Sights on Growth. Ulli Ehrlich is really going for it

Ulli Ehrlich is the sole shareholder of Sportalm Kitzbühel as of 2020. She has assembled a strong team, both in terms of management and the advisory board.

SPORTALM

SIGHTS ON GROWTH

Ulli Ehrlich strives to exploit the enormous potential of Sportalm. She has assembled a powerful team to achieve this.

Text: Stephan Huber. Photos: Sportalm U lli Ehrlich is in an even better mood than one is used to from the Sportalm front woman. The Kitzbühel-based family business is doing really well. This is no coincidence, but the result of entrepreneurial courage and trust in one’s own future. After all, it is not as if the history of Sportalm has always been for fair weather captains only. In 1989, Ehrlich was handed shares and responsibility by her father Willi at a very young age. In the years that followed, Ehrlich had to face challenges that would probably have brought less strong and less self-contained characters to their knees more than once. The fivefold mother, however, faced each of these challenges and used each one to grow.

Growth is the stated goal. Ehrlich is firmly convinced of the brand’s enormous potential

Alexander Gedat (l) and Norbert Lock (r) are part of the new advisory board.

and is determined to exploit it. In order to achieve this, a number of significant steps have been taken. First things first: In 2020, Ehrlich acquired all the shares held by her father and sister, meaning she now runs Sportalm as sole shareholder. Ehrlich: “That was a huge step, not least on an emotional level. It was always important for my father to hand over the company in a healthy, sustainable condition. So the timing was perfect.” Some major investments, for example in the headquarters in Kitzbühel, have been realised successfully. The high equity ratio allows the company to continue to act autonomously in the coming years. It was important to Ehrlich to create modern and effective decision-making structures. “I am fully aware that we operate in a highly competitive, globalised market,” says Ehrlich, explaining the challenge. “Our business has become very complex. If we want to grow sustainably, then this can only be achieved with a strong team that covers all areas relevant to success.”

COMPETENCE AND EXPERIENCE

A great deal has already been achieved in this respect. Above all, the appointment of the new Advisory Board is a clear signal. In addition to Willi Ehrlich, Sportalm managed to convince Alexander Gedat, a former CEO of Marc O’Polo, and Norbert Lock, who shaped the success story of Marc Cain. Most recently, Lock acted as Managing Director of Sales. Ulli Ehrlich: “This adds an enormous amount of competence and experience to the company. I believe the fact that we managed to convince two such experts is proof of our potential.” Caterina Casciaro is the new Head of Product. Given her history as a long-standing Head of Premium Products at Alba Moda, she brings valuable market know-how to the table. Peter Kamuf is now responsible for procurement and logistics, while Dirk Pracel, the new Head of Sales, gained valuable experience at Napapjri and VF Corporation. Karl Stefanitsch from Salzburg is tasked to take care of finances. For Ehrlich, such a strong team enables her to assume her responsibility as currently sole managing director for her most important role, the development of vision and strategy. “Currently, we generate 60 percent of our sales with fashion, 30 percent with skiwear. I see great opportunities in these two areas. We just need to seize them.” This means, on the one hand, consciously cultivating the fashion highlights typical of Sportalm, but also adopting a stronger look and thus reducing the dependence on individual parts. The entry-level price structures are also being reconfigured. What Sportalm can rely on self-confidently is an exceptionally good standing with the target group. Ehrlich: “This trust on the part of customers is an invaluable privilege. This experience has been particularly rewarding, most recently in the case of our swimwear.” Initially merely tolerated as the boss’ little pet project, the elegant swimwear was suddenly the bestseller at Breuninger. “Swimwear is a very personal – almost intimate topic – for women. Apparently, we succeeded in implementing it sensitively and fashionably.” Sportalm’s own retail operations are to be expanded cautiously. It is all about location and, as in Munich, finding the right partner. In the Bavarian capital, Sportalm has teamed up with Lodenfrey. A flagship store in a particularly prominent location in Salzburg is about to follow suit. The premium and luxury market is the focus of the brand’s skiwear ambitions. “A look at the international development of skiing, both in terms of quantity and experience quality, makes me more than confident about Sportalm Kitzbühel,” says Ehrlich, emphasising the brand’s roots in one of the most iconic locations of the ski and winter sports circus with a confident smile. A successful sport pop-up for KaDeWe in Berlin indicates the direction. The aim is to impress the absolute elite of retail, such as Net-a-Porter and Matches Fashion, with ski competence. Ehrlich: “We have set ourselves ambitious goals, but we are in an excellent position to achieve them.”

“The trust on the part of customers is an invaluable privilege,” says Ulli Ehrlich about her brand. A new chief designer is to facil- itate the ambitious growth course on the product side.