws in the American states of Maryland and New York failed completely — despite costing the tax-payers more than $2.5-m in Maryland and $4-m in New York.

A 2001 report by Californian state ballistic experts also found that ballistic fingerprint-ing/sampling is not feasible. During intensive

firing tests, computer matching of cartridges from the same manufacturer failed 38% of the time and matching cartridges from different manufacturers failed 62% of the time. Accord-ing to CHASA the Maryland State Police in 2005 requested that the law on ballistic fingerprint-ing be repealed.

The confederation furthermore opposes bal-listic sampling due to practical and technical problems such as the lack of testing facilities, shortage of time and manpower, the costs and availability of ammunition, the costs of updat-ing the Integrated Ballistics Identification Sys-tem and expertise in implementing these tests.

The Ballistic Lab testing facility of firearms linked to crime is far in arrears as it is, the SA

Wingshooters Association commented. “This will place a tremendous burden on the already burdened SAPS’s resources.”

The association is also concerned about the cost implications as some cartridges for some calibre firearms can cost R300, or more.

Should the amendment for ballistic testing and microdot application remain in the act, the NSA asks that these processes first be im-plemented in official institutions before the general public are required to comply. “This will afford the relevant authorities time to see where problems do occur and how to fix them.”

SAGA agrees with this view, adding that “we are of the view that these additional security measures only need to apply to the police and other state departments since more firearms are probably lost or stolen from these officials than from private license holders.”

Affecting hunting & sport shootingThere are several amendments that specifi-cally affect retailers selling to members of

hunting and sport shooting associations — for example that • Occasional sport shooters can now apply for

a fifth license for a cap and ball firearm; • A dedicated hunter or sport shooter must

provide sufficient motivation if he/she ap-plies for more than four licenses for fire-arms, or two licenses for semi-automatic firearms or shotguns. This must include mo-tivational documents from the accredited organisation he belongs to.

• Licenses for semi-automatic weapons willonly be granted to an applicant who has been a dedicated shooter for at least five years.

“The effect of this would be that an already proven and dedicated sports shooter is being prohibited from participating in his/her cul-ture and sport,” commented Palos.

As per the FCA 60 of 2000, a person who holds dedicated status may apply for a re-stricted firearm, points out the Wingshooters Association. “This amendment will render dedicated status redundant.”

In addition, as the new insertion is written, it would mean that not even a dedicated hunter could apply for a semi-automatic rifle or shot-gun license for hunting purposes, despite the fact that the FCA entitles him to do so.

“Internationally there are a number of high quality rifle manufacturers who produce fine quality and accurate hunting rifles with semi-automatic actions, which are not sport-shoot-ing firearms,” the NSA says. “Is the lawmaker really seriously implying that he is under the impression that firearms with semi-automatic actions can only be ethically and legally used for sport shooting purposes?”

Els argues that there is no legal justifica-tion to impose the proposed restrictions about semi-automatic weapons on legal firearms owners “who have already gone the extra mile to declare their adherence to the FCA by acquiring dedicated sports-person status. Does the lawmaker thus in fact imply that he has the right to decide when a citizen of this country may or may not start to participate in a chosen sport?”

Banning brokering services For firearm importers and dealers the prohibi-tion of brokering services in respect of fire-arms could have a major impact on the em-ployment of sales reps in the industry and on giving firearms as tournament prizes as a form of marketing.

The proposed definition of a brokering ser-vice is:(a) acting as an agent in negotiating or ar-

ranging a contract, purchase, sale or trans-fer of firearms, muzzle loading firearms, or ammunition for a commission, advantage or cause, whether financially or otherwise; or

(b) acting as intermediary between anymanufacturer or provider of firearms, muz-zle loading firearms, or ammunition, and any buyer or recipient thereof.

In addition, this clause affects sport and hunt-ing associations because they often receive firearms as donations or at preferential pricing

Firearms Act affect dealers cont from p48

Ballistic sampling is too costly, will lead to unin-tended consequences, has serious security and safety repercussions

p50 :: Outdoor


Camo from Sniper AfricaWhat started in 1996 as a search for cam-ouflage gear that is comfortable, yet durable enough for a hunting expedition in Africa, in-spired a camo design that resulted in the Snip-er Africa brand.

An avid hunter, the founder of the brand recognised a need for hunting gear that not only enabled the hunter to blend in with his bushveld surroundings, but also protected him from thorns, shrubbery and other natural elements, while at the same time keeping him comfortable in the fluctuating weather condi-tions during the hunting season. The Sniper Africa family business soon evolved into a re-spected supplier of camo gear and accessories for hunters and outdoor enthusiasts.

