Athletic footwear breaks through $17 billion
28/05/2008
Data from the National Sporting Goods Association’s just-released “Sporting Goods Market in 2008” report shows retail sales of athletic footwear have surpassed the $17 billion mark for the first time, reaching $17.4 billion, an increase of 2.7% on the 2006 figure, when sales were $16.9 billion.
Once again, the largest category of athletic and sport footwear was walking shoes, which reached $4.2 billion in 2007, an increase of 3% over 2006, when consumers spent nearly $4.1 billion on walking shoes.
Among footwear categories near or in excess of $1 billion, gym shoes/sneakers showed the largest increase, 11% to $2.7 billion, up from $2.4 billion in 2007. Fashion sneakers, a separate category, rose 8% to $958 million. Running/jogging shoes slipped 3% to $2.2 billion. Purchases of cross training shoes ($1.6 billion) showed a 5% increase, and hiking shoes/boots ($1.1 billion) were up 4%.
“The 2.7% increase in sales of sport and athletic footwear is the smallest increase since 2003 and 2004, which both showed 2.1% sales increases,” said NSGA Vice President of Information & Research Thomas Doyle. “In 2005, sales rose 6.6%, and in 2006, sales showed a 7.6% increase.”
Of the 26 types of athletic and sport footwear surveyed, the largest sales increases came in smaller categories. Track shoes rose 20% to $50.4 million. Cycling shoes showed a 19% rise, to $63.2 million, and cheerleading shoes were up 18% to $63.6 million.
Among the larger volume categories, significant increases came in sport sandals, up 7% to $631.4 million; and golf shoes, up 5% to $243.7 million. Eighteen of the 26 categories showed increased sales in 2007.
This information is contained in NSGA’s annual study that provides an overview of the sporting goods market. The total U.S. market for athletic equipment, footwear and clothing reached $53.5 billion in 2007, an increase of 2.8% versus the 2006 total of $52.0 billion.
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