Rossignol Group, a company review
Plus outdoor brands financial performance & benchmarking report
Welcome, outdoors ‘crowd’, and thanks for reading.
Firstly, it’d really help if you could forward this email to anyone or any group you think might be interested. And if the email was forwarded to you, you can sign up for our free weekly Deep Dive here. We’re thrilled to announce that our little outdoors industry newsletter is now up to 3,100 subscribers with our average open rate increasing to 48%…thank you.
In today’s chapter, number 21
2,300 words, 10 minute read
Rossignol Skis - a review
In prepping for this review, I watched a few documentaries on Rossignol, so that I could get a feel for the company. And I read, as I do. I’m intrigued. Let me start at the very start. In fact, let’s go back to the start of…..skiing!
The physical act of skiing (albeit very different) can actually be traced back to the last Ice age, approximately 100,000 years ago, through cave drawings found in Asia. However the oldest skis were allegedly found in Russia, dating back to about 8000 BC, and they were about 2m long and made of horsehair. So, when we talk about pioneers of skiing, we need to make sure we think relatively! And so the more recent ‘evolution’ of skiing into what resembles what it is today began in the 1700’s, when the Norwegian military used it during activities (Nordic). Indeed, the modern biathlon has its origins here. In 1809 Olaf Rye pioneered ski jumping. and completed the first Ski-jump of 9.5m.
By the mid 1800’s modern day downhill or alpine skiing had begun to take hold.
“Do you think it’s possible to jump on skis over our rooftop, Eivind?” he asked his brother.
“Don’t think so, Sondre.”
"Let’s give it a go!”
‘So the two boys took a ladder, connected it from the roof to the hillside behind the house, and then covered it with planks, spruce sprigs and snow. “Here I go!”, Sondre shouted from the hill before he set off. Inside the cottage Anne and Auver heard this mysterious noise from the roof, ran to the window and leaned out to see Sondre wildly jumping from their own cottage roof.’
Sondre Norheim was born in Norway in 1825 and immigrated to the United States in 1884. He is world renown as the “father of modern day skiing”. Sondre was reputedly a modest man, so even his neighbors in North Dakota didn’t know that his name was legendary in Norway. Norheim invented a new ski binding and introduced the Telemark and Christiania turns to the sport.
Let’s fast forward to 1907 when a carpenter in his workshop in Voiron, Isère, made his very first pair of wooden skis. Abel Rossignol was more used to building wooden parts for the textile industry but he was pivoting! In this case he was making the ash skis upon request from the military. We get a key insight from this time. Rossignol was obviously very passionate and meticulous about his work. He took a trip to Norway to study their production methods which was no mean feat in those days. I’m sure he was savvy enough to know that it would probably save him from making early day mistakes.
Right from day one, athletes with Rossignol skis began to rake up the medals, beginning in Chamonix in 1908 and culminating in many Olympic and world cup podiums. As a businessman, I’d imagine that Rossignol became fiercely interested in the opportunity to become a pioneer here. He was also an inventor and loved to tinker. So it’s no surprise that he next pioneered the manufacture of laminated (layered) skis. By splitting and re-bonding, he was able to manufacture pairs of skis that were more flexible again, and better maintained their shape over time. He went on to patent these types of skis in 1939 and these became the legendary Olympic 41. This ski was used by a cross section of people ranging from beginners to champions such as Henri Oreiller, who became the first French Olympic champion in history, in 1948, on Olympic 41’s.
1936 had also been a red letter year as it involved crafting what is reputed to be the very first sponsorship deal between a brand - Rossignol, and a racer - Emille Allais. What’s noticeable here is the huge input that the athlete had in the manufacture of the skis. It was more of a collaboration than anything, which I see as a great way to develop a product. It was fruitful as Allais went on to become a world champion. Having watched Allais speak of his skis from that period, you can see immediately that he was a craftsman himself and took as much pride in the skis as he did in the skiing., speaking about how he and a woodworker removed a little more wood, to make them even more flexible.
The first major storm clouds appeared in 1956. You have to remember that skis were only one part of the company’s business at that time, and supplying the textile industry was still its core competency. By this time that industry was in complete transition towards the east, and Rossignol felt the pain. Emille Allais was still working as a consultant to the brand at that time, and he brought in a young man to help. This man was Laurent Bois-Vives, whom he had met when working as technical director at the French Ski resort of Courchevel. And this was a key intervention.
He went on to purchase the company at the tender age of 29. Bois-Villes speaks of seeing a file on ‘metal skis’ and this was where he first saw the huge opportunity through further innovation of these. And indeed he was right. The Allais 60 was eventually born, and it’s safe to say that they changed skiing.?At the Squaw Valley Olympic Games, the French skier Jean Vuarnet won a gold medal wearing a pair of “Allais 60”, the very first metal skis. Rossignol thus opened a new era in technology in ski competitions. The skis were a phenomenal success and the factory was unable to keep up with success. Bois-Vives cited this as an important lesson. Be ready to strike with manufacturing, while the iron is hot. And learn he did.
Continuing in its momentum, a few years later in 1964, Rossignol designed its first pair of skis in fiberglass. These became the legendary Strato. This ski has helped several generations of skiers to win gold medals, and it became the first ski to sell over a million pairs. A key takeaway from this period was the quality of people working in the company. Bois-Vives surrounded himself with top notch, and crucially loyal people such as designer Roger Abondance This ensured he was able to keep the talent and knowledge in-house. Rossignol also boasts many employees who spend their full careers with the company. Rossignol was their life. An amazing tribute to Bois-Vives - when he took over, Rossignol made 8,000 pairs of skis a year. By the time he left, in 2005, they were making 8,000 pairs a day.
