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PartnerNews | The Sport Conrad story

True skiing since 1897

by PowderGuide • 12/01/2023

The shop window of the Sport Conrad store in Penzberg in 1967

Dear PowderGuide Community, today we would like to introduce you to our new partner; Sport Conrad. We are very proud of it and there is a lot to tell. Sport Conrad is the largest online ski retailer in Europe, but comes from a family business that has been convincing with its craftsmanship and advice for 128 years and has always been one step ahead of its time.

ADVERTISEMENT // This article is part of an advertising partnership between Engelberg-Titlis and PowderGuide // ADVERTISEMENT

True skiing - that's what Sport Conrad stands for. And yet, strictly speaking, this statement is a little far out of the window, even if the famous "two boards" are at the centre of it. The Sport Conrad story actually began with shoes, or more precisely with a shoemaker's workshop in St. Johannisrain in Upper Bavaria, which later became Penzberg.

Company founder Hans Conrad registered his shoemaking business in 1897. His grandson Dieter Conrad turned the shoe shop into a sports shop and, as an enthusiastic ski racer, opened the first ski department in 1958. Since then, the Conrad family has been passionate about skiing across generations and has turned a small shop into one of the largest ski retailers in Europe. How do you do that? With passion, hard work, a bit of luck here and there, a feel for trends and an open ear for the needs of customers.

Hans Conrad Senior, then still a cobbler.

©Sport Conrad

From boots to skis

But how did the Conrad family come to love skis? Dieter Conrad's luck was that his children knew nothing about shoes. So he was more or less forced to turn the shoe shop into a sports shop. Dieter Conrad can't help but remark that his ski-mad son Hans loved to come into the shop every morning with touring skis.

However, entrepreneurial success rarely happens by itself. It also requires the right instinct. The fourth generation, with son Hans Conrad and daughter Christina Linder, had the right instinct: Hans Conrad worked in the USA at the end of the 1980s and brought the concept of the outdoor shop with him from there. At the time, this was a novelty in Germany and laid the foundation for today's Sport Conrad range. In 1998, Christina Linder and Hans Conrad took over the management of the company alongside their father Dieter.

You are online: From shop to multichannel retailer

Further good fortune was added at the end of the 90s when Sport Conrad entered online retail at an early stage on the advice of a service provider - of course, the online shop of that time cannot be compared with the one of today. The potential of online retail was recognised at Conrad at the latest when a model that had previously been unsaleable locally, the Völkl Gotama in length 170, became a hit in the USA and over 100 pairs of skis were sold in one night. It was the product range specialising in ski touring and freeriding that made the Sport Conrad webshop famous worldwide. In 1990, the catchment area of the Sport Conrad shops was only around 100 kilometres, but since 1999 they have been shipping worldwide.

The feedback from customers in the stores and the expertise of the employees is also incorporated into the further development and consultation of the online store.

©Sport Conrad

Today: Over a million possible combinations

Today, customers can choose from over a million combinations of touring or freeride skis + bindings + boots. In addition to the top brands in the industry, there are also small ski manufacturers and brands that have impressed with innovative technologies.

It was the online shop that made it possible to offer customers such a wide range of products. Has Sport Conrad moved away from its customers as a result? No. Quite the opposite: the heart of Sport Conrad is still the shops in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. In the Sport Conrad shops in Wielenbach, Penzberg and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, mountain sports enthusiasts can meet customer advisors who share their love of outdoor sports in over 5,000 square metres of sales space. Here, they talk shop about the latest touring bindings or airbag technology and offer advice with plenty of expertise. We wanted to see for ourselves and paid a visit to Sport Conrad in Penzberg to ask the guys and girls a few questions. We'll tell you what came out of it next time! But this much in advance: good service and competent advice is a top priority at Sport Conrad. Although Sport Conrad now has over 200 employees from 19 countries, Hans Conrad is still regularly in the shop. This not only grounds him, but also gives him the necessary knowledge of what customers want and what questions they have. The feedback from there then helps them again with webshop customers: Here, they provide digital advice in the form of videos and articles. Bonus: Configuration guides lead you step by step to your customised setup.

The advisory expertise is complemented by a wide range of services such as boot fitting, ski preparation, bicycle repair and the production of customised insoles. There is no such thing as "doesn't fit".

The storage system holds over a million combinations of touring or freeride skis + bindings + boots. The storage is space-efficient and energy-saving.

