West North Central States Sees Sales Growth Outpace U.S. as a Whole

In the West North Central states (MN, IA, MO, ND, SD, NE, KS), sales at sporting goods sales outgrew the total for the U.S. as a whole by 10.9 percentage points for the period stretching from the 1997 Census to 2002. For the region, sales grew 34.4% from the 1997 Census versus total U.S. growth of 23.5%. Sales for 2002 in the West North Central states reached $1.98 billion. Of that amount, $924 million moved through full-line sporting goods stores; $1.06 billion, through specialty sport shops.

Although sales in full-line sporting goods stores grew 23.3% from the 1997 Census, the number of stores declined 11.3% to 511 stores. Sales in specialty sport shops grew 45.9% while the number of shops (1,200) declined 11.2%. This activity is reflected in “Sales per Store” data, $1.8 million (up 39%) in full-line sporting goods stores and $884,000 (up 64%) in specialty sport shops.

“Sales per Employee,” an important measure of personnel productivity, was stronger in the specialty sport channel of distribution. In specialty sport stores, employees generated $122,900 in sales, up 20.4% from the previous Census. In full-line sporting goods stores, employees generated $114,300 in sales (up 3.1%).

Sales in West North Central athletic footwear stores rose to $966 million between 1997 and 2002, a 4.9% increase. The number of stores (876) generating those sales rose 2.2%. Sales per employee declined 5.7%, to $100,000.

“Residents of the West North Central states spent more than the average American in sporting goods stores and specialty sport shops, and less in athletic footwear stores,” said NSGA Vice President of Information & Research Thomas B. Doyle. “They represent 7.0% of the U.S. population, but spent 8.0% of the total dollars spent in sporting goods stores and specialty sport shops. In athletic footwear stores, they spent 4.9% of the total dollars.”

Total U.S sales in sporting goods stores, which includes full-line and specialty sports shops, rose to $25.02 billion in 2002 versus $20.04 billion in 1997.

Total U.S. sales growth was stronger in the full-line store segment, up 39% to $12.98 billion in 2002 versus $9.31 billion in 1997. Sales in specialty sports shops rose 12% to $12.05 billion versus $10.73 billion in 1997. In the previous Census of Retail, sales had grown more rapidly in specialty sports shops than in full line stores, 42% versus 35%.

Total U.S sales in athletic footwear stores reached $7.1 billion, a 21.5% increase from the $5.85 billion reported in the 1997 Census. The 1997 Census had shown a 66.5% increase over the previous census (1992).

The U.S. Bureau of the Census conducts the Census of Retail Trade once every five years. The data was collected in 2003 for the 2002 calendar year. The first data was released in late 2004 and final data released in late 2005.