Dusseldorf, Munich After starting as head of Sportscheck last October, Matthias Rucker was on the road a lot. In his first 100 days he visited all 34 branches. The day began with a jog with the workforce, followed by intensive discussions on the sales floor. He then usually went for a walk through the neighborhood to see what the local competition was doing.
Rucker doesn’t have much time to lose. Because he has to master a double challenge: he not only has to lead the leading German sports retailer into the digital future. At the same time, he must integrate the branches of Karstadt Sports under his brand, which, like Sportscheck, belong to the Signa Group of Austrian billionaire René Benko.
Although Rucker previously worked for the Boston Consulting Group, he is not one to run a company with theoretical concepts from the ivory tower. “It was important for me to know what drives the employees on the floor, what are the differences, but also what they have in common,” he says in an interview with the Handelsblatt. “You get a feeling for people there.”
At Sportscheck, there are now town hall meetings with the workforce much more often than before, and Rucker also uses regular video messages to explain to the employees where the company’s restructuring is at and what has already been achieved together. The company is experiencing a “strong culture change,” he says. And the boss has to explain a lot.
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Rucker has one advantage: he is a passionate ultra runner, who just completes a 100-kilometer run around Lake Tegernsee in nine hours on a Sunday in order to be back home with his family in time for coffee. “You can also convey your ideas to employees much more credibly if you have a passion for it,” he says.
Owner René Benko sees sport as a growth market
In a company like Sportscheck, which has so many athletes among its employees, it is important to set an example, he emphasizes. “We will only achieve our goals if our employees live by it,” says Rucker.
However, he does not approach the conversion of Sportscheck as an ultramarathon, but rather in a sprint. Just a month after taking up his post, Rucker had the new strategy approved at a shareholders’ meeting. He has set up 25 projects that are intended to drive the repositioning. “Since then we’ve been in weekly tracking, looking at the progress, deep diving on two projects,” reports Rucker.
When René Benko’s Signa-Holding took over Sportscheck from the Otto Group in March 2020, the astonishment in the industry was great. While his German flagship Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof was struggling to survive, he picked up another brick-and-mortar retailer that has been making losses for years.
But Signa emphasized at the time that there were great future opportunities in the growth market of sport, for which it was worth pooling all your strengths. Initially, it was still planned to continue running Sportscheck and Karstadt Sports as separate companies. But it quickly became clear that only a radical restart with a complete merger could bring about a turning point.
Rucker gets a lot of freedom from the owner Benko. “Within the Signa Group, entrepreneurship is very much alive, you don’t feel like you’re in a group,” reports the Sportscheck boss. “As management, we get the opportunity to act very entrepreneurially.”
Flagship store in Stuttgart is scheduled to open in September
This is being observed very closely in the industry. “Sportscheck has long been the benchmark in German sports retail,” says an industry insider. “Their catalog was the blueprint for many retailers.” But the company lost focus at some point and is “still in a difficult situation” economically.
It is therefore good, said the industry expert, if Sportscheck can now invest again with the help of Benko. However, it remains to be seen whether focusing will also work on the sometimes very large areas.
Rucker wants to prove this in September. Then the first completely renovated flagship store based on a new concept will open in Stuttgart on four floors. “The conception phase is over, we’re starting with the conversion now,” says the Sportscheck boss.
Each of the four floors should be like its own specialist retailer, the ground floor, for example, is fully focused on running, and outdoor and fitness should also have their own floors. “We want to create clarity for our customers.”
The whole thing is to be rounded off with targeted cooperation. There will be a physiotherapy practice right next door. On the upper floor, customers will find workshops for repairing skis and bicycles. With showers and lockers for local running groups, the store aims to be a meeting point for the community.
Sales are expected to increase to well over 400 million euros
Stuttgart should then become a blueprint for the entire branch network. The extensive investments have already been approved. “We want to roll out the new concept to all stores,” says Rucker. A modular model is to be developed that can be adapted to the other locations.
The partners from industry have high hopes for the concept. The reopening of the store in Stuttgart is eagerly awaited, said Puma manager Daniel Pustina to the Handelsblatt. “In our opinion, inspiring consumers not only with products, but also with a wide range of in-patient services such as running and nutritional advice as well as physiotherapy is absolutely the right way,” he says.
But the competition is tough: Even with the most important competitors, the Sport 2000 and Intersport groups, there are numerous dealers who focus on trend sports and revamp their branches accordingly. Intersport, for example, has declared 2022 to be the year of expansion and modernization.
>> Read here: Cut-throat competition in sports retail: Running and outdoor specialists benefit
But Sportscheck doesn’t just rely on the modernized branches. Rucker wants to create a digital ecosystem that goes far beyond mere retail. Events and the company’s own running school are to be advertised via a platform under the Sportscheck brand. “The customer can book the event, the training and the right products such as running shoes and clothing – all in one shopping basket,” says Rucker.
This should increase the retailer’s relevance to the customer – and thus also sales. Last year, Sportscheck made sales of 317 million euros, including Karstadt Sports, half of it online. “In 2025 we want to achieve sales well in excess of 400 million euros,” announces Rucker. That is a very realistic goal.
More: Challenging the competition: sporting goods discounter Decathlon wants to double sales in Germany.