Fiscal 2010 started off strong for outdoor and snow sports sales across the country with several positive factors converging to drive consumers into retail shops. While many industry analysts are pointing to the Olympics as a major growth vehicle, it is hard not to underestimate the impact of snow on buying patterns when it comes to outdoor apparel, footwear and hardgoods.
The snow was particularly heavy in the dense population centers in the east. Baltimore has received 64.5 inches above normal snowfall this year; February was the snowiest month on record in New York Citys Central Park and Washington D.C. was covered in snow with back-to-back storms, according to the National Weather Service.
According to retail point-of-sale data compiled by SportScanInfo, outdoor equipment, apparel and footwear sales through the sporting goods, mall, department store, and discount/mass channels were up in the mid-teens for the month of February-the largest monthly increase in well over a year. Much of the increase was driven by snow sports equipment sales, particularly cross country equipment, but outdoor footwear and apparel were also bright spots for the market.
Outdoor and snow sports equipment sales were up in the low-teens, driven almost entirely by snow sports sales, which soared to strong double digits. Excluding snow sports, outdoor equipment sales were basically flat.
Looking more closely at the snow sports side of the business-the two highest volume categories, alpine and snowboard-had strong sales increases in the low-teens. Although a much smaller category, cross country skiing sales are clearly benefiting from the high-profile coverage of the U.S. Nordic Combined team winning multiple medals, including Olympic Gold; and the good snow conditions in the eastern United States. Sales in the category were up in the high-double digits for the month.
Alpine ski boots are selling at a 2:1 ratio to alpine skis and ski systems, compared to a 3:1 ratio last year.
More recently, consumers have chosen to buy new boots-and rent skis; but a sharp decline in the average selling price of skis this year is motivating more consumers to invest in new pair.
Outdoor-related hardgoods did not fare as well as snow sports equipment in February. While overall sales were relatively flat, there were some very strong and very weak categories for the month.
Sales of tents continues to be strong with double-digit gains during the month. Solid results were reported in nearly every category of family camping and backpacking tents. Much of the success in this category was driven by new innovations in architecture, materials and design that has reduced the weight of tents and created more usable space at the same time. Sleeping bags are also showing growth. While the overall category is only up in the low-single digits, the more technical mummy bags-both down and synthetic-are showing high-double digit growth.
Sales in the packs and bags category were down in double digits due to heavy declines in the travel packs and bags category. The only categories to show any growth within packs and bags were the more technical products. Hydration packs also saw mid-teen declines for the month.
Outdoor and snow sports apparel was practically the reverse image of equipment, with all of the growth coming from the outdoor products and relatively flat sales in snow sports apparel. Much of this phenomenon is due to the successful diversification of outdoor brands into snow sports. While outdoor brands like Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, and The North Face translate easily between the ski resort and backcountry, the reverse has not been true for many of the ski- and snowboard-oriented brands.
Outdoor Spring/Summer apparel sales were down for the month, but the last week of February showed the first sign that shoppers are looking forward to spring with a slight up-tick in sales for the week compared to last year.
Outdoor footwear was the strongest category, growing faster than apparel or equipment in February with high-double digit sales gains for the month. The categories with biggest gains were the ones likely to benefit most by the weather-winter boots, technical hiking boots and light hiking shoes. Trail running footwear was negatively impacted by the weather in February.
Overall, February was a strong start to the 2010 fiscal retail year and showed clear signs that the economy is rebounding. The strong growth in snow sports hardgoods, outdoor apparel and footwear lends even more credence to the assertion that good snow trumps the economy in this industry.
NOTE: This is the last month The B.O.S.S. Report will provide bicycle, outdoor and snow sports retail sales based on data reported by SportScanInfo. Commencing with the March retail month, B.O.S.S. will report data from the newly launched OIA VantagePoint retail point-of-sale system that is powered by the SportScanInfo research technology.
The new OIA VantagePoint platform, which is the only weekly retail point-of-sale system serving the outdoor industry, provides a broad view of the market, including three channels of specialty sales data in addition to the current sporting goods, department store, Internet and discount/mass channels already covered by SportScanInfo. Data is also reported across eight geographic regions.
For the month, snowboard outerwear outperformed ski outerwear by a wide margin, but outdoor outerwear outperformed both snow sports categories in terms of growth. Ski and snowboard outerwear still has a slightly higher sales volume than outdoor outerwear.