A proudly South African brand, Sniper Africa maintains a diverse workforce, and encourag-es individuals from various social and cultural backgrounds to become interested in hunt-ing. They also support initiatives that promote ethical hunting and conservation efforts by educating South Africans about the evils of poaching and making a significant contribu-tion to anti-poaching efforts. Establishing the Rhino Defenders range has been one of the ways in which Sniper Africa strives to create awareness and gain support for anti-poaching units. Through Rhino Defenders they contrib-ute to organisations that are at the forefront of the battle against rhino poaching.

As the South African hunting industry grew across various cultural and economic groups, Sniper Africa grew exponentially. By staying true to its philosophy of producing superior quality items and maintaining after-sales ser-

vice, they maintained good annual growth rates. “We supply a wide range of superior quality hunting gear and accessories that is on par with the latest market technology availa-ble, and that keeps working for its owner long after the purchase is made,” they say.

Scent Control, PH Fleece, and the more casual outdoor Rugged Wear range are just a few brands designed by them for the grow-ing hunting and outdoor market.

The Quick-Dry range was developed in di-rect response to a demand for fishing gear that is comfortable, yet durable, in local cli-mates, and continues to be especially popu-lar amongst specimen carp anglers.

They will be launching their new Sniper Tac-tical range at HuntEx, appealing to the high-end private and competitive tactical market that includes professional shooting, airsoft and paintball enthusiasts.

Tanfoglio in South Africatanfoglio pistols, closely associated with the Practical Shooting sport, are now import-ed for the South African market by Rescomp Handgun Technologies (RHT) of Pretoria.

Fratelli Tanfoglio is an Italian gun manufacturing company, founded in the 1940s just after World War II. They are now known for their broad sport pistol catalogue, says Tazio Resca from RHT.

The current weapons in their ranges are used extensively in sport competitions and for per-sonal defence. “Tanfoglio pistols are popular firearms across Europe, the US and Canada and are used by many of the world’s top sport shoot-ing competitors — including six-time IPSC World Champion Eric Grauffel of France (p52).

for promotional use, including fundraising auc-tions, prizes in lucky draws etc., adds CHASA.

Another highly contested amendment is that accredited hunting or sports shooting organisa-tion will be held responsible for verifying the applications of their members to possess a fire-arm, and to motivate why their members need to apply for more than two firearms licences for dedicated hunting or sports shooting.

This could have the positive result that it would become easier for members of accredit-ed associations to obtain firearm licenses, the SA Hunters and Game Conservation Association (SAHGCA) believes.

Organisations must verifyBut, this would imply that the accredited as-sociations will be expected to take over the accountability and responsibilities of the Cen-tral Firearms Registry (CFR) as prescribed in the Firearms Control Act (FCA), explains Els.

“We (NSA) submit that, legally, the law-maker may not delegate responsibilities and accountability of the CFR (in effect the State) to accredited associations, as accredited as-sociations have no executive authority under the FCA.”

Besides, the capacity to assume this kind of responsibility and accountability is not, and had never been, a requirement when a hunt-ing and/or sport shooting association applies for accreditation, he argues.

Also, this implies that members of accred-ited associations will be treated differently to non-members who occasionally hunt or shoot, agrees Palos on behalf of CHASA. He says that members of accredited associations usually show more responsibility with firearms than non-members, yet they are singled out for an additional process when applying for licenses.

This would place more of a liability on dedi-cated hunters and sport shooters than so-called occasional hunters and sports-persons, adds Els. These shooters have already qualified themselves to a higher level and “the addition-al verification is therefore unreasonable and cannot be legally motivated nor defended.”

Competency certificatesHunting and sport shooting associations also oppose the changing of the validity period of the competency certificate back to the origi-nal five years, after the period of competency was extended to ten years in 2006.

“The inclusion of this proposed amendment makes no realistic sense at all, as all A4-type competency certificates which are currently issued by SAPS (CFR), have no expiry date printed on them,” says Els.

“The proposed amendments once again only target legal firearms owners and will, as al-ways, do nothing to curb the possession and use of illegal firearms. The proposed amendment will, once again, cause numerous legal firearms owners to become unfairly criminalised.”

