The SportsOneSource Group, the leading information platform serving the sporting goods, outdoor, athletic footwear and apparel markets, has released preliminary sales figures for the fiscal 2007 retail year. Based in part on retail point-of-sale data compiled by the companys SportScanINFO service, The SportsOneSource Group put total U.S. sales volume for Sport Footwear at $18.3 billion for 2007, a 2.8% increase over 2006.
“While overall growth in the Sport Footwear business remained weak for the second year in a row, the lifestyle footwear categories continued to perform well,” said James Hartford, president and CEO of The SportsOneSource Group. “Lifestyle Fashion Athletic footwear, which includes the low-profile athletic product, posted strong double-digit growth, but the trend continued to weaken versus the very strong gains posted over the last two years.”
He also noted that Skate footwear remains strong, posting growth in the high-20s.
“We see the Skate footwear silhouette as the Fashion Athletic profile of choice for many teenagers,” Hartford said. The SportScanINFO data also showed that Sandals again posted strong double-digit increases for the year, led by Fashion Casual Sandals and Flip Flops.
An interesting trend is evolving that sees traditional suburban products like Boat/Deck shoes performing well in urban retail stores. Overall Boat/Deck shoe sales were up in strong double-digits for the second consecutive year. On the womens side, Junior Casual looks, represented by numerous Mary Jane silhouettes, again drove sales for many outdoor brands, as well as traditional juniors brands and some newcomers. The key consumer here is the college-aged female, who is expected to have a influence on younger girls in 2008, pushing the trend into the next year.
The SportScanINFO data, which is based on the fiscal retail calendar that runs February through January, reveals a bell curve affect for 2007, with sales of Sport Footwear inching up in low-single-digits in the first quarter before generating mid- to high-single-digit growth in the second and third quarters. The year ended weaker, generating a low-single-digit decline in Sport Footwear, thanks in large part to the sharp downturn in the Wheeled Footwear category that had driven some of the earlier gains.
Excluding Wheeled Footwear, the market saw a low-single-digit increase in Sport Footwear sales in the fourth quarter. The category decline accounted for 40 basis points of negative impact on Sport Footwear growth for the year.
Looking ahead to 2008, The SportsOneSource Group sees the softer business continuing from the fourth quarter well into the year. Macro economic conditions are not seen as particularly good for the business, and a lack of a clear fashion direction exacerbates the problem.
Basketball, especially the performance styles, is expected to continue to struggle.
Lifestyle Fashion is expected to bounce back a bit and Skate is seen as the biggest growth category. SOS believes that the Classics category may well have bottomed out and will start to grow moderately in 2008.
On the performance side, the market will be watching the impending battle between Nike, New Balance and Under Armour in the performance training category, but should see new energy coming out of the outdoor performance silhouettes from Merrell, ECCO and others.
