September 2014 Athletic Footwear Executive Summary

September 2014 Athletic Footwear Executive Summary

September is a bifurcated month. The first two weeks are substantial, representing the final weeks of Back to School.  The remaining three weeks are some of the smallest of the year.

September 2014 Footwear overview
Sales of Sport Footwear grew in the low singles for September in dollars and declined in the low singles in units resulting in a mid-single digit increase in average selling price.
Basketball improved about 20%.  It is important to note that there was an additional retro Jordan release in September 2014 compared to 2013.
Running shoes grew in the mid singles, driven by Fashion Running styles
Men’s sales grew in the low singles (again on the additional Jordan release); Women’s grew in the low singles and Kids improved in the low-teens. Men’s was very weak in Golf and soft in Running, which nearly offset good Basketball, Skate and Classics.  Women’s had a good result in Skate, and Classics which offset weak Running. Kids had very strong period in Running (+50%) Basketball and Soccer.
September 2014 Footwear sales by channel
Sales of Sport Footwear on the Internet grew in the mid-teens for September and were about 11% of all shoes sold.  Sales in Physical stores improved in the low singles.
Athletic Specialty/Sporting Goods was flat for the month.
Run/Sport Specialty had a mid-single digit increase
Sales grew best in the Northwest and Southeast and worst in the Rockies and New England.

September 2014 Brand Share
Timberland was the hottest brand for the month as the brand’s turnaround is well underway. Timberland sales in the retailers measured grew more than 85%
Puma grew more than 50% for September and was best in Lifestyle Athletic and Fashion Running.  Puma appears to be gaining strong momentum
Skechers grew nearly 25% for the period.  Skechers showed particular strength in Walking, Women’s Training and in Women’s Casual. Skechers was the 3rd largest training brand in September.
Vans improved more than 60% for September
Nike sales of Sport Footwear for September grew in the mid singles and share improved 25 basis points to 45.1%. Jordan was up about a third on the additional release and share improved 250 basis points to 12%. Converse sales grew in the low singles with 2.9% share.  This gave Nike Inc. 60% share for September, the highest ever recorded for that period.  Nike brand showed strength in Running and Kids, which offset weakness in Training and Football
Adidas and Reebok declined sharply in September. Adidas declined in all the important categories.  Reebok Casual grew 50% for the period.
Under Armour footwear grew more than a third, with strong Kids (+80%) offsetting declines in Training.
Brooks led all Running brands with sales up in the mid-teens.  ASICS was flat for the period.  Mizuno and Saucony both had declines while New Balance continued to struggle.

September 2014 Top Selling models
1          JORDAN 14 “Black Toe”                     $163.01
2          NIKE FREE 5.0+ 2014                           $92.31
3          W NIKE FREE 5.0 2014                        $92.91
4          NIKE AIR FORCE 1 LOW                      $88.75
5          NIKE AIR MONARCH IV                       $50.98
6          NIKE AIR MAX 2014                            $153.72
7          JORDAN 6                                            $168.79
8          JORDAN 14 “Ferrari”                            $199.42
9          CONVERSE ALL STAR OXFORD       $43.18
10        NIKE FLEX RUN 2014                           $67.93
11        NIKE AIR FORCE 1 LOW                      $91.28
12        JORDAN TRUE FLIGHT                        $136.29
13        NIKE ROSHE RUN                                $73.05
14        W NIKE REVOLUTION 2                      $45.44
15        NIKE REVOLUTION 2                           $44.04
16        JORDAN FUTURE                                 $148.93
17        W ASICS GEL-NIMBUS 16                    $130.96
18        NIKE AIR FORCE 1 MID                       $93.09
19        W BROOKS GLYCERIN                         $129.24
20        W ASICS GEL-KAYANO 20                   $121.63
21        JORDAN 13 “Infrared”                            $198.09
22        K JORDAN 14 “Black Toe”                     $118.83
23        CONVERSE ALL STAR HI                     $48.80
24        NIKE FREE 4.0+ FLYKNIT                      $99.54
25        NIKE SB ZOOM STEFAN                       $76.91

Of the top 250 models for September 2014:

Nike had 129 (52%)
Jordan, 28 (11%)
ASICS, 17
Skechers, 14
Converse, 9
Brooks, 8
Under Armour, 7
Adidas, 6

Kids Footwear
September is a very important month for the kids business. For September, total kids Sport Footwear grew in the low teens.
Basketball is the largest category for kids and represented about a third of total sales.  For September, Kids Basketball sales grew about 35%.
In Kids Basketball, Jordan holds 64% share and Nike brand 32% (combined 96% share).  Nike Kids Basketball grew nearly 75% while Jordan grew more than 25%. UA kids basketball more than doubled on a tiny base
Running is about 30% of the Kids business and, unlike in adults, the Kids running business grew by more than.
In Kids Running, Nike has more than 75% share and sales grew by almost half. Under Armour has about 8% share but sales grew about two-thirds.
Basketball
Basketball is a very important category in September, representing about 20% of all sneakers sold.
In September, Basketball grew about 20%
Nike Basketball grew in the high single digits for the period, while Jordan improved about 40%.
Nike Inc. had a nearly 96% share in Basketball in September
Adidas and Reebok Basketball both declined sharply
UA Basketball more than doubled, with 1% share.
Running
Running grew in the mid-singles for September.
UA Running grew nearly 50% with Adult Running up 35% and Kids’ Running up 75%.
Adidas Running declined in the mid-teens
Nike Running grew in the high singles. Fashion Running was the catalyst for Nike.
September 2014 Apparel Overview
September Sport Apparel grew in the high singles.
Fleece sales were up in the high teens.
Active tops grew in the mid singles, driven by long sleeve tees, long sleeve fitness tops and tanks
Active bottoms improved in the mid singles, on the strong result from the Tights/Capris Fad (+90%)
Sports Bras grew 20%
Men’s grew in the mid singles, Women’s Sport Apparel was up about 10%, while Kids grew about 25%
Nike Women’s grew more than 25% and gained nearly 400 basis points in share.  UA Women’s declined in the mid-singles and gave up 85 basis points in share.
Nike Sport Apparel grew about 20% in September, with share up almost 400 basis points to 28.4%
UA grew in the high teens, with share up 145 basis points to 19%. UA was strongest in kids apparel.
Jordan improved in the mid-teens and The North Face Apparel grew about 25%, while Adidas posted a decline.

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The information in this report are my opinions, based on my analysis of the SportsOneSource US sales data, and do not necessarily reflect those of any other individual, business or organization.