On 14 and 15 January 2019 in Annecy, the “Annecy ShowRoom Avant Premiere”, ASAP for those in the know, enlightened retailers and brands. Once again this year, ASAP launched a European preview of the new collections for winter 2019/2020. In 2019, 600 professional buyers and retailers were welcomed by 48 outdoor brands in their showrooms or in the meeting area “L’Espace Rencontre”. This myriad of new collections were screened in time for when they reach the shop windows next winter.
The meeting area has never been so aptly named.
In the heart of the mountains, enthroned on the top of a hill, sits the famous “Parc des Glaisins”, where many outdoor brands are located. During ASAP, the “Espace Rencontre” morphs into an extension, a second heart, increasing the heartbeat of the outdoor textile industry over three days.
Therefore, about 20 brands which are not part of Annecy’s pool of companies, find a cosy place to welcome their retailers over a period of two days. This event constitutes much more than a shop window, it is a moment where retailers have time to research, discuss, compare, learn, and exchange ideas in order to get a feel for their future purchases.
“We’re loyal to the ASAP event because we consider that this event is the event that lends itself best to discovering new product ranges.”
Greg Joly-pottuz – Wood Agency (Wearcolour, Super Natural)
“I think that the parade on Monday at noon is great because we can meet all the retailers; we can exchange ideas about the collections and it gives us a sneak peek at the cute little things offered by certain brands.”
Julianne Grosdidier – Girls Up
“We liked this way of presenting the collections to the retailers.”
Jean Jacques Wroblewski – Degrés 7 / Duvillard
An archipelago of showrooms.
26 of the brands established in “Parc des Glaisins” or in “Parc d’Altaïs” have opened the doors of their showrooms and unveiled their new collections. In so doing, they met established or potential clients in one single day, such as the figure Jean Jacques Wrowblewski: “we met 80 retailers over these two days. This is a figure that has remained constant for several years and which we are delighted with.”
A parade of beautiful outfits, with a high profile.
A new phenomenon for 2019, the parade, starting at 12:30, swapped the excitement at night for daytime professionalism and took place in front of a tightly packed and attentive crowd. 45 brands, 109 outfits and 18 models displaying all with their show walks and choreographies. This new approach stimulated visits to the showrooms and stands.
The “Outdoor Retailer Awards”
The retailers are rewarded for their work at “Tribeca”, in front of the sector’s professionals and in a friendly atmosphere. This is a tribute that, for its second year, has become an obvious choice. The evening went on for part of the night marking the end of a high point before the second day and the rest of the meetings.
The prize-winners are:
- Events: Montaz (La Ravoire)
- Shop organisation: Espace Montagne Grenoble (Saint-Martin d’Hères)
- Business foresight: Snow performances (Clermont Ferrand)
- Sales staff training: Croque Montagne (Saint-Jean-en-Royans)
- Phygital Strategy: Snowleader (Chavanod)
- Jury’s Special prize: PLP Sports (Val Thorens)
ASAP 2019 in 5 numbers
- 600 visitors
- 294 shops
- 48 brands
- 18 models
- 109 outfits on the parade
Press contact
Florence PEZET-BERTRAND Tel : +33 (0)4.58 58 23 04 – florence@sportair.fr (Photos)
Next meeting B to B Sportair
SPORT-ACHAT HIVER, Lyon EUREXPO, 11-12-13 March 2019
TESTIMONIALS ASAP 2019
Present at the “Espace Rencontre”
Charlotte Halgrain – UYN and PHENIX – Company N STEP
It seems to me that there are more people here than last year. We started at 9:00 AM with a wonderful group of clients which was great. When we presented UYN for the first time in 2018 in the meeting area “l’Espace Rencontre”, we had no showroom. This year we have added PHENIX to our portfolio and we have a showroom next door in the Glaisins, rue du Buloz plus a presence in the meeting area. This is the perfect arrangement – it allows us to do a fast presentation with a minimalist booth at the “Espace Rencontre” and leave the showroom with the complete collections for the meetings to discuss the orders with all the time needed and the calm necessary for placing orders.
The parade at 12:30 helped to generate traffic and to show the models being worn – it was great!
Gregory Joly-Pottuz –WearColour and Super Natural –Wood Agency company
We are very satisfied with the launch. The question of whether we should be at ASAP has not arisen for a few reasons. There are not many shows in France for winter sports that allow us to introduce our brands and collections at the right time, and, moreover, especially for us since we are putting emerging brands on the French market. We are realistic: if we organized private events, we would not attract the huge crowds we hope to attract. At ASAP, we benefit from the traffic generated by the event to promote our brands and products. The amount of traffic has been excellent this morning, and that is undoubtedly linked to the parade. The reception has been good for WearColour and Super Natural, which are the two brands that we are presenting here. That’s really encouraging.
