The "slow back-to-school sales reveal a widening schism
between the athletic shoe companies and two important
constituencies: the retailers who sell their products and
the youths who are their target market," according to Jeff
Manning of the Portland OREGONIAN. Venator's Foot Locker,
has recently discounted new back-to-school products from
adidas, Nike and Timberland, and some stores are "cutting
prices on name brands" 30% or more. Salomon Smith Barney
analyst Faye Landes calls the "breadth of the discounting
here is amazing. I've never seen this before in the six
years I've been covering the industry." Fila USA President
Jon Epstein: "[N]o one has ever seen a move like this from
Woolworth." Venator, formerly Woolworth, would not comment.
A "few voices say the furor is overblown." Nike Dir of U.S.
Sales Mark Duggan said, despite the price cutting, "We don't
see a trend here." Finish Line CEO Alan Cohen, however,
"laid the blame squarely on Venator's shoulders." Cohen: "I
walk into their stores and see product that we can sell for
$75 being sold for $51 in Foot Locker. ... For a primary
retailer to denigrate these brands is a travesty and a
tragedy." Manning wrote that last year, Nike relied on
Venator for "about" 12%, or $1.1B, of its total sales, while
Nike goods accounted for between 45% and 60% of Venator's
sales (Jeff Manning, Portland OREGONIAN, 8/30).
