An early start to winter this year spurred sales of cold weather footwear and apparel at the sporting goods industry retailers and chain stores that report sales to SportScanInfo. With snow falling in the Rockies and abnormally cold weather hitting the Northeast, Outdoor Equipment, Apparel, and Footwear sales were up in the low teens for the month of October. The increase was primarily due to strong performance in the softgoods sector, while Equipment saw a slight decline for the month.


In addition to beneficial weather trends, the market has anniversaried the major down-turn that coincided with the financial melt-down on Wall Street, so comparisons to the same month last year are more in-line with the current economic reality.


For the fiscal year-to-date period, which runs from the beginning of February through November 1, sales of outdoor products were basically flat with strong increases in Apparel offsetting mid-single digit declines in Equipment and Footwear seeing a low-single digit increase.


While Outdoor Equipment sales were slow for the month of October, the tail end of back-to-school season did provide a boost in certain sectors – primarily Packs & Bags, which showed a mid-single digit increase. Most of this increase was driven by Lifestyle Packs and Bags, but Technical Waist Packs and Internal Frame Packs were both up for the month.


The market for Travel Equipment, including Luggage and Travel Packs, remains depressed, with heavy declines in sales for both the fiscal month and year-to-date periods. However, Rolling Luggage did see a bit of an increase thanks to considerable increases in the average selling prices.


The gains in Packs and Bags were more than offset by mid-single digit declines in Camping & Backpacking Equipment. Every major category except for Water Containers and Water Treatment showed declines during the month of October.  Sales of Water Bottles are clearly being impacted by new news regarding BPA in aluminum bottles.  Plastic bottle sales are accelerating and Metal Bottle sales slowing considerably.                   

 

In fact, all of the top 40 best selling Metal Bottles are now stainless steel products. Earlier this year, in Q1, there were aluminum bottles within the top 20.


Another bright spot for Outdoor Equipment was Climbing & Mountaineering Equipment, which saw a mid-single digit increase for the month with Ropes and Accessories driving sales. Sales of Climbing Shoes were basically flat for the month.


Snow Sports products were also up considerably thanks to an early start to the winter in many areas of the country. It is still very early in the season, so volume is relatively low, but compared to last year’s dismal results in the early season, this year is looking much better.

Sales of Outdoor Apparel were up in the double digits for the month of October, with Outerwear driving much of the growth. While Outdoor Jackets and Parkas account for most of the volume, Outerwear Pants and Bottoms are also growing in the double-digits with Shell Pants showing strong results. In addition to the Outdoor/Adventure Outerwear categories, Cycling Outerwear, Ski Outerwear and Snowboard Outerwear all showed strong growth for the month.


More Casual Apparel sales were also healthy for the month, with items like Sweaters and Yoga Fitness Apparel showing mid-single digit increases in October. Both long-sleeve and short-sleeve Outdoor Active Tops showed growth for the month. Yoga Shorts and Pants showed strong growth for the month, while sales of Outdoor Shorts and Pants slipped. Base Layer Tops and Bottoms are showing mid-single digit increases, but Compression Apparel sales are slowing considerably.


Outdoor Skirts, Skorts and Dresses all showed very strong sales growth for the month along with Active (run/bike) Skirts and Skorts. While Travel Equipment is showing heavy declines, Travel Apparel is looking relatively healthy with mid-single digit increases in Shorts, Pants, and Tops.


Outdoor Specialty Footwear, which includes Hiking Footwear, Approach/Multi-Sport, Hybrid/Watershoes, Trail Running Footwear and Sandals among other categories, showed a strong double-digit increase in sales for the month of October. Every major category saw strong increases during the month except for Hybrid/Watershoes and the Sandal categories, which declined in the double-digits for the month. These declines were likely the one down-side caused by the early cold snap hitting much of the country this year, and the positives in other categories more than offset this decline.


Performance Trail Running footwear saw a high-teens increase in sales for the month, but Outdoor Casual Footwear and Winter Boots were by far the strongest two categories in October.


One key category to keep an eye on is Wellness/Toning & Shaping Footwear, which includes brands like MBT and Earth Footwear in the Outdoor arena. This category is on-track to exceed $100 million in retail sales in 2009, up from virtually nothing last year.


With back-to-back positive months and a strong back-to-school season for outdoor products this year, the category is poised for a stronger Christmas season than many may have anticipated. With low inventories at many sporting goods and outdoor retailers, consumers may be looking at some empty shelves after Black Friday.