©Sport Conrad

Community is key: Events & testing opportunities

Who likes to buy a pig in a poke? That's why Sport Conrad regularly offers the opportunity to test the latest equipment in collaboration with manufacturers and other partners. These include major events such as the AlpenTestival in Garmisch-Partenkirchen or the ALPIN Tiefschneetage, which will take place again in Fieberbrunn at the beginning of March 2024 after a coronavirus break this winter. With the Splitboard Festival, tour-oriented snowboarders will get their money's worth at Lake Achensee at the beginning of January 2024. The focus is on sport with like-minded people. This is also possible at weekly pub runs and bike rides in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Wielenbach and is intended to motivate people to go running, biking and ski touring together. In addition, Sport Conrad and its partner brands organise events on the topics of avalanche safety and safety on the mountain - mostly free of charge. Interested parties can find information on the Sport Conrad website and on social media.

New storage system: more environmentally friendly & faster

The Upper Bavarian retailer has invested in the future by building a new warehouse. This also has great advantages for customers. Since August 2023, parcels have been leaving the warehouse much faster. The reason: 16 robots now do the work fully automatically, which was previously mainly done by hand. The AutoStore storage system is not only faster, but also extremely efficient. In one hour of operation, a robot consumes just as much energy as a standard hoover. You have to beat that...!

Another practical feature is that the warehouse does not need to be lit or heated. And the newly installed photovoltaic system on the roof of the warehouse supplies the entire system with green electricity. Surplus electricity is fed into the local grid. An additional win-win situation: a packaging machine optimises the parcel sizes - so less "air" is sent around the world, because the transport space of the shipping service providers is better utilised and the parcels reach customers faster. Woohoo!

The newly installed photovoltaic system on the roof of the warehouse supplies the entire system with green electricity.

©Sport Conrad

"Wir Denken Um" & the Roadmap 2030 - here's what's next

The "Wir denken um" [we are rethinking] sustainability initiative launched in 2018 is also a matter for the boss. Brands such as VAUDE and Patagonia are role models. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard in particular has repeatedly impressed Hans Conrad with his approaches and ideas.

At first, its goals seemed intangible, but step by step Sport Conrad has developed in the same direction. Their goal is to be the most sustainable outdoor retailer in the Alpine region with Alpine products. Despite their passion for change, they are also aware that it is a daily balancing act between consumption and responsibility for future generations. Of course, the transformation can only succeed as a team. That's why Sport Conrad has cross-departmental employees who are involved in the so-called WDU team, identify problems and find solutions together.

In order to gradually become more environmentally friendly, Sport Conrad first carried out a materiality analysis and, based on this, drew up a Roadmap 2030. Since then, many adjustments have been made. These include, for example, a support programme for more environmentally friendly mobility for employees, electricity-saving measures in the shops and offices and the discontinuation of the Sport Conrad catalogue, which is considered iconic in skiing circles, with the last issue in spring/summer 2023. The catalogue was responsible for a third of CO2 emissions. In future, they want to inspire with the Conrad Magazine, which is available online or in limited editions in the shops.

The "WIR DENKEN UM" campaign was launched by Sport Conrad in 2018 and aims to become the most sustainable outdoor retailer in the Alpine region

©Sport Conrad

Another lever for consistently acting more responsibly is the reorganisation of the product range. With the "Wir Denken Um" [we are rethinking] label, they have introduced an assessment process for brands and products. At regular intervals, they survey their brand partners on product and company-related criteria. “WIR DENKEN UM” Brands take responsibility in their supply chain, pursue responsible purchasing practices and pay attention to fair working conditions in their production facilities. They produce in an environmentally friendly manner, save energy and resources, have short transport routes and use packaging sparingly. They also use clothing, equipment and shoes made from recycled or renewable raw materials.

They label innovative products in their shops and online shop with the "WIR DENKEN UM" logo. Their aim is for 70 per cent of their textile range to consist of more sustainable products by 2025 (90 per cent by 2030) and 40 per cent of their hard goods range (70 per cent by 2030).

However, the most sustainable product is the one you already own. That's why they offer repairs in their shops and provide care tips to extend the lifespan of products. Another step is their second-hand concept NOMOI: used outdoor clothing is given a second life in their shops - which is easy on the wallet and our resources!

You can find more about Sport Conrad online:
https://www.sport-conrad.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sportconrad/

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