As Swedish outdoor brand Peak Performance opens its first store in the UK, Retail Week sits down with chief executive Sara Molnar to find out the next steps in the UK and what makes it the coolest ski brand in the world.
Peak Performance opened its first UK store in London’s Covent Garden at the end of September. The ski brand joins a host of sportswear retailers in the area including Arc’teryx, HOKA, Lululemon and Peloton.
As the retailer takes its first steps to make room in the UK sportswear market, chief executive Sara Molnar, a skier herself, tells Retail Week all about the next steps and what makes it the coolest ski brand in the world.
What makes the UK an attractive market for Peak Performance?
“We are on the global expansion journey. We have recently opened stores in Shanghai, Beijing, Berlin and Vancouver. On that expansion journey, London is a really important place. I think it also has a very interesting community. You might think that London is not so outdoor influenced, but looking at how big the outdoor and skiing community of London and the UK is it’s a really interesting market. I don’t think you could say you’re a global brand if you’re not present in London.”
Tell us about the brand and what makes it stand out in a saturated outdoor market.
“This brand was founded in 1986 by skiers who wanted to do what no one else had done. They wanted to combine high-technical, innovative apparel with a great portion of style, which means you will have all the technicalities and the innovation you need, but still, look cool.
“That is why the brand was founded, and that’s also why we still exist, and it’s still our uniqueness versus competition. I would say we’re the coolest ski brand in the world. But also, if you go into our store and look at our hiking assortment or our overall trail assortment for whatever activity – or essential pieces that are not made for a specific activity, but still outdoor apparel – you will see that when you put it on, you feel much cooler without losing any of the high technicality that you need from an outdoor garment.”
What are your views on the sportswear market and predictions about the year ahead given the recent volatility?
“What you’re touching upon no one really knows the answer to. I think all the brands in our market experienced this quite big upswing during Covid. But it was also a bit of a hit back when reality struck. Many brands had bought too much inventory. And we saw in 2023 it was quite a tough year for the whole industry – especially, I would say, in the Nordic part of Europe, which is our home market.
“However, I think a lot of learnings came out of that. I think we had fantastic products during the last couple of years when it was a bit tough and you had to scale down on newness. But the products we have in the pipeline for the coming seasons are really next level and a lot of exciting newness, which gives me a really strong belief for the future.
What are your next steps in the UK?
“We are looking at some discussions already with retail partners and wholesalers. It’s all about creating this commercial ecosystem to reach consumers, but it’s also super important that you stay true to your brand.
“We now have this store. It’s not a huge store. It will not have our full product offer, but we have the complement of ecommerce to support it. It’s really about setting all of these touchpoints in a disciplined way, making sure that you again stay true to your brand and are in control of your brand, together with the close partnership of selected wholesalers.”
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