As the athletic shoe industry "is squeezed by a glut of
product," some of its largest retailers "are fighting back
with private labels," according to BRANDWEEK's Terry Lefton.
This year, FootAction will introduce a line of hiking, trail
and outdoors shoes via a license from Land Rove; The Sports
Authority will roll-out a similar line under license from
Tyrolia; and Foot Locker and Champs will market a line of
Champion-branded footwear for back-to-school. In addition,
NY-based Muller Sports Group is developing branded footwear
for JCPenney, one of which will use the company's rights to
the U.S. Olympic Team marks. Lefton reports that selling a
private label allows shoe retailers to improve margins by a
"minimum" of 10%, "a big attraction at a time when the
athletic shoe business is suffering and both consumers and
retailers are seeing too many me-too product in too many me-
too stores." Smith Barney analyst Faye Landes: "It will
take a lot of marketing muscle if they really want to grow
private label as a business, but most of them are investing
a lot there anyway, so why not throw that money toward
something where they can get better margins and build
something they can keep?" (BRANDWEEK, 5/11 issue).
NOT YOUR SAME OLD TIRE-D SHOE: In N.Y., James Sterngold
examines Oakley's introduction in the sneaker market, "an
unusual black and yellow woven shoe with a motorcycle racing
tire for a sole." Oakley will focus its shoe sale on 200 or
so sporting goods stores which also carry its sunglasses and
it will retail for $125. Sterngold adds that the new shoe
"is an attempt to do in the shoe market what Oakley's
sunglasses did in that market: create a niche by using high
technology and a high-technology look" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/12).
