Fossil Inc, the US-based supplier of watches and accessories, has created a new dedicated travel retail team for its group-wide EMEA business based in Basel, Switzerland.
The team will be headed by René With Dalskov, who was previously Sales Manager, Export & Travel Retail at Skagen Designs, the Danish watch company acquired by Fossil in 2012.
Following his promotion to the role of Fossil’s Director of Sales, Travel Retail, EMEA, Dalskov now manages a six-strong team purely focused on the travel retail business.
He told The Moodie Report: “As part of a globalisation restructure and the empowerment of our European headquarters in Basel, we are building a new team reporting to me to support the European travel retail business centralised from Basel in all EMEA countries.
“Therefore the travel retail teams in Denmark and Germany will hand over the business through a transition phase to the new team in Basel and support and help them during their onboarding.”
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Fossil’s six-strong travel retail team will be headed by René With Dalskov |
The changes are effective 1 September 2013 and the transition phase will last through August, said Dalskov. Members of the new team will be working together with the old team members during August to ensure a smooth transition of knowledge, he added.
Under the new structure, the Travel Retail EMEA team will be responsible for both Fossil’s own brands, Fossil and Skagen, and the group’s licensed brands. These include DKNY, Diesel, Michael Kors, Emporio Armani, Armani Exchange, Adidas, Marc Jacobs, Burberry, Michele, Zodiac, Karl Lagerfeld, and from 2014, Tory Burch.
Five team members will report to Dalskov: two Key Account Managers, a Sales Analyst, a Travel Retail Co-ordinator and a Shipping Co-ordinator.
“All members of the team are 100% dedicated to travel retail, which enables us to give the best possible service and guidance to our customers,” noted Dalskov. “The new EMEA Travel Retail team will consist of both a back-office part (sales analysis, Travel Retail Co-ordinator and Shipping Co-ordinator) and a sales part.
“The fact that we have a back office with focus only on travel retail means that the Key Account Managers can focus 100% on visiting our partners and their shops. We believe that being at the market place makes a difference. Having dedicated travel retail sales analysis means that the sales people can focus on the training of the staff in the stores, in-store activities and developing the business together with our partners, knowing that the partners are still duly informed about the sales performance, etc.”
The team is expected to grow, according to Dalskov, especially on the sales side. “With this initiative we expect to grow the business, and in order to keep growing we also have to invest in the team. We have to make sure that all of our customers receive the same attention. Anybody interested is more than welcome to contact me.
“Fossil Travel Retail EMEA wants to be more than just a supplier to our customers. We want to establish long-term partnerships that both parties can benefit from, creating environments and shop-in-shop solutions at the best locations. For Fossil Travel Retail EMEA, it is not only a matter of having the brands listed in the shop, but also to make sure that our partners develop their business, by constantly looking for opportunities to increase sales. That [will be done] by staff training, in-store activities, staff incentives and much, much more. We want to be the preferred partner, not only for the buyers but indeed also for the staff in the stores,” Dalskov concluded.
For details, contact René With Dalskov, Director of Sales, Travel Retail, EMEA, Fossil, tel: +45 22666921/ +41 791 170 93 60 or e-mail: rdalskov@fossil.com.
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