SnowSports Retail Results Remain Strong Through January…

In spite of tough weather conditions throughout much of the Northeast, SnowSports sales remained strong thanks to a healthy early season and near-perfect conditions in the Western states. However, January sales for the industry did lag behind last year at specialty, falling 14% in Units and 6% in dollars. A similar picture emerged at chain retailers during the month, with sales falling 7% in units and 12% in dollars.

Year-to-date results show a different picture. Retailers were able to sell a large portion of their inventory early in the season at near-full-margin prices, and the full-year results reflect this success. Overall sales for the entire winter sport market, including both specialty and chain stores, were up 9% in dollars to $1.8 billion for the August through January period. This compares to $1.7 billion reported last year. Overall unit sales were up 8%.

Specialty SnowSports retailers’ sales were up 8% in dollars to roughly $1.4 billion, compared to $1.3 billion for the same period last season. Unit sales were up 6%. Sales increases were primarily led by apparel, but equipment sales remained strong as well.

Apparel sales at specialty increased 8% in units and 10% in dollars. The category was led by softshell and vest sales, particularly in the women’s category. It is becoming clear that consumers are not replacing their hard shells with softshells. The hard shell category remained healthy with double digit sales increases, in spite of the 75% increase in softshell units-sold through January and the rapidly eroding price points in the softshell category.

Snowboard apparel is showing a health bounce-back compared to last year, primarily because the Pacific Northwest actually has resorts that opened this year. Snowboard apparel continues to be led by women’s specific designs, but men’s is still showing healthy double-digit increases.

Snowboard equipment is following suit, with a 9% increase in sales for the season. Bindings showed the most growth with an 11% increase, thanks in part to some very innovative designs coming from companies like Burton and Flow. Boards and boots both grew 9% at specialty snowboard shops. All categories showed increases in their average selling prices and decreases in carryover sales, indicating a very healthy environment at retail.

The category impacted the most by the less than ideal weather in the Northeast was clearly Nordic. After a strong early season spurred by the “Nordic Jibbing” fad, the category posted heavy declines in January to show a 6% decline in units and 1% decline in dollars for the year-to-date.

Alpine equipment continued to show strong growth for the year-to-date period, although January sales did slow somewhat. Integrated ski systems continue to take the place of binding-less skis at a rapid rate. Sales in the category surged 25% during the period in spite of an $8 decline in average selling prices at Specialty. Integrated skis systems and flat alpine skis combined increased 2% in units sold this year.

The alpine ski category is clearly being fueled by the popularity of twin tips. This category has brought the youth back to the mountain, just like snowboarding did in the early 90’s. Couple this phenomenon with the high profile snowboard coverage on the Olympics, and the industry appears to be poised for a year of unprecedented growth. Twin-tip sales increased 67% in units and 65% in dollars for the year. The only other category that boosted ski sales were fat skis, which increased sales by 37% this year. Carve skis and mid-fat skis are both reporting double-digit declines for the season-to-date.

Boots are also helping the increase in equipment sales at specialty. This year, specialty retailers have sold 84,000 more pairs of boots than all skis sold. Sport Performance boot sales increased 22%, while high performance boots increased 12%.

Chain Stores that sell SnowSports equipment are also seeing a successful year, with sales up 10% over last season. Average selling prices of equipment fell at chain retailers, but total dollars sold increased, led by both alpine equipment and Snowboard equipment. Nordic equipment sales fell 48% at Chain retailers. SnowSports Apparel sales continue to be the driving force for the category at Chain stores, accounting for the majority of the sales and increasing 11% for the year.