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Portuguese Market Insight: 1 Surf Shop Claiming 250% Growth vs 2020
After the lockdown, Portugal started to reopen the economy in several phases from March 15th. April was an important month for the boardsports industry with the reopening of local surf shops and larger stores. There was fear and uncertainty of a possible Covid fourth wave after Easter that fortunately didn’t hit. The process of getting back to “normal” life is going well and according to plan. But there’s some cities like Lisbon that are registering increasing Covid numbers courtesy of the new Delta variant.
By Nuno Principe
With the borders reopening and regular flights there was an increase in tourism, a key sector of the Portuguese economy. Everything seemed to be going well when the United Kingdom removed Portugal from the green list in early June. This was a huge blow for tourism making thousands to return to the UK to avoid quarantine. Also, there were lots of summer vacation cancellations mainly in the Algarve.
European Commission is indicating that Portugal should grow 3.9% this year below the EU average. The economic recovery will happen stronger next year with a forecast of 5.1% above the EU average. Similar to what happened last year across Europe, demand for hardgoods has been high. Brands and retailers are doing everything they can to find a way to have stock and boost sales trying to recover from the loss they had during lockdown. Raw material and transport higher costs made several brands raise the price of their products meaning customers are having a second thought before buying.
Boardculture Store is a core surf shop established in 2004 in Ericeira that only works with top brands focusing on quality products. As a brand it started making surfboards two years earlier and they opened a second store in Carcavelos in 2008. “Stock deliveries are delayed which makes it impossible to have a medium-term perspective”, said the CEO, Nuno Ribeiro. “We’re analysing the situation every 15 days. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the air. At the beginning of summer, surf camps and hostels in Ericeira have an occupancy of about 50%. But for August, September and October we expect a boom. If the demand is identical to what happened in summer 2020, there will be no stock to satisfy customer demand”, he assures. Besides this he also mentions a different customer behaviour. “After the craziness that happened last summer, customers are making more conscious purchases this year. As some brands have increased the price, this is being reflected on the client’s behaviour as they only buy essential products. And we already know that next year the wetsuits will also increase the price, something that didn’t happen this year.”
On the south side of Tagus River is Surfers Store a premium surf shop that has personalised customer service. They work exclusive brands in Costa da Caparica and Lisbon area such as Vissla and also others nationally like Bing Surfboards and Thunderbolt Technology. They have a huge stock available of about 300 surfboards and longboards and 280 wetsuits. The store already recovered from the lockdown losses with a 250% growth compared to 2020. The store aims for a mid-high target focusing on quality products. The secret of their actual success was the huge investment they made in stock during lockdown. “We had to take the risk and invest a lot in pre-orders”, explained the CEO, Luís Simão. “Although we have less tourists the Portuguese market is stronger and consistent when we’re talking about this kind of customer profile. We work to have exclusive products that fit their needs mainly in surfboards, wetsuits, skateboards and accessories. The travel restrictions made us decrease our apparel by 50% compared to last year. But unlike other stores we’re stoked to have hardgoods stock guaranteed until the end of summer”.
With the vaccination plan running well and fast Portugal expects to reach herd immunity status by mid-August. There’s hope that tourism will boom in the end of summer and entering Fall. If there’s enough stock, surf and skate shops should have high sales. Enjoy summer!
