While last year was considered by many to be one of the worst winters for outdoor and snow sports retailers in the past decade, Footwear sales remained strong. However, this year is getting a later start, according to data collected by SportScanINFO. Last year, an early cold snap kick started retail sales of outdoor footwear throughout much of the country and especially in the densely populated Northeast. This year, the cold snap didn’t come until the end of November.


As a result, outdoor specialty footwear sales were relatively flat for the month, as sales of boots and winter footwear only had two weeks of strong demand during the month. The shift in weather patterns between this November and last is quite apparent.


Looking at the competitive landscape in outdoor specialty footwear, the market is still highly fragmented, with the top brands only controlling market shares in the teens. Brands under Deckers’ and Wolverine’s portfolios showed the strongest market share gains during the month along with Hi-Tec, TNF and Salomon.


Overall Outdoor Specialty Footwear sales were down in the low single digits for the month, primarily due to double-digit declines in Technical Hiking Boots and Winter Boots. However, this decline was partially offset by a mid-20s increase in Hybrid/Water shoes and a double-digit increase in Light Hikers. Trail running footwear saw a mid-single-digit decline during the month. However, year-to-date sales in the category are still up in the mid-singles due to strong results on-line.


In the Outdoor Casual Footwear category, Merrell, Timberland and Keen took the majority of the best sellers list, while Hi-Tec, Timberland, Merrell and Keen were the best selling brands in Light Hiking. The most dramatic increase came from sandals, which saw strong double-digit increases in all categories for the period – Sport Sandals, Water Sandals, Fashion Casual Sandals and Flip Flops.


Whether this increase is due to global warming or just a one-time fluke is not clear. Regardless, if open-toed footwear sales continue to extend later into the fall and even into the winter, retailers and vendors may need to re-think their traditional sandal selling season.


These traditional winter categories are not only showing much slower growth than their spring/summer counterparts, but they are also showing softer average selling price growth. In November, ASPs for sandals increased in the double digits, compared to the same month last year, while ASPs for outdoor footwear were basically flat.