Munich (Reuters) - The sporting goods giant Adidas has become more retail-friendly under its new boss Björn Gulden.

"It is noticeable that Adidas is turning more towards the retail trade again," said Frank Geisler, CEO of the sports retailer association Intersport, in Heilbronn on Thursday. "The exchange is becoming more intensive." Unlike his predecessor Kasper Rorsted, Gulden no longer relies so heavily on the lucrative online trade. Gulden's former employer Puma has not changed its pro-retail stance. "I am very satisfied with the cooperation with both German manufacturers," said Geisler.

Adidas is still the top-selling brand among the 700 retailers affiliated with the purchasing association, ahead of the global number one, Nike. Puma moved up from fourth to third place last year. The Finnish company Amer Sports, with brands such as Wilson, Salomon and Atomic, which is majority-owned by the Chinese company Anta Sports, fell from third to sixth place.

However, Intersport boss Alexander von Preen is particularly concerned about the low-cost competition from Chinese mail order companies such as Shein, Temu and Wish. "Their market power is growing day by day." They are flooding the market with poor, sometimes dangerous products and are not complying with European regulations on supply chains and environmental standards. "Politicians must finally do something about this," demanded von Preen.

Despite the negative consumer sentiment, Intersport retailers generated 5.7 percent more turnover in their 1,400 stores in the 2022/23 financial year (as at the end of September), at 3.5 billion euros. This is 21 percent more than in the pre-corona year 2018/19, emphasized von Preen. Team sports saw the strongest growth at 19%, "and not just soccer", said Geisler. Outdoor equipment accounted for the largest share of sales at almost a quarter. For the years up to 2030, the association expects the German sporting goods market to grow by five percent per year. This would increase industry sales to 19 billion from 13 billion euros, 60 percent of which would then be sold online. Intersport has set itself the goal of increasing its market share to 30 percent from 24 percent, said von Preen.

The insolvency of industry giant Sport-Scheck, the largest Intersport member, does not affect the group. CFO Thomas Storck said that he did not expect any negative effects in the short term. Sport-Scheck was actually supposed to be sold to the British Frasers Group, but was then dragged into the maelstrom of the bankruptcy of its parent company Signa.

Insolvency administrator Axel Bierbach announced on Thursday that a large number of interested parties had submitted offers for Sport-Scheck, including retailers and financial investors from Germany and abroad. The necessary cost reductions are currently being negotiated. Landlords, suppliers and employees in the 34 stores would have to make their contribution. A buyer should be found by early summer at the latest.

(Report by Alexander Hübner, edited by Ralf Banser. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).