Nike plans to announce today that it is "forming a new
unit to focus on" women's footwear and apparel "in an effort
to fend off intensifying competition" in the women's
athletic market, according to Khanh Tran of the WALL STREET
JOURNAL. Women's footwear and apparel "generated sales of"
$1.55B in the company's FY ended in May, accounting for
about 20% of the company's total global sales. The new unit
will "incorporate the separate divisions that oversee"
women's footwear and apparel and will have "its own
marketing team and budget." Nike will "focus on producing a
middle range of fitness wear to complement its high-
performance gear," and the company "also plans to create a
new line of top-end active apparel that would sell at higher
prices and have bigger profit margins." The new unit will
be headed by Clare Hamill, who comes from Nike's equipment
business, and will have a staff of about 1,000 employees,
including 170 people Nike hired from Liz Claiborne, Levi
Strauss and other fashion companies in the past 18 months to
focus on women's apparel. While declining to provide
specific figures, Nike said that it "plans to spend two to
three times more" on its women's business than it did in the
previous year (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/22). Nike announced
that Peter Ruppe will replace Hamill in heading Nike's
equipment division. Ruppe was VP/Global Footwear (Nike).