Opinion – É Logo Ali: Equipment offer goes from niche to retail

We have already talked about the importance of choosing suitable footwear for each outdoor activity, the difference that a lighter backpack makes, and the precautions that we must observe before going out there and walking around. We even talk about democracy, you see, because not everything that seems simple really is — at least, not all the time. By the way, whoever wants to know what a complication is, just look for a large sports equipment store, like a Decathlon, to get lost in the midst of many thousands of models of boots, papers, tents, backpacks, in short, all a paraphernalia of color products and specially developed to delight the eyes with the promise of ensuring the best experience for your adventure. Even if it only includes going to the nearest square.

French company founded in 1976 in the city of Villeneuve-d’Ascq, Decathlon is the world leader in the sports segment and today has an amazing network of 1,700 stores spread over at least 65 countries. Here in Brazil, according to brand manager Fábio Cedano, there are 45 stores that offer around 7,000 different items for 65 sports. Its capillarity is impressive: no hiker around the world can fail to notice that, with the naked eye, 8 out of 10 hikers use a lot, if not all the equipment they carry off the shelves of their hyper-stores. It’s no small thing.

Although the company does not provide local figures, the most recent balance sheet available on the market reveals that its worldwide profits were barely affected by the pandemic isolation of the potential consumer: the company’s net profit remained practically stable at 550 million euros (R$ 3.3 million). billion) in 2020 from the previous year, and its sales nearly doubled in all countries except China. Online sales jumped from 8% to 19% of the total for the year, reaching 2.2 billion euros (R$ 13.2 billion).

And it was walking through the corridors of Decathlon, for example, that this blogger discovered that there was a difference between men’s and women’s backpacks. And no, it’s not a difference like pink-for-girls and blue-for-boys, this obsession of both there in Brasília. It turns out that, as it is important that the weight support point does not hang from the shoulders, but settles on the hips, the shape of the body determines the ideal model of the backpack. Hashtag, here’s the tip.

As in all consumer segments, the experience of assembling your equipment can be adapted both to the potential of each budget and to the desire to display differentiated brands, as well as to other values ​​that calibrate the conscious choice of those who want to know exactly how it is manufactured and why. who each product that will accompany your journey.

For the group that likes to show that they value people like us, who go there, do and show the process, the company Alto Estilo from Paraná is a great success story.

“When we started climbing, in 1980, there was nothing, we wore sneakers or Kichute”, he says. Chiquinho Hartmann, 54, Founder of High Style. For those who don’t remember or weren’t even born, Kichute was a black sneaker launched by Alpargatas in 1970, which had spikes on the sole imitating soccer shoes. The company probably never imagined it would see its footwear climbing walls, but that’s what it had.

“So, my brother and I started making our backpacks and sleeping bags at home and soon friends started asking me to make them for them, but it was very difficult to get raw materials, only in shoe stores”, continues Chiquinho. , which is a legend of Brazilian mountaineering. After three years with the Werty brand, in 1988 he opened Alto Estilo and moved on.

“The first cargo backpack we made was impossible to complete due to inexperience”, he recalls. With mistakes, he discovered how to make good pieces, which he tested in his backyard — he had gone to live in Anhangava (PR), at the foot of the mountain that became his proving ground. On top of that, potential customers walked through the door to access the coveted trail, enjoying their products and boosting the company. From being a climbing specialist, Alto Estilo has expanded its range of products for trekking and hiking practitioners.

OK, here we go, for the uninitiated: trekking is a journey that takes more than a day and generally requires spending the night in nature, either in a lodge or tent. Hiking, on the other hand, is the one-day day trip, the shortest journey that allows citizens to go, return and even watch the nine o’clock soap opera.

Alto Estilo does not have a physical store. “We already had, but the cost of maintaining a store increases the price of the product a lot”, says the mechanical engineer, 37 years old and 27 years of mountaineering and partner of the company, David Rocha. The solution found to face the growing market was to sell only through the website, and only in Brazil. “We had international demands, especially for the ultra-light backpack, but the shipping and export costs end up making sales unfeasible,” he explains.

Alto Estilo’s great differential, according to Rocha, is “the glaring difference in price compared to the big brands on the market, and the resistance of our products”. He says that, as the trails in more developed countries tend to be wider, the resistance of the materials used in international brands does not always suit the perrengues of Brazilian trails. “There they suffer less from friction with rocks and vegetation”, he adds, “and each biome has its own peculiarities, requiring different equipment”.

Another factor that Rocha highlights is the durability of its products. “We have customers who are proud to say they’ve been using the same backpack for over 15 years, and it’s very much in keeping with our motto, which is ‘designed by the wearer, built to last,'” he explains.

For him, traveling light is a trend that is here to stay. “It’s healthier, saves the body and allows you to go faster and further”, he summarizes.

And he is very right.