Retail sales of athletic footwear have surpassed the $17 billion mark for the first time, according to research compiled by the National Sporting Goods Association. The $17.4 billion tallied in 2007 represented an increase of 2.7% versus 2006, when sales were $16.9 billion. NSGA said the largest category of athletic and sport footwear was walking shoes, which reached $4.2 billion in 2007.
Among footwear categories near or in excess of $1 billion, the biggest gains came from gym shoes/sneakers (11% to $2.7 billion), and fashion sneakers, (8% to $958 million). Running/jogging shoes slipped 3% to $2.2 billion. Purchases of cross training shoes ($1.6 billion) showed a 5% increase and hiking shoes/boots ($1.1 billion) were up 4%.
“The 2.7% increase in sales of sport and athletic footwear is the smallest increase since 2003 and 2004, which both showed 2.1% sales increases,” said NSGA VP of information & research Tom Doyle. “In 2005, sales rose 6.6%, and in 2006, sales showed a 7.6% increase.”
Of the 26 types of athletic and sport footwear surveyed, the largest sales increases came in smaller categories. Track shoes rose 20% to $50.4 million. Cycling shoes showed a 19% rise, to $63.2 million; and, cheerleading shoes were up 18% to $63.6 million.
