After the pandemic comes the war. The trade ITALY situation in Germany and SWISS on international markets SPAIN remains very tense. No PORTUGAL one knows what the UK future holds. Gas and oil FRANCE prices are skyrocketing. It really says a lot if you get cheaper petrol in Switzerland than in Germany. We do not intend to go into detail here about what is happening in Ukraine. I think we all agree that what Mr Putin is doing is not right.
GERMANY
The one positive development that has taken place Germany-wide is that finally, since Sunday, 3 April 2022, the obligation to wear a face mask when visiting shops has been lifted. Admittedly, it still feels very strange and it is up to the individual to decide how to deal with the situation. Unfortunately, the number of Covid cases in Germany remains at an all-time high. We all hope that there will be no more shutdowns or other such situations in the future. Meanwhile, the supply chains are once again experiencing disruptions and being put to the test following a new shutdown of the port in Shanghai, one of the most important ports in the world. Should China go into a complete lockdown, we can only hope that there will be no major impact on the supply chains for the remaining summer goods or the autumn and winter goods. In the next German Market Insight we will know more about this. But let’s move on to the good news from this winter: according to the German association of cable cars and ski lifts (VDS), the past winter season can be seen in a positive light. After the standstill caused by Covid last year, most cable car operators are very satisfied. VDS 74
state: “The guests’ excitement and happiness at finally being able to get back on the slopes was huge.” Especially at the beginning of the winter, there had been concerns that Covid would derail yet another season – a fear that was shared by retailers. In the end, however, the season has turned out to be highly successful. Old stock still sold very well, thereby making up to some extent for the lack of sales from last winter. We have spoken to Pryde Group (German distributor to Nidecker, Flow Bindings, Cabrinha, JP Australia, NeilPryde & more)’s Sepp Hass about the season. “It has been a very good season for us until the end of the carnival holidays this year, with revenue really picking up. Furthermore, we have been able to fill 90% of the follow-up orders with fast-moving items that we had in stock.” On the topic of pre-orders, Sepp is buoyant with things back at pre-pandemic levels. However, some of our customers have chosen to discontinue snowboards from the product range.” Swinging back to the positibe news, Nidecker introduced a new easy entry binder: “The new binding has received a very positive response from all sides – everyone who tested it was completely satisfied with its functionality and subsequently placed an order. The popularity of the new binding has by far exceeded expectations in our sales region (Germany/Austria) as well as at NDK int. This is probably also due to the hype around easy-entry bindings.” So how are schedules looking for next winter? “We are perfectly on schedule and expect to be able to deliver in full again by mid- to late September. As regards pre-orders – late orders for smaller quantities are still trickling in – retailers cannot expect a large amount of excess stock for subsequent deliveries during the next season, neither from us nor from Nidecker. It is all pretty tightly planned, except for a few models going through from 22/23 to 23/24.”