Section 16 licences for dedicated hunting are valid for ten years, points out SAHGCA, and it would therefore be problematic if hunters have to renew their competency certificates

every five years.The NSA also opposes the amendment that

further proficiency testing for a competency certificate will be required when a license is renewed “as individuals who have completed the required SAQA Unit Standards as pre-scribed and are in possession of a Competency Certificate issued by the CFR are already qual-ified and competent.”

SAGA, on the other hand, is not opposed to competency testing every five years, provided that the renewal of licenses is scrapped. “We are of the view that if firearm owners are con-firmed to be competent every five years, li-censes do not have to be renewed, there must merely be verification that the licensed fire-arms are still in her or his possession,” reads their press statement.

SAGA has always maintained that the per-son should be licensed while firearms must be registered. Many people at the summit agreed with this view, says their spokesperson John Welch. “The basis of sound firearm ownership in a controlled environment is that only fit and proper people should possess firearms. Once a firearm has been registered against such a person there ought to be no further relicens-ing.” They do, however, approve of an audit of the firearms registered against a person when

he or she renews a competency certificate. For more than a decade the issue of firearm

license renewals and applications had repre-sentative organisations and the government at loggerheads.

The CFR is in a shambles, which significantly affects gun control and the implementation of the Firearms Control Act, the Minister of Po-lice Nathi Nhleko and his deputy Maggie Sotyu admitted during the Firearms Summit.

This resulted in court challenges for failing to issue licenses within a reasonable time — and officers who failed to implement court orders were found in contempt of court. The registry is “an organisation in chaos,” said Sotyu.

One of the court cases she referred to is the pending court application after SAHGCA obtained an interim court order in which the validity of the old green licences issued under the 1969 Arms and Ammunition Act were up-held until the main court case pertaining to this matter had been concluded.

The proposal in the Amendment Bill that old licenses will be valid for two years after the Act becomes law, and that the Minister can ex-tend this period for a further two years, is an attempt by the lawmakers to do away with the SAHGCA court order, the association argues. Several other organisations agree with them.

New ranges to be seen at HuntEX

Outdoor :: p51


Not even a $5-m offer will lure him away from sponsors like South Africa’s Rescomp Handgun Tech-nologies (RHT), top-selling Euro-pean gun manufacturer Tanfoglio

or Phillipine brand Armscor, says Eric Grauffel, 6-times world champion of the International Practical Shooting Confederation. These com-panies not only provide products manufac-tured to suit his needs, but made it possible for him to turn professional after he won his fi rst world title as a 18-year old in 1999.

“RHT treats me like part of their family,” he says of the South African company who manu-factures and supplies the CR Speed Gear belt and holster he uses. “They listen when I have a question or suggestion and are there when I need them. They always come with a solution to any problem I may have, which is very im-portant for a shooter.”

In competitive shooting, he says “if your equipment is not perfect, it is like killing your-self.”

He therefore did not hesitate when the Res-ca’s, owners of RHT, invited him to come to South Africa to participate in the Level 4 Af-rica Practical Shooting championship in Kraai-fontein at the end of March. It was also a good opportunity to introduce the new brand they’ll be bringing in, Tanfoglio, used by Grauffel for the past 18 years, to the South African shoot-ing public.

Besides, the standard of the competition, with close to 300 participants from 11 coun-tries, was suffi ciently high to interest him, says Grauffel.

Sixteen years ago when he won his fi rst world title, there were no holsters specifi cally made for the Tanfoglio guns that became associated with his winning performances. A holster that

allows a super-fast draw and a fi rearm that never jams, does not break and is reliable through thousands of rounds, is essential gear for someone aiming for a top performance in this energetic shooting sport where speed counts as much as accuracy.

Late in the 1990’s RHT custom-made a belt and holster for the youngster, then on the verge of greatness — one of several interna-tional and local shooting champions who have been wearing their CR Speed Gear since 1992. Among them are David Sevigny, US and world champion tactical shooter, and Kaci Cohran, US practical shooting ladies champion.

Companies like RHT and Tanfoglio not only provided Grauffel with the equipment, but also offered a sponsorship that enabled him to turn professional and concentrate only on shooting — which won him an unprecedented six world titles, 250 President Medals and nu-merous national championship titles.

This was achieved through hard work. “A lot of work,” says Grauffel, who practices shoot-ing at least two to three hours a day, every day, apart from doing fi tness exercises. “When I wake up, I think of shooting, when I go to sleep, I dream of shooting. It is all I think about.”

His father, Gerard, was trainer of the French practical shooting team, and he therefore grew up in a shooting environment. He was eight when he fi rst shot with an air gun, at

ten he was shooting with a pistol, at 11 he started competing, at 15 he was the French national champion and at 18 he won his fi rst world title.

