Sports & Fitness Industry Association Chairman and Life Fitness President Chris Clawson is at the center of a rapidly changing industry. Sporting goods retail is shrinking, sports participation is changing and, of course, the internet is changing both sporting goods products and their sales and distribution.
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The retail sector where I’ve seen the most change is consumer electronics. Most of that landscape has vaporized. There was certainly more supply than demand, and in certain markets, that’s true of sporting goods now. There’s a right-sizing in the marketplace. But the internet isn’t your competitor unless you aren’t selling on the internet in a meaningful way.”
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Photo by: LIFE FITNESS
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On changes in retail: We’ve gone from mom-and-pop stores, to malls which changed the marketplace, devastating shopping on downtown main streets. Then the mall was hurt by some local stores and some stand-alone big boxes. Now you’ve got the internet revolution.
On e-commerce’s impact on traditional retail: Sporting goods retailers certainly have been impacted by e-commerce, but that’s not unique. Soft goods have been affected for a long time, with Zappos as a leader there. Once they got around the shipping and service concerns, the convenience factor took over. … Every retailer is confronted with two harsh internet realities: They have to be compelling enough online to generate traffic and it has to be easy to transact business there.
Other factors affecting sporting goods retail: Specialization in particular sports at earlier ages is hurting us, too. If you look at some of the greatest athletes today, a lot played multiple sports. They didn’t focus on one.
On the increasing amount of “connected” sporting goods: Lots of new devices from our (SFIA) members have internet connectivity, and some are great. To me, it is sort of like self-driving cars; some people really want them, others not so much. Being connected will always be important, but the value of that data being collected is what’s ultimately more important.
On future retail trends: The retailer I know well that’s really getting after brick and mortar aggressively is Nebraska Furniture Mart, a Berkshire Hathaway company that’s building 400,000- to 600,000-square-foot stores, which carry everything from our physical fitness products to consumer electronics, to high-end grills and kitchen equipment that costs tens of thousands. Restoration Hardware is another one I like.
