SARA LEE'S CHAMPION FOOTWEAR LINE TO BE SOLD VIA WOOLWORTH

          Sara Lee Corp.'s Champion Products unit "is re-
     entering" the athletic footwear market in a licensing
     arrangement announced yesterday with Woolworth Corp.,
     according to George Lazarus of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE.  Under
     the alliance, Woolworth will design, manufacture and retail
     running, basketball, tennis, cross-training and football
     shoes under the Champion brand name.  The line will be
     available at retail in July or August.  The deal's "big
     attraction" is that the Champion footwear line will be sold
     "exclusively through Woolworth's Foot Locker and Champs
     Sports retail chains, which number 2,000 and 650,
     respectively."  Asked if there might be a celebrity
     endorsing the new line, Champion President Michael Flatow
     said there's nothing "immediate": "There's only one
     celebrity who matters in footwear (Michael Jordan) and he's
     already taken" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/19).  For more on the
     footwear category, see (#17) and (#18).