Relationship with Tanfoglio

His involvement with Tanfoglio is far more than just attaching his name to a brand, says Grauffel. He is employed by them to test and advise on new weapon developments and he believes they now produce top standard prod-ucts that are also kind to the pocket.

He is also very grateful that they allow him the freedom to work from his home in France. With all the travelling to competitions — be-tween January and the end of March this year he was booked on 15 international fl ights — the time spent with his wife and two children (5 and 7) is precious.

Grauffel won his fi rst fi ve world titles in the Open Division, where customised fi rearms with scopes, etc. are used, but the most recent one was in the Production Division, where off-the-shelf pistols are used. These models are cur-rently among the best-selling pistols in Europe. The Tanfoglio Production Division team now consists of most of the top shooters, he says, and predicts that they will be making waves at the next World Championship in 2017.

He is also training up and coming shooters, including promising youngsters of both sexes. The sport is becoming younger in Europe, he says. “When I started the top shooters were 36-40, now the top shooters are aged 25-35.”

It is also growing rapidly: within 48 hours of a competition’s entries opening, all 800 slots will be fi lled. “Even a bigger competition with 1 000 entrants will be full within 2-3 days.”

It is his fourth visit to South Africa — the pre-vious one was in 2002.

SA practical shootingattracts world champ

In competitive shooting, he says, if your equipment is not perfect, it is like kill-ing yourself

The recent Africa Level 4 Practical Shooting champion-ship attracted plenty of interest due to the participation of 6-times world champion Eric Grauffel from France, writes TRUDI DU TOIT. Photos NICOL DU TOIT

p52 :: Outdoor


The Africa Level 4 competition, where he added another title, is the highest standard in a national competition. Only shooters who are af-fi liated to a club and members of the governing body, the SA Practi-cal Shooting Association (SAPSA) may participate, explains RHT’s Tazio Resca, who has been competing for about 4 years. His wife, Marcia, has been competing alongside him for the past 2-3 years.

Men (21-49), seniors (50-59), super seniors (over 60), ladies and jun-iors all compete together in a squad of 12, which rotates between the different stages over a two, three or four day competition period. The different divisions (open, production, classic etc.) also compete togeth-er in a squad, because in the end it is the most accurate shooter in the shortest time that gets the highest ranking.

Safety is of prime concern and any safety violation will get you sent home, says Marcia. That includes any form of unsafe gun handling, like moving with a fi nger on the trigger, sweeping or pointing at a busy area,

pointing at more than 90 degrees down range, or working on a loaded fi rearm, as well as several other violations.

At a Level 4 competition, the course has to be set up so that the shooters will fi re a minimum of 400-500 rounds over 20-odd stages, explains Marcel de Wet of RHT. While it is still a male dominated sport — only 8% of the competitors in this event were ladies and 4% juniors — interest is growing among women and younger people.

There are more than 30 practical shooting clubs affi liated to SAPSA, with the Golden City club in Johannesburg with about 200 members the biggest. “But not all the members necessarily participate in leagues or competitions, and are therefore not all affi liated to SAPSA,” says Mar-cel De Wet. “Many just shoot for the enjoyment.”

Everybody involved with the sport says interest is growing at a rapid pace. The combination of action, movement, concentration and shoot-ing skills attract participants, explains Tazio. Every stage is different: in some you have to run between obstacles while shooting at targets, other targets move up and down or slide, some targets alternate be-tween high and low, some are partially hidden, some react when hit, in some stages you have to kneel … the variety is endless. “It is purely

When I wake up, I think of shooting, when I go to sleep, I dream of shooting. It is all I think about.

sport, not an imitation of the military,” says Grauffel, “because it is all action that requires mental and physical fi tness. You have to be very fi t, because the days are long and you have to stay alert till the last stage.”

Eric Grauffel in action (left) and relaxing (above).Right: Junior champion Carmen Sales, also sponsored by RHT, was the Ladies Overall champion in the Production division.

ERIC GRAUFFELSix time IPSC World Champion

Pistols Distributed byRecomp Handgun TechnologiesTel: + 27 12 333 4768 / 1922

Fax: + 27 12 333 [email protected]

World Class Pistolsfor Sport andDefence

World Class Pistolsfor Sport andDefence

www.rhtechnologies.co.za

ERIC GRAUFFELSix time IPSC World Champion

Outdoor :: p53


Outdoor news

LEATHERMAN, LOCALLY distribut-ed by Awesome Tools, has launched the Leap multi-tool, which has been manufactured specifi cally for the younger generation.

