Sport-Achat double power with Sport Achat Lyon & Sport-Achat Nantes 2 days, 2 shows in 1 place

Since last year the summer Sport-Achat has been shining from east to west in 2 stages, Lyon and Nantes, at 2 days each and one week apart. After a first edition in Nantes in September 2016 with 283 brands, exhibitors are to welcome the second edition of Sport-Achat on the upcoming 18th and 19th September next with aquatic and urban dimensions, which will be mushrooming outdoors, pillar of Sport-Achat shows. A second edition enriched by the presence in parallel of Bikexpo, a show dedicated to the cycling world.

Organised by Sportair, French leader in trade fair and professional sport show organisation (Sport-Achat, ASAP, Ski Test Tour and Snow Avant-Première, Bikexpo) for 15 years, Sport-Achat is the only B to B show in France. It is a gathering of professional buyers, independent retailers and specialised chains with outdoor players in all their variety: trail, running, hiking, climbing, mountaineering, lifestyle, water sports, urban sports, cycling… with almost 300 exhibitors unveiling their spring-summer 2018 collections.

Loyal retailers get together

Sport-Achat has its followers. This is especially true in the case of the Haute Route shops in Paris and Speck Sports in Haut-Rhin, because they haven’t missed a single show. Two retailers and two ways of approaching the show. François Gitti of Haute Route, specialist in summer mountaineering and winter cross-country skiing, is full of Sport-Achat Lyon: “We need to view the products and items in September for pre-selection to be fine-tuned with the representative 15 days or a month later. We basically do not take orders at the show. On our Lyon visits we meet between 3 and 5 suppliers, arriving in the morning and leaving at 15:00”. A different modus operandi for Speck Sports, “we maximise our orders at Sport-Achat over 2 days, so we don’t need to go to showrooms or have representatives come to our shop. It’s a great time-saver”, remarks Sophie Bressan.

2 central towns, 2 characteristics, mountains and ocean, 5 worlds: outdoor, mountains, trail, water and street

– Being near the mountains, Sport-Achat Lyon emphasises mountains, outdoor and trail-running
– Due to its situation beside the sea Sport-Achat Nantes of course stresses water sports with its flagship stand-up paddle, but the show also has a more urban character with a lifestyle dimension.

Spotlight: spring/summer 2018 trends on show at Sport-Achat

Climbing is flavour of the month, and it is now being reinvented through indoor climbing. Black Diamond will showcase its new climbing shoes just like Sportiva who are shaking up the rules with the new Geckogym shoe specially designed for indoor use. A new exhibitor, the French rope manufacturer Cousin Trestec, is seeking by its presence to develop its distribution network and is unveiling its new range of dynamic ropes that are modern, technical and robust.
New entrant Trail & running doesn’t peter out, with products that are lighter and more effective than ever when it comes to textiles, shoes or backpacks.
As for lifestyle, the new French brand Made in Colors is at serious risk of confronting you with a collection of pep’s combining natural substances with pumped-up leaflets, in technical substances in refreshing colours, associated with graphic lace.
Between lifestyle and outdoor, the latest trend is towards “4 seasons” items for multifunction solutions: products designed for open-air sports and convertible to urban ones.

Overview of trends and services

Optimise your visit and save time, is the mantra of the organisers.

In order to scan the trends and innovations rapidly, 4 areas and 4 conferences:

At the show entrance:
– The Summer Awards area highlights the products winning awards at the great international shows.
– The Expo Shoes area unveils it-shoes: climbing, trekking/hiking, lifestyle-relaxation, mountaineering, running and trail-running.
– The Crème fraîche area highlights sports start-ups with potential.

At the conference area:
– 4 conferences with two 30-minute info spots on new products: one focuses on cycling, the other on outdoor.

The brands to (re)discover

Rip Curl, reference brand for water sports, will be at Sport-Achat Nantes. This is the occasion for the brand to showcase its technical ranges and new items. There are lots of them, especially in the fields of wetsuits, board shorts and swimming trunks. Rip Curl also plans to unveil Search GPS and the latest associated watches.
“For technical brand Surf the show in Nantes enables us to rise above the competition. Of course our aim is to take orders and meet prospects”, says Vincent Liets, French Commercial Director. “But it’s also an occasion to see and provide an update on the season with our clients from the North-West and raise the visibility of Rip Curl in this region. Indeed we make use of it to identify trends”.
Hoff, the no 1 distributor in France with a basket of some 80 brands plans to attend Sport-Achat Nantes.
Regarding its presence, the distributor simply replies “the show precisely targets the heart of our clientele. It’s a good way of seeing the main clients of the Brittany region on just a few days and even more because there are no comparable shows in this region enabling us to better showcase our offer to a targeted client base”.
The company was established in 1951, is based in Bayonne and will highlight its main aquatic brands featuring the SUP Ari’i Nui, its own brand, body boards and the Venon Flood long board, also with accessories and the Madness, Ocean Step and Repellor beach lines. Its street wear will be represented by Volta electric scooters and skates and its fashion wear with Cobian shoes, Carve glasses and Pacsafe bags.

New exhibitors at LYON

# Underwear Anita Active, Kuox
# Mountaineering/climbing Cousin Trestec
# Mountain outdoor Sportiva, Martini Sportswear
# Camping – Bivouac – Accessories, Nite Ize, Klean Kanteen, Leatherman, Led Lenser ? Suprabeam, Sog
# Outdoor Darchstein,
# Lifestyle shoes Gumbies
# Textile sportswear Made in Colors, Newland of Italy, Oaks Valley, Soussou Sportswear, 4Fun
# Cross skating Skike

New exhibitors at NANTES

# Underwear Anita Active
# Beachwear Bamboo Des Tropiques, Grain de Sable, Cabaia
# Lifestyle shoes Gumbies
# Textile sportswear J & Joy, Made in Colors, Ragwear, Oaks Valley
# Water sports Gumotex, Bic
# Cross skating Skike
# Insurance Maif

Double dose and 3D picture of the outdoor:

Lyon 11th & 12th September in Eurexpo, 15th edition
Nantes 18th & 19th September in exponantes, 2nd edition

2016 figure

Sport-Achat Lyon – 290 brands – 8,000 m² exhibition space
Sport-Achat Nantes – 283 brands – 3,500 m² exhibition space

Contacts presse

Florence Pezet-Bertrand : +33 (0)4.50.095.095 – 06 72 20 64 73 – florence@sportair.fr – www.sportair.fr
Photos sur demande (Photos Philtyphoto)

Press release Sport-Achat Summer 2017 : Lyon & Nantes