The U.S. sports retailer business was a tale of two cities
in the retail second fiscal quarter through July. The athletic
footwear and apparel segments both softened in the
quarter, but performance product in both areas continued
to show gains. Based on the quarterly reports from the
public retailers in the sector, the softness in athletic footwear
certainly limited the upside at sporting goods during
the quarter and clearly impacted results in the mall.
Based on recent POS retail sales data compiled by SportScanINFO for the
retail second quarter through July, total Sports Footwear sales declined just
less than one point for the quarter, which SportsOneSource estimates reflects
a high-single-digit decline in comp store sales for the period. July was
the worst month in the quarter as sales declined in mid-singles for the period,
or an estimated comp sales decline in the low- to mid-teens.
Sports Footwear sales were up in low-single-digits in the Sport Retailer sector
for the second quarter, while sales in the Family Retailer sector declined
in low- to mid-singles and sales in the Discount/Mass sector were down in
the low-teens for the period. The Sports Retailer sector includes sporting
goods, athletic/urban specialty, sport specialty, and Internet/catalog retailers.
Athletic Footwear sales, which excludes Boots, Outdoor and Brown Casual
Sport footwear, were down in low-singles for the period. Performance Footwear
sales were up a half point for the quarter.
Average selling prices were up in the low-singles, with the biggest gain coming
in the Internet/Catalog channel, and unit volume was down in low- to
mid-singles. Sport Specialty had the highest ASPs, followed by Internet/
catalog and Athletic/Urban Specialty.
On a category basis, it was Classics and Walking posted the largest declines
of the major categories, with both down in the strong double-digits. Skate,
Cleated, Fashion Athletic, and Sandals showed the largest gains for the second
quarter, with gains in the mid- to high-teens.
Total Running footwear sales growth moderated a bit, with increases up in
low- to mid-single digits for Q2, while sales of Running product over $90 were
up more than 30%. Consumers opted for even better product in Q2 as average
selling prices for Running product over $90 rose in mid-single-digits.
Conversely, Running product under $60 posted a very-low-single-digit decline
for the period, which was a clear moderation in the sharp decline in the first
quarter for the price-point.
In Classics, the quarter bucked previous trends that showed value Classics
posting sharp declines while Classics over $60 increased. For the most recent
quarter, the better Classics over $60 were down at a similar rate as the value
Classics.
In apparel, the SportScanINFO data indicates that the Sports Retailer sector
saw sales decline in low-singles for the second quarter, but the sector is still
showing strong double-digit growth in Performance Apparel. The consumer
contnues to opt for better goods, pushing average unit prices up in the highteens
even as unit sales declined in mid- to high-teens.
>>> Much of the weakness in athletic footwear in July has actually
reversed trend in the August month to-date.