Among the features made spe-cifi cally for young tool users is an attachable knife blade. While the user is too young to safely handle a knife he can use the multi-tool without the knife, but when he matures the 420HC knife blade can be attached to the multi-tool.

Leap includes the traditional tools such as the needlenose, pli-ers, wire cutters, saw, etc., but has special safety features. It has

safety locks that ensure the user’s fi ngers are out the way of the tools at all times, a two-hand opening knife blade that allows safer blade deployment and glass fi lled nylon handle scales with an ergonomic grip design, which trains the user to operate the blade in the oppo-site direction to him/herself.

The multi-tool fi lls a need in the market, says Jason Carpenter, Product Manager for Leatherman. “A regular Leatherman is meant for adult hands, and isn’t comfort-able or safe for smaller users. Our goal was to craft a multi-tool made explicitly with kids in mind.”

LOWRANCE HAS introduced three new VHF radios that are ideal for small vessel owners, from jetski anglers to skiboat owners.

Small vessels will have to carry VHF radios as part of their safety equipment from1 July when South African coast stations cease SOLAS watch keeping on 29 mHz.

The compact Link-2 (left) hand-held is Digital Selective Calling

(DSC) compliant, has real time positioning GPS with a newtrack plotter screen feature and is waterproof. It can be used on jetskis and has a light-weight bat-tery pack that allows it to fl oat. The device also offers storage of up to 500 way-points, navigation functions

such as setting waypoints and creating GoTo routes, as well as man overboard functionality.

The mounted Link-5 and Link-8 (above right) are ideal perfor-

mance radios for the cost con-scious skiboat owner looking for many features. The 25-watt Digital Selective Calling (DSC) units are water-proof, have an IPx7 rating, and include a microphone with six quick keys that allow easy opera-tion. Audio transmissions over the built-in speakers are clear, despite back-ground noise usually heard when boating. The devices store up to 10 distress calls, 20 individual DSC calls and have man overboard and Track Your Buddy features.

Leatherman launches multi-tool for kids

Lowrance new VHF radios

Small vessels will have to carry VHF radios as part of their safety equipment from1 July when South African coast stations cease SOLAS watch keeping on 29 mHz.

The compact Link-2 (left) hand-held is Digital Selective Calling

(DSC) compliant, has real

All’s well at new Ram Mountaineering premisesNO CHALLENGE was too diffi cult to stop Ram Mountaineering from providing their customers with the same standard of service they are accustomed to when they re-located to unit 7 in Old Mill Park, Ndabeni.

They moved from units 13 and 14 in the same business park, within walking distance from their new premises, which they now own. Things were moving along well, until they found that because they were going to mix warehousing and offi ce space, they needed to have

a fi reproof barrier between the two.

In terms of the building code, the fi rewall had to have the same burn time as a concrete fl oor, explains Simon Larsen. This compliance is-sue delayed the moving process by at least two months.

Their new premises was noth-ing more than a shell and renova-tions included a reception offi ce area and creating dry-walled offi ce sections on the top fl oor, which they basically had to create from scratch. After the compliance nig-

gles and legal issues were resolved, the physical move took less than two weeks.

“We may potentially have lost some sales because we weren’t able to be out on the road meet-ing with clients and pursuing busi-ness as much as we normally would have been, but I don’t think we lost sales from a lack of being able to process orders,” explains Lars-en. He believes this was facilitated by them warning and communicat-ing with their customers.

A major advantage of the new building is that their offi ce area is now in one area that is well in-sulated. The offi ce area in the old building had a concrete fl oor with large air vents above it, which was just too large to warm up. “It’s a much more comfortable space and a much more pleasant space to in-vite customers to do business in.”

“Now all the stock is downstairs and the showroom and offi ces up-stairs — creating a much better fl ow

to the work space,” Larsen explains.The new building hosts 15 brands

including Black Diamond, GSI, Sing-ing Rock, Jetboil, etc. and has the same fl oor size as their previous warehouses combined, but is much better organised.

During their move, Ram Moun-taineering added the Scottish brand Vango’s trekking tents and they now offer good stock holdings of all models. They will be supply-ing all of the approximately 120 tents needed for the tent village at the Giants Cup Trail Run, a two-day stage race held 21-24 May in the Maloti Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site.

