After a solid October and a weaker November, the U.S. active lifestyle softgoods business was back on track for the retail fiscal month of December.  The active lifestyle footwear business, which includes athletic, casual athletic and outdoor footwear sales, was surprisingly strong, and came in much better than many analyst expectations, with overall sector sales improving nearly 10% for the five-week period, according to retail point-of-sale data compiled by SportScanInfo. 


The active lifestyle apparel business, which also includes athletic and outdoor, as well as the casual components of those businesses, was also up, but not nearly as much, posting a 3% for the month.
The active lifestyle footwear growth was strongest in the family footwear channel, followed by the mall, moderate department stores and the full-line sporting goods channel, in descending order.  All channels experienced growth.  Men’s active lifestyle footwear grew in the high-single digits, while the women’s business posted growth of just over about 20% for the five-week December period.  The kids’ business was flat for the month.  The surging toning/shaping category was the driver for the women’s business, which would have been down in the low-single digits excluding the category that has been driven this year by the Skechers Shape-Ups products and the Reebok Easy Tone category.

 

The majority of the growth in total sales in December came from three main areas: toning, Jordan and outdoor. Toning footwear provided the most growth from a very small base last year, representing roughly 5.5% of December’s athletic footwear business.  This annualizes to about $1 billion in sales in 2010.  In reviewing the data, analysts at The SportOneSource Group, which manages the SportScanInfo data platform, have not seen any material cannibalization of other categories due to the ascent of the toning/shaping category.  It is seen as a plus business for many retailers and is creating new consumers.

 

SportsOneSource analysts see a correlation of this trend with trends seen in the fitness hardgoods business as well. While the SportScanInfo data indicates a mid-single digit percentage decline in the cardio equipment and a strong double-digit decrease in strength equipment, sales of less-expensive fitness products and accessories have jumped in strong double digits, enough to push the overall fitness hardgoods business up just over flat for the five-week retail fiscal month of December.  The same held true for the fitness apparel market, which grew in strong double digits as well.

 

On the Brand Jordan front, the brand’s fashion basketball business grew more than 20% at retail in its biggest month of the year.  The launches in December were very strong, anchored by the Black/Red 12 and the Space Jam 11.  There were reports of kids camping out in front of stores waiting for the midnight launch of the Space Jam shoes.  It has been many, many months since the market has seen kids making that kind of commitment to a Jordan launch.  According to the SportscanInfo data, Brand Jordan picked up one full share point in the retail fiscal month of December and about 1.15 points for the trailing 52-week period.

 

The outdoor business was driven by the month’s very cold weather. It appears that trend will continue into January, as weather patterns keep the country pretty cold. Outdoor specialty footwear and outdoor boots were both up in the low teens.  The light hiking footwear category drove the gains for the month, up in strong double digits, but outdoor crosstraining also turned in very impressive gains for the month — up more than 20% for the period.  Winter boots, outdoor casual and technical hiking were up in the high-single digits for the month.

 

New Balance had its best month in well over a year, with sales up in the mid teens on strong fashion running and strength in the training replenishment program.  As New Balance rolls out their versions of wellness footwear in 2010, this trend should also improve.