Mr. Zeitz: The company was founded in 1948 when the Dassler Brothers Company split into two separate entities: PUMA and Adidas. Since then, PUMA has helped to define the sporting goods industry. Today, the company is a global operation, generating over one billion Euros in global brand sales and roughly 600 million Euros in consolidated sales.
TWST: How would you define the core focus? Which areas of sporting goods do you specialize in?
Mr. Zeitz: The core focus is footwear, apparel and accessories. Footwear currently accounts for the majority of the sales. More specifically, apparel approximately 28 percent, accessories 8 percent, and footwear comprises the rest, but we believe that there is significant growth potential for PUMA, as the brand has always been a successful contender in all three segments.
TWST: How do you define the competitive landscape today?
Mr. Zeitz: Obviously, the traditional sports brands are our competitors, but in today's world lifestyle and fashion also play an important role. Therefore we have to consider other competitors like Diesel or Billabong for example. Fashion companies no longer work exclusively in the fashion arena. Their influence now spans sports and lifestyle products as well. I think it is a broad spectrum and our consumer ultimately looks at all of these areas, so we can no longer just consider our competition as being the traditional sports brands. It has moved beyond that.
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