Vango has had a positive response from the South African market and they will therefore also be launch-ing sleeping bags this month, as well as backpacks, kit bags and accessories such as trekking poles and cookware in the second half of the year.

Above left: The new work area was built from scratch. Above right: A proud Simon Larsen in front of Ram Mountaineering’s new building.

p54 :: Outdoor


Exhibitors were happy with the visitor interest at this year’s Cape Town Cycle Tour Lifecycle Expo, despite a shortened race due to raging fires and lower visitor num-

bers. The expo took place 5-7 March at the Goodhope Centre in Cape Town.

“This has been the first year that we have sold from our stand and we had a good re-turn,” says Evert Ferreira from Brand ID, local distributor of Skins.

“We were fortunate enough to have specials

and sales were up,” says Chris Willemse Junior from Chris Willemse Cycles.

Cyclists flocked toward expo offerings from retailers like Chris Willemse Cycles, Cape Un-ion Mart and Sportsmans Warehouse, which of-fered products at discounted prices.

Sportsmans Warehouse sported a new stand design for the first time in 15 years and won an award for the best retail store, use of space, interactiveness and stand presentation.

There were 159 exhibitors with 369 stands this year — 20 more than last year and a new

record for the show.The 2015 Expo attracted 67 000 visitors

(2014: approximately 80 000). This could be due to the shortening of the Cape Town Cycle Tour from 109km to 47km, because the origi-nal route was affected by the fires that devas-tated large parts of Cape Town.

This year cyclists were asked to wear red as a Show You Care Solidarity Ride in support of the brave men and women who risked their lives to put out the fires that took place the week be-fore the event on the Southern Peninsula.

2015 Cape Town Cycle Tour Lifecycle Expo

“We wanted to bring the human element of the Comrades Mara-thon to life with the New Balance #ICom-

rades campaign,” says Katharine Tromp of New Balance SA. “We firmly believe that the Com-rades doesn’t occur on the 31st of May. The Com-rades begins many months, if not years before.”

At the core of the campaign is the story of four runners‘ journeys and what it has taken for them to get to the Comrades’ start line this year — all running for various reasons, which will resonate with many runners and their personal journeys.

The four runners represent four stories that New Balance wanted to capture. Richard Pre-torius is going for his green number. Kabelo Sekete is running his first Comrades, and hop-ing to achieve a Bill Rowen medal. Phindi Gule is coming back strong after missing the cut off by a mere 7 seconds last year. Shayla Bailes has survived a car crash and came out of a coma two weeks later — she had to learn to talk, walk

New Balance has captured the human story behind the Comrades race, which they sponsor, in their #IComrades campaign.

New Balance tellsComrades’ human story

and then run again. She is celebrating her sec-ond chance by conquering Comrades this year. “She is very inspiring and a great ambassador for those who have been through a similar ordeal, showing that you can come out fighting and win,” says Tromp.

“Whether it’s your first or your tenth, every person has a reason to run and this is the truth that as a brand is the essence of what we do eve-ry day,” Tromp explains. “We felt it was our job to inspire not only those running the Comrades, but all those runners out there with a goal. We wanted to celebrate, coach and inspire all run-ners, from 5km to 89km. Seen in the videos, we capture the individual runners and their inspir-ing story. Give them a watch and get inspired!”

New Balance is backing the campaign with a retail campaign, which “encompasses the tradi-

tional in-store concepts bringing elements of the Comrades 890v5 to life”.

New Balance staff have also been filmed giving their reason why they would run the Comrades. The video is played on screens in their concept stores in Menlyn Shopping Centre (Pretoria), Gateway (Durban) and Canal Walk (Cape Town). “We felt it was a fun and authentic way to incor-porate the NB family into the campaign.”

For the second year, New Balance has created a specially designed Comrades shoe for the race. It features the Comrades 90th logo, a leopard printed midsole and colour template to match the race tees.

“A great shoe to keep you comfortable on the road or to place on your mantel piece as a tro-phy!” says Tromp. “Be prepared to be surprised and delighted. Definitely the best yet!”

Shayla Bailes Kabelo Sekete

Phindi GuleRichard Pretorius

Left to right: Customers queued at Chris Willemse Cycles; Customers were very interested in Cape Union Mart’s specials; Sportsmans Warehouse’s stand had an all new look.