In 1967 Rossignol purchased the Dynastar ski factory founded four years earlier in Sallanches, Haute-Savoie. In the 1970s, Rossignol had set up a distribution company in the U.S., launching its first Nordic skis, and soon became the world's largest ski manufacturer. At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Rossignol triumphed, winning six out of 10 gold medals in alpine events. In 1990, Rossignol acquired the Caber boot factory in Italy and rebranded the product under the Rossignol label (Rossignol already controlled the Lange ski boot brand). The company also acquired the Geze and Look ski-bindings ranges, rebranding Geze. It soon moved into snowboards and mountain clothing.
领英推荐
Bois-Vives also pioneered the ski manufacturers’ pool, which included a 600 franc a month stipend, which helped a lot of racers to stay in the sort. It was also a way to stay relevant with talented up and coming stars, and a way to ensure the product was always improving based on feedback from the pros. Rossignol backed a young Italian skier named Alberto Tomba from the age of 12 - and he repaid their confidence in spades. Tomba won three Olympic gold medals, two World Championships, and nine World Cup season titles: four in slalom, four in giant slalom, and one overall title. He never left their skis. The crystal globe is an award that is given to the manufacturer with the highest overall ranking - Rossignol won it seven years in a row around that time, in the 90’s.
When Bois-Vives stepped down, he sold it to Quiksilver, this change coincided with a really tough environment when the skiing business was hit by a triple whammy of recession, unpredictable weather and a change in consumer habits.
The company had struggled with seasonal factors — one of the warmest winters on record in 2005-2006 hit Rossignol hard — and more permanent changes. In seven years, the number of skis sold globally has halved as skiers favor renting. Plus, the new owners never really invested in Rossignol beyond the purchase, and the company nearly went into bankruptcy for a second time. Quiksilver & Rossignol was an uneasy combination from the start. They just didn’t get the snow business.
Enter one Bruno Cercley. He had worked there before under Bois-Vives, but left when Quiksilver took over. Once he found out they wanted to sell again, he bought the company back in 2008 with the backing of US and Australian financiers. Quiksilver had paid the Bois-Vives family around $320 million, and sold two years later $147 million (to the Chartreuse & Mont Blanc entity, which is majority owned by Macquarie Group from Australia and headed by Cercley)
Slashing payrolls and cutting in half the number of products available under the Rossignol, Dynastar, Lange and Look brands eventually returned the company to profitability. Also key to Cercley's turnaround plan was greater attention to the company's main ski business, contracting out textile and clothing and bringing large amounts of core production back to France from Asia.
In the fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2009, the company reported a negative EBITDA — or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — of €42 million ($63 million) on revenue of €250 million, but returned to around breakeven the following year.
Bruno Cercley handed over the day-to-day running to Vincent Wauters (previously of Hunter Boots and Amer) in 2020, although he remains as Chair of the supervisory board. And the ship is well and truly sailing with Fair Winds and Following Seas.
From its group website:
“After a strong rebound in the 2021-2022 financial year (€313 million in revenue), the Rossignol Group recorded very strong growth in its activities for the 2022-2023 financial year, up 28%, with €401 million in revenue (as of March 31st, 2023). The Group is driven by its product expertise, competitive success, the successful diversification of its offer and its commitment to sustainable development. By 2026, Rossignol plans to generate close to 30% of its business through its clothing and footwear offer and to continue to open up all-seasons and mountain multi-activity. The Group also aims to develop one third of its ski ranges within a circular economy approach by 2028………In November 2022, the Rossignol Group announced its intention to achieve €500 million in revenue in 2026, while deploying its environmental and social commitments through its Ascension 2026 strategic plan. The main thrust of this plan is to reconcile qualitative growth, industrial performance and a more sustainable approach.”
So, what can we hear here? Product and innovation trumps all. The company’s grasp of material technology was ahead of its time. One cannot stay static while competitors advance. Plus, different verticals in the outdoors industry have very, very different nuances. Summer vs winter, hard goods vs soft goods, North America vs Europe. So we must strive to know our market and our customers better than they know themselves. That enables us to innovate accurately for our customers needs.
?
Poll feedback and plans
Thanks to everyone for replies in various polls over the last few weeks. In light of that feedback, we’ll be starting a community for outdoors professionals when we hit 6,000 subscribers - so double what we’re at right now (so please share!). It’ll most likely be on the platform Circle. I’m testing it at the moment. Slack and other were also considered, but Circle seems to be the most user friendly for our purpose. This is somewhere we can interact on specific subjects and verticals.
We’re also considering the possibility of summary emails and more detailed emails separately, as well as a possible monthly video on YouTube to discuss that month’s industry news. This will be a Q4 project, but it’s very much in the pipeline. I just want to make sure that you, as a subscriber, get the max value add possible. Watch this space.
?
Outdoor Brands Financial Report
We’ll delve into this in much more detail next week, but here are some key insights from the Outdoor Industry Association benchmarking report:
The report is much more detailed. but interesting to see the above. I think we have to remember that this is 46 outdoors brands only, so we have to be careful and to consider there may be a bias, but interesting none the less. To be frank, most outdoors brands can only dream of 11.9% profits before tax. So, we’ll drill into this much more next week.
As usual, thanks for reading, and I hope you find value in the newsletter. If you do, please share. It helps a lot. Please feel free to reach out directly with any thoughts or feedback at [email protected].
Happy camping, from here in Ireland.
Until next week, and chapter 22, Go n-éirí leat!
Derek.
Love this, Derek O'Sullivan! ????