Sport Achat Hiver, Grenoble, France 27-29 January preview

Sport Achat Hiver will be held for the second time at the Alpexpo exhibition centre in Grenoble, following last year’s successful move of the winter show to this new venue.

Grenoble is a great location for a winter show being right in the mountains with its alpine ambiance and enabling quick and easy access to the show by winter sports retailers. This year’s pre-registration indicates that over 4,000 industry personnel will attend with 20,000 square meters of space already booked by 270 exhibitors representing over 500 brands.

Sport-Achat now has the largest collection of winter sports brands of any show in Europe. With almost every snowboard and ski brand exhibiting alongside goggle, helmet and gloves brands and a large choice of outerwear. This will enable retailers to find all they need to make the best selection of brands for their shop, making visiting the show a very efficient use of time. Additionally, the show is now targeting retailers from across Europe, this new strategy has been well received particularly because of the sheer number of brands exhibiting and the show being the final opportunity in Europe to see 25/26 products.

Last year the show was brought forward to the end of January from its traditional date in late March. This successful move took place to ensure the show remained relevant with earlier pre-book deadlines whilst also being the last opportunity to place those prebook orders.

The earlier dates have made the show more attractive amongst both exhibitors and retailers. Mathieu Kurtz of Sportair comments: “Retailers come to the show to meet clothing, ski, snowboard and outdoor suppliers. These face-to-face meetings are the strength of the show. It’s an essential show for media, manufacturers, distributors, agents, retailers, online retail sites, leasing specialists, buying groups, specialised chains and procurement centers.

On the way into the show a giant mood board will highlight the 3 main themes of the show. Created in partnership with Paris Phoenix Studio the mood boards offer selections of products (materials, textiles, accessories, shoes, etc.) on dedicated themes and present Pantone color charts in line with the color trends for next season.  The three mood themes for this edition are Snow & speed «ski time », Connecting to the roots «mountain life» and Tech is the new suit «athleisure/lifestyle». Also near the entrance is the Fresh Zone, dedicated to start-ups featuring companies that are less than 5 years old, giving the opportunity for these new players to present their products at a low cost and make themselves known to a wider audience.

At the entrance to the show Mission Retail Design, a leading Lyon retail design agency from the sports ecosystem, will present “café du retail”, a futuristic concept where visitors can see different kinds of shop furniture and layouts. The visitor will be immersed in the heart of this life-size concept store to inspire them to experiment with their own store layouts.

A merchandiser will be on hand throughout the show to offer visitors workshops on best-practice merchandising. The outdoor repair specialist Goodloop will also be on hand to raise awareness of textile repair and a boot fitting workshop is also planned.

From Monday to Wednesday conferences and seminars will be held in the conference area next to the food trucks. The schedule includes a presentation by the Fresh Zone brands, as well as winter season figures and a conference on the mountains of tomorrow. Additionally, conference partner Sympatex will organise training sessions on their new membrane.

In between your appointments, you can eat in the food truck village within the salon. There’s a wide choice to satisfy all tastes. On Monday evening Sportair invites you at 6.30pm to the traditional Sport Achat evening! With speeches, DJs, and a cocktail and buffet. The following evening, brands will have the opportunity to invite visitors to their booths for an end of the day drink.

Airports in the region include Grenoble, Geneva and Lyon Saint-Exupéry. Grenoble is also well connected by motorway and TGV from both Paris and Marseilles. The show is open from 9am to 7pm Monday and Tuesday and 9am to 6pm Wednesday, so, jump on a plane or get in the car and head to Sport Achat Hiver and feel that collective winter spirit at the last opportunity in Europe to see and order 25/26 products at  the final winter show of the season.