Trade shows :: p55


The running-related expo, which served as the official registration and a last minute shopping point for thousands of runners who en-tered the marathon, featured 98

exhibitors on 126 stands.This year, Sportsmans Warehouse had a more

interactive stand and achieved a higher turno-ver than in 2014, says Mike Priest, their Tyger-valley branch manager. “Various promotions and kinesio taping of runners on the stand cre-ated a lot of interest and generated great sales as well as credibility.” They also ran an online competition and had two ambassadors on the expo floor who entered visitors in the draw to win a New Balance men’s or ladies’ pack.

“For us the expo went very well,” says Jax Snyman of retailer The Sweat Shop. They sold many of their TomTom units, some of which were discounted by R1 000. Their Falke socks also sold very well, so much so that they were caught short. “We didn’t realise there were so many more women competitors than men and ran short on the ladies’ socks,” says Snyman.

Puma’s had one of their best expo displays and sales performances since 2013, says James Mullen, Puma’s head of performance. “Our major focus and drive was built around the Ignite product that we launched into SA in March,” he explains. They also launched their thermoregulatory PWRCool range of footwear, which features technology that helps the wearer maintain their core temperature of approximately 27 degrees and prevents over-heating.”

There was also a lot of interest in the Brooks brand, says Clive Chowles from local dis-tributor SBR Agencies. “Visitors were familiar

with the brand and knew particular styles by name.” They also wanted to know what up-grades had been made to some of their prod-ucts in the range. As a treat, visitors to the Brooks stand could have their picture taken wearing various fun-inspired items they had available on the stand.

As the official technical sponsor of the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, adidas had two stands, one of which was the largest at the show and located at the entrance and the oth-er situated at the exit. Visitors to the stands were able to view a variety of products, from clothing, footwear, accessories, etc. to life-size displays. The brand’s Boost technology was also on display in a ball-like podium for visitors to touch in order to experience how it works.

They were one of the brands that offered visitors handy services such as foot scanning.

On the adidas stand visitors could get foot scans by running over a dynamic mat, which picked up the pressure points on the foot and helped determine their running gait. There-after they could chat to one of adidas’ run-ning experts and receive advice on the type of footwear that best suited their running style.

Asics SA offered visitors 3D foot scans with machines that were only used by their brand, said Dawid Visser, their training and promo-tions specialist. The device has four lasers and eight cameras that scan the foot and creates a 3D image with the exact measurements of the foot, which was then used to help determine an exact shoe size as well as the shoe type suited to a particular person.

On Brand ID’s Mizuno and Skins stands cus-tomers could get 360o foot scans that helped

2015 Old MutualTwo Oceans Marathon

Expo was a hitThis year’s Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon Expo, held before the marathon early in April, was again a hit among suppliers and retailers alike

Clockwise: Adidas had the largest stand at the Expo; The Sweat Shop’s owner, Jax Snyman was on the stand giving visitors advice on their products; Puma’s stand focused on their recently launched Ignite products as well as their PWRCool products; Paul Copson performs a 360o scan to determine the shoe best suited to the customer; Visitors participate in adidas’ foot scan; Asics SA’s training and promotions specialist Dawid Visser chatting to visitors on their stand; Sportsmans Warehouse’s stand was very popular.

determine the optimum shoe type for their running style. The stands experienced a busy first day said Paul Copson and Evert Ferreira of Brand ID. They sold merchandise through their retail partners such as The Sweat Shop and Sportsmans Warehouse.

Other exhibitors were ensuring they get maximum exposure and returns from the show by offering discounts and encouraging people to buy their products after the expo. Cape Union Mart, for example, offered visitors dis-counted prices on many of the items at their stand.

TomTom ran a competition where visitors had to run on a treadmill for two minutes while wearing one of their cardio watches. The results were then captured and on the last day of the expo the visitor with the low-est heart rate over the two minute period won one of their cardio watches.

p56 :: Trade shows


Advertisers index

SAFTAD show to be held in Durban and JoziTHE SAFTAD (SA Fishing Tackle Agents and Distributors) association will for the first time host a fishing tackle trade show in Durban, on 1 and 2 August 2015.

Over the past decade the annual SAFTAD show — the only official trade only show for the Southern African fishing and outdoor industry — has attracted about 50 exhibitors and representatives from more than 250 retailers.

The Johannesburg show will this year be held on 15 and 16 August at the UNISA Training Centre in Ormonde, where it has been held over the past few years.

The Durban show will be held for a full day on August 1st and a half day on August 2nd at the Blue Waters Hotel, Marine Parade.

SAFTAD was considering hosting a Cape Town show as well, but decided to postpone this to 2016 because some potential exhibitors have already made plans to exhibit at the Good-wood Sports Club on the 22nd August 23rd August.

