Which is more important today, skis or bikes?
Stöckli still has a strong winter focus, which has its origins in the company's tradition. The third Stöckli generation is now on a mission to improve this ratio in favor of summer. Our dependence on winter must be reduced. Today, we generate around three quarters of our business in winter sports; in future, this ratio should be more balanced. We want to continue to grow in the winter business, but achieve disproportionately strong growth in the summer. It may well be that we sell more bikes than skis at some point.

So you don't agree with the lament that fewer people are riding skis?
We don't believe that fewer people are riding skis, which is confirmed by the very good figures of the lift operators in recent years What has changed significantly, however, is customer behavior. The rental business, for example, has increased massively.

Will this rental behavior also come to mountain biking?
Hopefully not. We shouldn't repeat the mistakes made in the ski business in the bike segment. But the starting position is also somewhat different. Mountain biking is a sport that can be practiced on your own doorstep without any additional infrastructure, which is why the affinity for your own sports equipment is greater than with skiing, for example. It is important to ensure that the rental business in biking does not become too big.
The ski market has not shrunk due to fewer skiers, but because of the expansion of the rental business. In winter, rental means that sometimes 100 people share one ski. This is fatal for us manufacturers.And that's where a second mainstay comes in handy. But why mountain bikes in particular?
Because the customers are often the same. There are many skiers who ride mountain bikes in the summer. In addition, selling high-quality bikes requires a lot of advice. Due to our rural locations, we need products that customers like to come to us for. Our product ranges are also very competent in the trekking or running sector, but we see the greatest opportunities in mountain biking, as we also act as a producer here.
But it was also the case that many Stöckli employees were riding mountain bikes from specialist retailers in the summer. So it made sense to consider whether we could use products from our own company, as we do in winter. The employees were very committed at the time. As a result, there was a strong connection to mountain bikes at all levels at Stöckli right from the start. It was and is no different for customers: they have transferred their closeness to the Stöckli brand from winter to summer.So the synergies lie with customers and sales and not with production?
Yes, definitely. Manufacturing skis and bikes are two different things. We also have our own product management and the developers are different too.

So far, every ski manufacturer with bike ambitions has failed. Why is it different at Stöckli?
We have been vertically integrated for many years. In other words: We have our own sales outlets. That is certainly one reason why Stöckli is so successful. When we started out with mountain bikes, we were able to reach customers quickly with the then new products and didn't have to convince specialist retailers first.

All other companies that bypass specialist retailers, such as Thömus or direct mail order companies, are not popular with specialist retailers. Stöckli is different. Why?
We are characterized by an extremely clean pricing policy. That's probably the main reason. Specialist retailers see our stores as competition on an equal footing. It is also the case that individual specialist retailers have our bikes in their stores. However, the high level of acceptance is perhaps also due to ski racing. As a Swiss company, we have been at the top of the world for many years. Among other things, this brings the brand a lot of sympathy and recognition.

Speaking of the world's best: when will Stöckli have an international mountain bike racing team, just like in winter? That's a question of budget. At the moment, we are concentrating on the no less demanding marathon series and have been one of the dominant brands for years, which has helped us greatly to further develop our products. It is only a matter of time before the Stöckli brand becomes prominent in international bike racing. We are convinced that you can gain a lot of acceptance in top-class sport. Racing is very important for innovative strength, for product development and also for the awareness of a brand like Stöckli.

Does an international team even make sense for a brand that mainly sells in its home market of Switzerland?
In the ski business, 40 percent of our production is exported. We can also imagine doing the same for bikes. An evaluation of our first partners abroad is already underway. We operate more internationally than it seems.

A few years ago, you started developing your own mountain bikes instead of relying on existing systems from the Far East. Has that paid off?
We build very elaborate and high-quality products in the ski sector and are constantly trying to optimize them further. These aspects have now been transferred to mountain biking. Stöckli should always mean the same thing: Our products are the best that we can produce, exhausted down to the last fiber. And we want to be compared 1:1 with the big bike manufacturers in the future, both in terms of quality and price.

How difficult is it to survive as a Swiss brand?
That is a major challenge. This is where "Swisness" helps us. It conveys quality and innovation, but also promotes brand acceptance. People believe that we can build good skis or mountain bikes. We have to compensate for the higher production costs through innovation and increased efficiency in production, which is why these two aspects are given top priority. This allows us to offer competitive sales prices and realize the necessary margin that we need as a Swiss company.

What does the future hold for Stöckli bikes?
It is very important to us that our bikes are perceived as an independent element. The days of being a ski manufacturer with bike production attached are over. We are a ski and bike manufacturer in equal measure. Meanwhile, both areas are equally important to us. Our strategy is to have Stöckli bikes in the stores of high-end specialist dealers in the future - on a par with international brands such as Specialized, Trek, Cannondale or Scott. The customer can then compare us. In the ski sector, we are one of the best manufacturers in the world. We want to do the same in the bike sector. We don't want to be the biggest, but one of the best.

Beni Stöckli is Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Stöckli Swiss Sports AG and is the third generation of his family to run the company. As Brand Manager, Walter Reusser is responsible for the development of the products and the Stöckli brand in both the winter and summer business.

www.stoeckli.ch