The German-speaking countries are the most important market for 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 capitalising on the growing popularity of US sports in
Germany and is also using events such as the National Football League (NFL)
games in Frankfurt to drum up publicity. In addition to a centrally located
pop-up store, the brand from Buffalo, New York was also represented as the
official headwear licence holder at two games in November. New Era caps
were sported by athletes on the sidelines as well as numerous fans in and
around the stadium.
FashionUnited used the sports event 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.
store in Frankfurt. Credits: New Era
For brick and mortar stores, you are currently focussing on
shop-in-shops and pop-ups in Germany. What is your current distribution
strategy?
A major focus is the optimisation of New Era sales areas at our
retailers. 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 cooperation with our retailers.
We realised early on that the presentation of our main product category,
caps, is extremely important for sales. In EMEA, caps are presented in the
classic way, 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 optimised the sales areas, sales have grown disproportionately.
Credits: New Era
Why is there no German flagship store any more?
We are currently focussing on our wholesale business and our online
shop. Apart from our very successful store in London, there are currently
no plans for another flagship store in EMEA. However, this strategy could
change again in the long term.
With retail partners such as Snipes and Kickz, you already have a
strong presence in stationary stores. Are you planning to expand this
presence even further?
We are focussing 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 enable us to focus
even more on our strong retail partners.
In the DACH region and in Denmark, we have a presence of over 1,500
points of sale. Snipes is now a Europe-wide key account with which we have
had a partnership for almost 25 years. Not only our proximity to Cologne,
but also the same end consumers connect us.
You are also planning to introduce a new store concept in 2024. How
will this be different?
In contrast to our current concept, which is quite dark and strongly
inspired by ‘US Sport Heritage’, the new store concept will be very clean,
modern and in line with today’s trends. It has even greater modular
capabilities and the product is placed even more in the centre of attention.
The integration of campaign images is also more diverse and much more
effective than before. We look forward to equipping the first stores with
them. We are already planning four premium locations for early 2024.
Credits: New Era
The German online shop achieved a year-on-year increase in sales of
almost 50 percent. What results do you expect for this financial year?
2023 will also be another record year for New Era in the DACH and EMEA
regions. As times are not easy at the moment, 2024 will be an interesting
year for everyone. But even in view of this challenge as a brand, we are
looking positively into the future. As the market leader, it is important
for us to keep introducing new products and trends to the market.
Especially in our fast-growing online shop, new products achieve excellent
results.
What other European markets are particularly strong?
Our main markets with direct sales in Italy, Spain, the UK and France
all had a fantastic year. The prospects for 2024 are also very good there.
We are represented by a very good distribution network in the rest of EMEA
and are also seeing good growth there.
Denmark is a great success story, which my team added to our portfolio
two years ago. In Copenhagen in particular, we are represented in many
beautiful shops.
US leagues are important licence partners for New Era, but also a few
European teams. German teams are currently not among them…
We have a different concept in the DACH region so far. We work with a
large number of Bundesliga clubs and brands, but not under licence. We act
as a manufacturer and supplier here. The distribution of New Era products
is done by the partners themselves.
One of our biggest partners is Red Bull. In addition to the Formula 1
licence, we make products for all other Red Bull sports clubs, as well as
for almost all events and athletes.
Era
Are you planning new collaborations for 2024?
Yes, there is definitely something planned for 2024, but unfortunately I
can’t say any more than that yet.
You are also planning to further expand the womenswear range in the
coming year. What can we expect?
Womenswear is a completely new category for us. In 2024, we will bring
back our bestsellers with a new look and expand the collection with some
new silhouettes.
Are you also planning to expand the clothing range in general?
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 styles to the collection. MLB
Heritage is particularly popular at the moment, but our NBA and NFL
collections are also very successful in EMEA. We are paying particular
attention to the New Era Branded collection, in which we showcase our most
innovative items.
What proportion of New Era’s business is apparel?
Apparel now has a share of 24 percent.
Era
This interview was conducted in written format.
This article was originally published on FashionUnited.DE . Edited
and translated by Simone Preuss.
