The German-speaking region is the most important market for the US cap supplier New Era in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Digital direct sales increased by almost 50 percent compared to the previous year.
New Era is banking on the growing popularity of US sports in Germany and is also using events such as the US American Football League (NFL) games in Frankfurt to drum up advertising. In addition to a centrally located pop-up, the Buffalo brand was also represented as the official headwear licensee at the two games in November. The New Era caps could be seen on the heads of athletes on the sidelines and numerous fans in and around the stadium.
FashionUnited used the sports spectacle to talk to Markus Finke, Country Manager for Germany, Austria, Switzerland (DACH) and Denmark at New Era, about the current sales strategy and other plans for the market.
In stationary retail in Germany, you are currently relying on shop-in-shops and pop-ups. What is your current distribution strategy?
There is a strong focus on optimizing the New Era sales areas at our retailers. For us, this ranges from simple display solutions to complete shop-in-shops. We have always strived to create very good New Era Branded sales areas in collaboration with our dealers.
We realized early on that the presentation of our main product, the cap, was extremely important for sales. The cap was presented in EMEA classic, hanging on hooks. Over 18 years ago we were the first to introduce cap walls and matching displays to the European market. Wherever we have optimized the sales areas, sales have grown disproportionately.
Why is there no longer a German flagship?
We are currently concentrating on our wholesale business and our online shop. In addition to our very successful store in London, there are currently no plans for another flagship store in EMEA. But in the long term, this strategy could change again.
With trading partners like Snipes and Kickz, you have a strong presence in stationary retail. Should this presence be expanded further?
We focus primarily on our current partners and want to expand our business and presence with them. We have recently restructured our European sales network. The aim of this measure was to be able to concentrate even more on our strong trading partners.
We are represented in DACH and Denmark with over 1,500 point-of-sales. Snipes is now a Europe-wide key account with which we have had a partnership going back almost 25 years. Not only our proximity to Cologne, but also the same end users connect us.
You are also planning to introduce a new shopfitting concept for 2024. What constitutes this?
In contrast to our current concept, which is quite dark and strongly based on a ‘US Sport Heritage’, the new shop design concept will be very clean, modern and in keeping with today’s trend. It has even greater modular capabilities and the product is brought into even greater focus.
The integration of campaign images is also more varied and much more effective than before. We look forward to equipping the first shops with it. Four premium locations are already being planned for the beginning of 2024.
The German online shop achieved an increase in sales of almost 50 percent compared to the previous year. What results do you expect for this financial year?
2023 will be another record year for New Era DACH and EMEA. Since times are not easy at the moment, 2024 will be an exciting year for everyone. But we as a brand have also prepared ourselves well for this challenge and are looking positively into the future. As a market leader, it is important to us to continually introduce new products and trends onto the market. The new products achieve excellent results, especially in our rapidly growing online shop.
Which other markets in Europe are particularly strong?
Our main direct selling markets in Italy, Spain, the UK and France all had a fantastic year. The prospects for 2024 are also very good there. In the rest of EMEA we are represented by a very good distribution network and are also experiencing good growth there.
A great success story is Denmark, which my team added to our portfolio two years ago. We are represented in many beautiful shops, especially in Copenhagen.
US leagues are important licensing partners for New Era, but individual European teams also cooperate with them. German teams are currently not included…
In DACH we currently have a different concept. We work with a lot of Bundesliga clubs and brands, but not under license. We act here as a producer and supplier. The partners themselves take over the distribution of New Era products.
One of our largest partners is Red Bull. In addition to the Formula 1 license, we make products for all other Red Bull sports clubs, as well as for almost all events and athletes.
Are there any new collaborations planned for 2024?
Yes, there is definitely something planned for 2024, unfortunately I can’t say more yet.
The womenswear range will also be further expanded in the coming year. What awaits us there?
Women’s Apparel is a completely new category for us. In 2024 we will bring customers back a new look and expand the collection with some new silhouettes.
Should the clothing range as a whole continue to grow?
Our apparel collection is definitely growing. In the current order round for the third quarter of 2024, we are already showing an extremely expanded range. We have added many new products and cuts to the collection. MLB [Anm. d. Red.: US-Profil-Liga im Baseball] Hertitage is particularly popular at the moment, but so is our NBA [Anm. d. Red.: US-Profil-Liga im Basketball] and NFL collections have had a lot of success in EMEA. We pay particular attention to the New Era Branded collection, in which we show our most innovative items.
How much does clothing make up at New Era?
Apparel now has a share of 24 percent.
This interview was conducted in writing.