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Case Study - Sports Obermeyer

Case Study
Sport Obermeyer, Ltd
Lourdes Hernandez


Executive Summary
Sport Obermeyer, Ltd. was founded by Klaus Obermeyer to provide U.S. skiers with the same protective and stylish clothing and equipment available in Germany. Over the years, Sport Obermeyer developed into a preeminent competitor in the U.S. skiwear market: estimated sales in 1992 were $32.8 million. The company held a commanding 45% share of the children’s skiwear market and 11% share of the adult skiwear market.

Obermeyer offers a broad line of fashion ski apparel, including parkas, vests, ski suits, shells, ski pants, sweaters, turtlenecks, and accessories. Parkas are considered the most critical design component of a collection; the other garments were fashioned to match the parkas’ style and color. Their products were offered in five different genders: men’s, women’s, boys’, girls’, and preschoolers’. The company segments each “gender” market according to price, type of skier, and how “fashion-forward” the market was. Within each “gender”, numerous styles are offered, each in several colors and a range of sizes.

In 1985, Klaus Obermeyer teamed up with Raymond Tse to establish Obersport Ltd. This joint venture was used to coordinate production of Sport Obermeyer products in the Far East. Obersport was responsible for fabric and component sourcing for Sport Obermeyer’s production. Materials sourced were cut and sewn either in Raymond Tse’s own “Alpine” factories or in independent subcontractors located in Hong Kong, Macau, and China. Raymond was owner and president of Alpine Ltd., which included skiwear manufacturing plants in Hong Kong as well as a recently established facility in China. Sport Obermeyer’s orders represented about 80% of Alpine’s annual production volume.

The production process for Sport-Obermeyer’s apparel begins a full year and a half before the apparel actually hits the market. They use a multi-phase production process. The first production order is...