Sylvester Gawel and Mariusz Winnicki are both from Poland and they are both judoka. They are also both Director General of the IJF Store. "We are excited, a bit stressed but very optimistic that this will be a great success. For us, judo lovers, just to be here is extraordinary. We enjoy it, meeting our judo friends and connecting with the judo family,” they explain.
The project was in the making for a little while already. It is now real. The official IJF merchandising store is open. "In the future, there will be three channels to buy goods," said Mariusz Winnicki. The first one is the booth, which is installed now in Linz and which will be available during several World Judo Tour events.
The second will be the online store that will be launched just before the Abu Dhabi World Championships 2024. The third one will be through exclusive partnerships with local distributors. "We are growing, step by step. In the upcoming weeks and months, we will develop the activity to reach more people anywhere in the world," added Sylvester Gawel.
Thus the store offers IJF merchandising and judo-related goodies as well as branded clothing. The goal is to have more than 300 identified items, all high quality products.
The IJF store is a place to meet other judoka, to interact with local organisers and to promote the judo values further.
If you are in Linz, come and visit the booth. If not, wait a little more and everything will be at a click-distance.