Pre-registrations are open for visitors and exhibitors to the Durban and Johannesburg trade shows. Contact Mary-Ann Hodgskin at [email protected].

Trade show news

Bread and ButterTHE BREAD AND BUTTER urban fashion trade show is being resurrected later this year, after the organisers cancelled the January show after 14 years due to lack of exhibitor interest. The 2015 show will now be held from 7-9 July 2015 at the former airport Berlin-Tempelhof, Ger-many. The international trade show for modern urban lifestyle will feature fashion, clothing, bags, belts, shoes, etc. as its core segments. Bread and Butter is looking to redefine and re-gain the trust of its exhibitors and community following the controversy around the cancel-lation of the show earlier this year. For more information visit www.breadandbutter.com.

Carp ZwolleTHE 2016 Carp Zwolle show will be extended to three days (29-31 January) due to the high number of visitors (16 000) attending the 2015 show, which took place in Zwolle, Nether-lands, 7-8 February. Next year the daily visitor numbers will be limited to allow them inter-

action with exhibitors and improve visibil-ity of stands, as well as reducing the queues that marred this year’s show. The show is al-ready sold out to 145 exhibitors, but will not be changing its location to a bigger venue as the travelling distance to larger venues would discourage attendance. For more information visit www.carpzwolle.nl.

EFTTEXVISITORS WHO pre-register for the major Eu-ropean fishing tackle trade show, EFTTEX, by 25 May will receive a discount when purchas-ing tickets. This year’s EFTTEX takes place 11-13 June in Warsaw, Poland. Click here to pre-register.

OutDoorTHE TENT section at the OutDoor show, which takes place 15-18 July in Friedrichshafen, Ger-many, will be moving to the eastern open-air grounds and Hall A7. The show will also have a new central access point via the western car-

park. Visitors can look forward to a variety of features including the Hall of Visions, the Ger-man Boulder Cup, etc. For more information visit www.outdoor-show.com.

SAITEXMORE THAN 900 companies from 45 countries will be showing products and services at the Southern African International Trade Exhibi-tion (SAITEX) from 21-23 June at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg. The show will also feature a new Peru pavilion and will be held in collaboration with Africa’s Big Seven Food and Beverage expo, which will for the first time host Denmark, Korea and Belgium. For more information, email [email protected].

Source AfricaPRE-REGISTRATION FOR the Source Africa textile, clothing and footwear trade show and international business seminars is open. The business seminars held during the event held 10-11 June 2015 at the CTICC in Cape Town, will focus on AGOA Renewal — the next 10 years. More than 230 African manufactures, suppliers and service providers from 19 coun-tries will be exhibiting. For more information visit www.sourceafrica.co.za.

TexprocessMORE THAN 200 exhibitors from more than 20 countries exhibited at the Texprocess — the International Trade Fair for Processing Textile and Flexible Materials — that took place 4-7 May in Frankfurt, Germany. Last year, the bi-annual show attracted more than 12 000 trade visitors. This year, visitors were able to enjoy highlights such as Innovative Apparel Show, Texprocess Innovation Award and the Source It segment. For more information visit www.texprocess.messefrankfurt.com.

The Private Label ShowTHE PRIVATE LABEL SHOW, a fashion sourcing trade show, will be held parallel to the GDS and tag it! shows that run 29-31 July in Düsseldorf, Germany. The new show, organised by Chinatex Advertising & Exhibition (CTEC), will feature clothing and textile producers and suppliers.

adidas 21Anton Fabi 22, 24, 26Black Diamond 42Brand ID 31, 35, 39Cap X 11Crown Footwear 1, 45Dunlop 35Footwear Trading 23, 27GamePro 47Gelvenor Textiles 9

Hi-Tec OFCIntershu Distributors OBCJack Parcells 7Jeep 27JFK Trading 7Jordan 28, 29Jordan & Co 22, 24, 26, 28, 29Kakiebos 1Legacy Sport and Leisure 37Lite Optec 41, 47

Mitre 37New Balance 19Pierre Cardin OBCPuma 25Ram Mountaineering 42Rescomp Handgun Technologies

43, 53Rogue 16Selke Leathercraft 16Skechers 23

Skins 31SKLZ 39Sniper Africa 49Streamlight 43Tanfoglio 53The Golf Racket 36UltraTec 41Wildebees 45Wilson 36

Trade shows :: IBC

Sports Trader May 2015

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Transcript of Sports Trader May 2015