Premium sports socks

Discount Store News, Sept 15, 1997

Run a mile in new synthetic fiber blend sports socks and your feet will stay dry. And best of all, you won't have to run to a specialty store to buy them because they're becoming a fast-moving item in the mass market.

"The discount market is definitely the biggest market for sports socks," says Carol Schierlmann, brand manager for Neuville Industries in Hildebran, N.C. "The mid-tier made some strong ground last year, but discount is still holding 60 percent of the market."

One of the weapons that discounters are deploying in order to keep a leg up on higher-end retailers is a broad selection of new-age sports socks from Neuville and other manufacturers.

"Sports socks are our best-selling category in women's socks today," says Bernie Wise, divisional merchandise manager in women's apparel for O'Fallon, Mo.-based Venture Stores. Wise adds that performance synthetics are becoming more and more noticeable by consumers. "It is becoming more important to our customers when they learn to value of blends."

Although it has taken a while, consumers are beginning to follow the lead of athletes who recognize the advantages of running with synthetics. "One of our best-selling socks is men's is the acrylic dress sock, which men have been buying forever" Schierlmann says. "But for whatever reason, the same sales haven't translated into sports socks." Until now, that is.

Premium sports socks made of acrylic, polyester and other synthetic fibers (specially treated in new manufacturing processes that make them soft but also give them "moisture management" characteristics that draw sweat away from skin) are keeping the feet of athletes, weekend joggers and casual walkers dry and comfortable. Manufacturers are shipping the socks in numerous styles and sizes with labels that promise to not only maintain dryness but also to help prevent athletes' foot fungus and foot odor.

One label Athletech Ultra by Odor-Eaters, from Combe Inc., Union Point, Ga., contains a manufacturer's money-back guarantee that the socks will be "99.9 percent effective in preventing growth of athlete's foot fungus." It also claims to kill the fungus while fighting sock and sneaker odor for two years. Made of a cotton/polyester blend, these were available in both Kmart and Target in three-pair packs of anklets, crew-length and over-the-calf styles, priced at $4.99 to $5.99.

Other labels fall short guaranteeing performance, though they still pay up the ability to keep feet dry. "DuPont doesn't make any guarantees," says Dana McCauley, communications manager for the maker of CoolMax, a popular polyester fiber that is engineered to feel more like cotton and control moisture. "But CooMax does keep your feet drier." She noted a study by the U.S. military that found that CoolMax had reduced foot blisters among recruits by one-third.

Mass merchants are beginning to play up the new lines of specially treated sports socks in prominent displays in men's, women's, boys' and girls' departments. With companies like. DuPont promoting synthetic fibers in national advertising campaigns, discounters can ride the same wave that is driving sales of premium socks in department and specialty stores. Even when conventional cotton tube socks are still the main sales item, prominent displays of the synthetic premium brands make for an attractive draw into a store section that sells socks and related items, such as bodywear and running shorts.

Sports socks overall, including the more conventional cotton tube variety, are selling well among most discounters as well as other retail tiers. The strength of sales is most notable in men's for many retailers, though some leading discounters are also aggressively playing up both premium and conventional sports socks in women's and children's areas as well.

At Rocky Hill, Conn.-based Ames Department Stores, "sports socks are very important in men's [where they are] 79 percent of the total department," says men's buyer Ron Kohl. Sales through mid-August of this year were running 12.2 percent over last year, he adds.

So far this year, Sears has seen a 17 percent increase over last year, with men's responsible for the biggest growth in both conventional sports socks and the new anti-fungal type. Sears sales were boosted by the recent addition of the Champion label, which has supplemented sales of Dockers, Arrow and the Sears Winner private label.

Kmart and Target stores in the Chicago metro area show a strong concentration of synthetic blends and cotton sports socks in women's as well as men's, with a good variety in boys' and girls', too. Kmart punctuates its women's displays with photo-signs of Kathy Ireland Performance products, banking on the supermodel to promote socks with Duraspun or CoolMax fabrics at $3.99 per pair or socks with MicroSafe anti-odor and anti-fungus fabric at $5.99 for four pairs.

Kmart's men's selections display a high percentage of cotton crews, such as six-packs of MacGregor labels for $7.99. As with most discount store men's departments, Kmart offers a strong mix of "work" as well as sports socks, the former usually carrying the Dickies label in a three-pair pack of "anti-fungal" socks for $4.99. Other labels in Kmart include Wilson Pro 5000 on two-pair packages of CoolMax-blended anklet socks.