Reebok's sales nudged up 0.5% overall to €376 million ($522.6 mm) and was up 1.5% currency-neutral. The bright spot was North America, where Reebok's sales climbed 6% currency-neutral, driven by the toning category. Reebok gross margin increased almost 900 basis points to 36.3% of sales.
“The explosion of growth in this space in such a short period of time eclipses nearly everything I have witnessed in the industry over the last 25 years. And we are well on track to selling at least 5 million pairs of toning footwear in the U.S. alone this year,” said Hainer.
Internationally, Reebok is gaining traction following recent advertising campaign launches in Germany, Russia, and the UK, as well as a TV campaign. An EasyTone campaign featured supermodel Helena Christensen nude except for a pair of shoes has been generating considerable buzz.
Reebok is also seeing success with its ZigTech training collection, which launched on March 11 in the U.S. with an aggressive marketing campaign. With sell-through rates strong so far, ZigTech will “easily sell” over 1 million pairs in the U.S. in 2010.
“It is with confidence that I can say today that Reebok will grow at a double digit rate in North America this year,” said Hainer. “Also, I believe we could now sell up to 10 million pairs of Toning footwear globally this year.”
Regarding Classics, Hainer said Reebok has “lost some sales” since much of the product has become similar to its Performance products. “We are reshaping our Classics category, because we do not believe that the old formula, with the black and white Classics, will attract the consumer enough anymore. They will still play a role, but we definitely have to reshape the category,” said Hainer.