I find the show is more qualitative. Is there a bit more space? Perhaps our location is better, same for our brands? We expect to draw in the crowds on Tuesday.
Sébastien Coulon, commercial agent for the brand Anzi Besson
Anzi Besson which was in dormant in France has come back stronger than ever with a legendary collection that we are presenting at ASAP. The overall impressions of the show is good. There is a lot of traffic. People are interested by innovation, the trend is positive and everybody appreciates what we present.
Showrooms at rue du Buloz
Patrick Blary – Haglöfs – subsidiary in France.
We did not present with Haglöfs in 2018 because the complete picture, the budget cost and the parade did not fit with the DNA of the brand and all the traffic was concentrated on the Espace Rencontre and the Scott Center. After mentioning our expectations to the organizer…1) the ability to generate traffic, 2) a format more in line with the technicality of our products and our strengths, we are back for this year’s 2019 edition. There are several reasons for this, including an awareness of the industry.
The change with a parade at noon is interesting. The parade was well done, the format was dynamic, and if we put ourselves in the shoes of a retailer it was great. The evening with the Awards presentation allows everyone to meet again in the same place and to network. That’s what we expect from the Outdoor industry.
In order to create traffic, with the brands in the building, we thought of an animation in the form of an interactive game with our visitors. We also discussed the idea of a food truck with the organizer which would be located just in front of the building. It is still a bit early to draw conclusions at midday, but there was some traffic.
Camille Jaccoux, cofounder of Black Crows
It is the first time I’ve been to ASAP and I am happy to be here. It is good that there is an event in France quite early, before ISPO and SIA, and which is focused on the textile industry. I find that quite exciting. We are unveiling our collection to the “general public” for the first time here. We are still a “young brand” in the textile industry, so for us it is important to have our initial feedback from France. Unlike other shows, ASAP is focused on one single family of products, it’s quite intimate and that works well. We see what other showrooms do, we talk among ourselves, and it’s interesting.
I went to the parade which I had never seen before; next year we’ll try to get more involved.
Lydie Lanza for Peak Performance
We are back at ASAP this year. The first morning was a bit quiet because the shops went to the “Espace Rencontre” first, but this afternoon after the parade, there was a big turnout in the showrooms and it was really great. The fact that we missed the event last year made us realize that we really need to come back to ASAP. It is an event that is made for us, brands and for retailers. We need to continue along these lines and participate. We should all be on the same wavelength.
With Häglofs and Black Crows, we had decided to offer a full outfit (Peak Performance jacket, Häglofs trousers and Black Crows skis) to the winner of our contest. This is an original idea to boost our hub.
For the future of the shops, it is important to show them that we are present, that we are investing in the event. Opening our showroom to them and unveiling our collections before ISPO enables us to set up as many appointments as possible just afterwards.
Showrooms at rue du Pré Paillard
Gregory Loviton, sales director commercial of Picture for the French market
We are pretty satisfied with the start of the first day, and it seems to me that attendance is better than in 2018. The timing is a bit different this year with the parade between 12:00 and 14:00. The morning was a bit quieter, but the retailers suddenly converged on the showrooms after the parade.
Postponing the show to noon works well. The brands just need to adapt to manage the resulting influx. Indeed, with 4 sales representatives, there were almost not enough of us to manage the early afternoon rush and welcome all the visitors properly.
We saw many people: existing customers but also potential customers.
Participating in ASAP is not a question for us; it is always great. It allows our retailers to come and see our collections. It enables us to touch base, to set up appointments for taking orders, but also to test the waters, to see the trends and the strength of other collections.
Noémie Personnaz for Colmar and Elevenate – Sunset distribution
In the same showroom, we are presenting Colmar, a long-time customer of Sportair and of ASAP, and Elevenate whose distribution we have just taken over, and which intrigues visitors. Initial feedback has been positive.
The visitors started with the “Espace Rencontre” before arriving at our showroom. The morning was a little quiet, and the showrooms were deserted during the parade. The parade is still an aim of the show and it was a pity to miss it because it was in the middle of the day and we had chosen to keep the doors open at our showroom during the parade. It breaks up the day, while we have always had plenty of visitors between 12:00 and 14:00 in previous years.
Nicolas Kiffer for J. Lindeberg, general manager of «Plein Nord»
It has become an event which you simply must attend. We have a showroom all year round at the “Glaisins”. It is an extra door that we open and we have to play the game because Sportair has the ability and the will to federate and enable opening at the same time for all, and that’s positive. All the brands need to play the game, but also the retailers, and that’s not always the case.
I am satisfied – ASAP gets the job done. I hope it will last and that this show will attract more and more people, even if it is never very easy.