In-line skates, street hockey puck hot sellers - Discount Industry Annual Report, part 2

Discount Store News, July 20, 1992

In-line skates will be the star performer in sporting goods this year in terms of sales growth, as industry sources predict sales of this product to rise 40% in 1992.

About 1.7 million Americans skated on in-line skates at least 25 days in 1991, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. The growth rate for in-line skates - pioneered by Rollerblade - is four times that of the 4% projected growth rate for supporting goods equipment overall through all retail channels.

Including apparel and athletic shoes, total sales also will gain 4% in 1992, said the SGMA. Excluding apparel and shoes, DSN projects that discount sales of sporting goods will total $7 billion in 1992, with the greatest percentage of sales (54%) going through discount department stores. Specialty sporting goods retailers will account for about 33% of total discount sporting goods sales this year.

The boom in in-line skate sales has also generated additional add-on sales of protective gear, knee and elbow pads and helmets, that can cost more than the skates themselves.

Archery and soccer also will produce solid results in '92. Total sales of archery equipment will increase 25% this year; while soccer, which requires little equipment save for balls, goals and shin pads, will increase 9%.

A new category that discounters dominate, water sport shoes, should produce a 24% gain in sales.

In apparel, sales of golf, downhill skiing and tennis clothing are expected to grow more than twice as fast as the equipment for the respective sports. That suggests a greater deal of cross selling to those who want to look the part, even if they spend little time on the golf course, tennis court or ski slope.

Sales of golfing apparel will rise 10% while golfing apparel will gain 3%.

Sales of downhill skiing apparel will increase 8%, compared to 2% for equipment. Sales of tennis togs will gain 7%, compared to 4% for rackets and balls.

Licensed apparel continues to be one of the three hottest categories in sporting goods. Any jacket, sweatshirt T-shirt or cap with a local college or professional team logo on it is selling strongly.

Franklin Sporting Goods is even licensing its street hockey gear through the National Hockey League.

In new equipment, a street hockey puck from Sun Hockey called the Hot Puck appears to be selling strongly and will make its formal debut at the 1992 show next month at the National Sporting Goods Association. The Hot Puck features tiny wheels that the manufacturer claims "turns concrete into ice."

In terms of dollar volume, exercise equipment will be the bully on the block in '92, with a 6% gain.

Within the category, stair climbers, cross country skiers and treadmills showed the strongest percentage gains in terms of frequent participants over the past three years.

Stair climbers came out of nowhere to produce a 741% gain from 1988 to 1991. Some 2.6 million Americans exercised on them at least 100 days in 1991. The use of cross-country skis grew 167% in the same three years, with 900,000 frequent users, and treadmill exercise grew 126% with two million users.

In total, the SGMA estimates that 43.4 million Americans engaged in fitness activities at least 100 days out of 1991. Female participants outnumbered males 22.3 million to 21.7 million.

Wilson also got into the exercise field by licensing its name for a line of pricery home exercise equipment.

Flex gyms continue in popularity because of their relatively light weight and low price, in comparison to weight stack gyms. As examples of new flex gyms to hit the market, CSA introduced this year two new licensed flex gyms from Gold's Gym that will retail for $299 and $499. In comparison, its weight stack gyms, part of a complete line of licensed exercise equipment from Gold's are intended to retail for $499 and $599.

Sporting Goods
$7.0 Billion
Full-Line Discounters        $3.8B
Catalog Showrooms            $0.2B
Membership Warehouse         $0.7B
Specialty Discounters        $2.3B
Full-Line Discount
Store Productivity
Sales                        $3.8B
Sales Per Store             $475,000
Dept. Size                2,550 Sq. Ft.
Sales Per Sq. Ft.           $186.27
Turns                         2.6
Initial Markup               33.1%
Gross Market                 24.8%