Sole Source: Overall Footwear Sales For May 2010

words_Nick DePaula industry details_Matt Powell Once again we're happy to offer up a look at the overall footwear sales landscape for the month of May 2010. With the help of SportsONESource Analyst Matt Powell, we have a detailed breakdown of the latest industry statistics, as well as the latest trends in footwear sales and market share position. Some key highlights include a second consecutive weak month for Jordan Brand, which saw its overall market share decline and match that of the surging Skechers, with both brands taking in 7.7% share of all footwear sales. Toning continued to be an emerging category, and as a result, Reebok saw continued increases in overall sales with the huge success of their Easy Tone line. Dive in and read along! Below, enjoy the following insights from Matt Powell himself, as he takes a look at overall footwear sales to end May 2010: Overall Footwear Sales: May continued the good run in Athletic Footwear we've seen this year. Sales for the month grew about 10% in dollars, and in the mid singles in units, yielding mid single digit increase in average selling price. Without Toning, sales would have grown in the low singles. Toning was 8.5% of the total Sport Footwear business for May. Toning is on track to exceed $1.5 billion in 2010. Business has been so good and inventories so lean, it appears there is little clearance. May traditionally is a major clearance month so the lack of markdowns likely held the results back from being even better. Sales were very strong in the Family channel and good in full line Sporting goods while the mall cooled off, as Jordan had a 2nd consecutive bad month. The Women's business remains the hot story, driven by Toning. Women's sales were up nearly 25% for the month. Without Toning, Women's sales would have declined in the mid singles. Men's sales improved in the high singles and Kid's sales were flat. In overall Women's, Nike continues to lose major market share, down 30% (-900 basis points) to 22%. Nike's Women's sales declined in the low teens. The bulk of Nike's losses came in Sportswear. We are not saying that Nike's share is going directly to Toning, but not playing in the hottest story, Nike has missed a major opportunity. By contrast, Nike's Men's sales outpaced the industry and gained share. The Top 10 selling Sport Footwear styles provided an interesting list. Top overall seller was the perennial white on white Air Force 1 Low. The list included four Skechers Shape Up styles and three Reebok Easy Tones, as well as the Jordan 11 and 6. The seven Women's styles in the top ten compares to only one (Reebok Princess) last year. In Toning, Skechers had a 54% share and Reebok a 40% share. Avia's share hit 3.6%. Contrary to reports from a department store focused research firm, Running continues to be the other hot story. Sales of all Running shoes grew in the low teens, driven by increases in trail and in lightweight styles. Top Running sellers were Nike's Air Max 2009 (four colors), Nike Free, Nike Max 95 (two colors), Nike Shox Deliver, Reebok Zig Tech Pulse (#6), and Asics Kayano 16. Nike Running improved in the high singles as share declined slightly to 57%. Asics had a mid singles increase and share dipped slightly to 13.5%. New Balance had strong sales and share gain. Adidas Running continued to struggle with sales down in the mid teens. Saucony grew in the mid teens, Mizuno in the high teens and Brooks up sharply. Under Armour Running declined in the low singles, and share dropped to 1.2%. Reebok Running grew 4.5 times and share hit 2% on the successful Zig launch. Basketball had a tough month on weak Jordan results. Jordan sales declined in the high singles and share dropped to 70%. Brand Nike had a very good month in basketball with sales up more than 20%, picking up the entire share Jordan gave up. Adidas basketball sales declined in the mid teens, while And1 doubled. The Lifestyle Fashion category had another challenging month, with sales down more than 20%. The Women's portion of the business declined about 30%, with Nike being the biggest loser. Nike's overall Lifestyle share declined 200 basis points to 29% as sales dipped more than 25%. Skechers sales declined in the mid teens. Converse dropped in the low teens while K-Swiss declined more than 20%. Classics also struggled for May, with sales down in the low teens. Nike's Classics sales declined in the high teens, Converse in the low teens, Reebok in the high teens and K-Swiss more than -30%. Adidas had a small increase in Classics with the Superstar repricing and New Balance surged with sales up more than double on the re-energized 574. Training posted a solid month with sales up in the mid singles. Nike Training grew 25% on Griffey releases. New Balance Training grew 20% on promotional activity. Under Armour Training declined more than two thirds. The woes for Skate continued with sales down in the high teens. Only Vans posted an increase among the major brands. Sandals grew in the mid singles, after a very strong last week. Nike Sandals grew in the low teens while Adidas declined in the high teens. Crocs appears to be back on track as they had a high teens improvement for the month. Brand Breakdown: Overall Brand Nike sales grew in the very low singles for the month as strong Basketball and Running offset weak Sportswear. Nike share declined 300 basis points to 32%. Jordan sales declined in the low teens and share dropped nearly 200 basis points to 7.7%. Skechers tied Jordan for #2 share at 7.7%, as sales more than doubled. New Balance sales grew nicely on strong Running and Classics, while share advanced about 70 basis points to 6.4%. Reebok leapt over Adidas and Asics for #5 spot, as sales nearly tripled and share jumped 330 basis points to 5.6%. Adidas sales declined in the high singles and share dropped 100 basis points to 4.8%. Asics sales grew in the mid singles but they lost share. The outdoor brands all had a good May, with Timberland up in the high teens, Merrell up about 30%, Columbia up in the low teens and The North Face up sharply. Converse sales declined in the low teens; Under Armour dropped about a third; K-Swiss declined more than 20%.