Champion brand sales have grown double-digits over the past four years and the brand is now at $1.5 billion in annual sales. At parent company Hanesbrands annual Investor Day held last week, Bill Nictakis, the companys president and chief commercial officer, said Champion has enjoyed consistent growth by focusing on the fast-growing active demographic, with a unique moderate price positioning distinct from the likes of Nike and Under Armour.
He said Champion is the number one brand in sports bras, has the number one share of moderate-priced activewear across genders, and is gaining distribution across core sporting goods retailers as well as key department stores.
We have strong on-trend design and excellent customer partnerships with accounts such as Target, The Sports Authority and Macy’s, said Nictakis.
He highlighted the success of the Champion C9 collection at Target. Hanesbrands has a dedicated category management team of nine members in Minneapolis along with a team of 20 designers, merchandisers and analysts dedicated to the Champion C9 program, he noted.
Asked by an analyst if Champion was benefiting from struggles of other mid-tier brands, citing Russell and Reebok, Rich Noll, chairman and CEO of Hanesbrands, said he wasnt sure if the gains were because theyre struggling or just were doing a better job of driving our brands and helping our customers figure out how to leverage our brands to bring people into their stores and turn their space faster.
Overall, Hanesbrands expects sales to grow 5% to 8% in 2010 while EPS could climb 25% to 35% due to expense controls. It also projected it could double earnings over the next three to four years. For 2011 and beyond, it targets annual sales growth between 2% and 4%, while its profit growth target is between 10% and 20%. Sales growth estimates are based on significant shelf-space and distribution gains and a potential rebound in consumer spending.
