Adidas anticipating major Olympic boost
CEO and chairman at German sportswear firm adidas AG, Herbert Hainer, is hoping that the Olympics will be a particularly lucrative opportunity for the firm.
"The adidas group has excelled in the first half of 2008, achieving double-digit top- and bottom-line growth,” said Mr Hainer at a media round table. “Our business in China was a big contributor to this growth.”
In the first half of 2008, adidas group sales in China increased by more than 60% on a currency-neutral basis. Based on this growth, China will become the second-largest revenue market for the group, after the USA, by the end of the year.
"We are well on track to reach our sales target of more than €1 billion for the adidas Group in China by 2010," Mr Hainer added. "I fully expect our success story in China to continue because the visibility and excitement we will generate for our brands during the Olympic Games will create a halo effect sustaining the momentum of our Group in this market well into the future."
At the end of 2007, the adidas Group operated 4,800 stores in China and is planning to take that number to 5,900 stores in 2008. Brand adidas will operate approximately 5,000 stores compared with 4,000 in 2007, and about 900 brand Reebok stores compared with 800 in 2007, by the end of this year. By 2010 this number is expected to increase to a total of approximately 7,200 stores for the adidas Group, with 6,100 stores for adidas and 1,100 stores for Reebok.
