Leading Swiss retailer, Migros, which is more commonly known in Europe for its grocery supermarkets, is reported to be planning an expansion of its SportXX specialty outdoor, sports and fitness store format over the next few months.
Since its first opening in 1999, the specialist retailer has grown to 52 SportXX branches. 2008 saw the launch of Outdoor by SportXX; and 2011 added Ryffel Running by SportXX. The online SportXX store focuses on ‘great deals as well as expertise and information’ and free parcel delivery within 48 hours is guaranteed.
The expansion plan sees the opening of larger selling spaces in existing SportXX outlets – with a focus on outdoor sports. The retail footprint for this expansion is understood to be between 320m² and 450m².
Migros had already opened three outdoor departments in its more general SportXX stores before the summer got under way; a further Outdoor by SportXX was added in August, and eight more are reported to be scheduled for opening across Switzerland this autumn/fall.
Migros is implementing its specialty store within a store concept, which it also applied to Ryffel, the running store chain it acquired in 2011. The Ryffel store format, named after former Swiss long-distance runner and Olympic silver medalist Markus Ryffel, is now equally integrated in SportXX stores across the country.
