By: Leisure Trends Group
October 23, 2012

Leisure Trends Group (LTG) mourns the loss of its founder and longtime leader Jim Spring.  Jim, who passed away early Monday morning, founded LTG in 1989, and over the past 23 years developed and led the company from its infancy to the fast growing, highly respected company it is today serving the sporting goods and specialty retail industries.

Jim was fondly known as “the smartest man in the specialty retail business”.  He passed away while battling throat cancer at the age of 75.  With a career spanning 50 years, he was universally respected for his business acumen, keen retail wisdom, honesty and humor (and most of all, one of the greatest belly-chuckles the world has ever known!) all of which Jim freely shared with employees, peers and the sports industry through untold articles, columns and speeches.

Starting his career as the Executive Editor of SKI magazine, Jim authored three books on retail management and the use of statistical information.  He also created the concept of segmenting Americans by their leisure time activities and their attitudes towards those activities.  Proclaimed by his peers as a “retail genius” and a tireless champion of the specialty retailer, Jim pioneered retail sales tracking with breakthroughs including the first working universal vendor code and the use of data captured at point-of-sale in retail stores.  Jim created this method of tracking sales through his first company, SMART, eventually selling the company to NPD.  Following SMART, Jim started Leisure Trends Group and eventually completed his career as owner and Chairman, mentor and friend, to the company’s nearly 50 person team.

Jim founded and ran Leisure Trends with his wife, Joy Spring, until 2010, when they retired from the day-to-day activities to lead LTG’s board of directors.

Jim is survived by his wife of 22 years, Joy Spring, and his three children, James Wright Spring, Elizabeth Hayden Spring and Thomas Cody Clarke Spring, his wife Laura, and 2 grandchildren, Sophia and Maxwell Spring.

Memorial arrangements and additional details to be forthcoming. 

By: Emily O’Hara, SIA
July 25, 2012

It’s recap season at SIA Research, which means that we are hard at work covering everything that happened in the 2011/2012 winter season. Next up: The SIA Snow Sports Participation Report–created as part of The Physical Activity Council partnership, to answer all of your questions regarding who made it to the mountain in 2011.
Understanding your audience is crucial, and the Snow Sports Participation Report will help you get a better perspective of who those 19.8 million participants really are. The report provides information including: overall headcounts, cross over activities, geographic information, income, education, age, gender, frequency of participation and more.

Keep an eye out next week for the release of the report, which is free to SIA members and $899 for non-members.

By: Emily O’Hara
Market Research Associate
SIA
April 23, 2012

As we near the end of a difficult season, there is not much we can say to brighten your spirits. The recent release of the February 2012 RetailTRAK™ numbers confirm how badly the lack of snow has negatively influences sales at retail.

Retail sales are down 12% in units and 4% in dollars, reaching a grand total of $3.2 B by the end of February. Equipment and accessories sales struggled the most, in all regions except the Northwest, where the snow kicked in a little later than usual. In fact, retail shows in the Western region finished the month up 1% to $657M, while the rest of the regions did not have such good luck, especially the Northeast, down 11%. Rentals at retail shops were down 30%, totally close to $3M, suggesting that skier and rider visits will be noticeably down for the season.

If you’re looking for more info on the February data, check out the full press release here, and be sure to keep an eye out next month for our season end data, covering the 2011/2012 season through March 31.

This year in alpine skis, the fatter the better. Flat skis with waist widths 95mm-110mm are up 60% in units sold to more than 20,000 units in the first months of 2011/12. Here are some more trends to watch this season…

Trends to watch in 2011/2012

• Reverse and mixed camber ski sales doubled compared to pre-season sales a year ago to 32,000 pairs.
• The fatter, the better – flat skis with waist widths 95mm-110mm are up 60% in units sold to more than 20,000 units in the first months of 2011/2012.
• Rocker/Reverse camber snowboard sales continue to rise; now 70% of all boards sold are rocker.
• Bargain hunters will notice that snowboard apparel average prices are down 4% from August – October 2010.
• Helmets sales continue to grow, unit sales are up 12.5% so far this season.
• Sales of beacons, probes and shovels, necessities for the backcountry experience, are up 19% in units sold.

Reverse cambered snowboards are continuing to grow in popularity, and are up 34%.

Flat skis are up 38%.

Alpine apparel is up 12%.

Overall snow sports equipment, up 14%.

Juniors snowboard apparel is up 38%, despite the overall category only being up 4%.

Leisure Trends Group, the organization that SnowsSports Industries America works with to compile snow sports industry sales data, announced that Charlie Cooper has been promoted to the president of business intelligence, retail tracking, consumer insight, and customer management company.

Cooper, formerly vice president and general manager of LTG, replaces Jim Spring, founder of LTG and its president for 22 years.

Since joining LTG in 2009, Cooper has been responsible for LTG’s successful entry into the bicycle and running shoe markets, according to a press release.

Prior to joining LTG, he was COO of a technology startup in Denver, Colorado, co-owner of a sports specialty apparel company, and he has held senior marketing and production positions at Electric Arts. His sales and marketing career began in NASCAR and Collegiate Licensing in 1992.

Read more here.

MCLEAN, VA. (May 2, 2011) – The snow sports market brought in a record $3.3 billion over the full 2010/11 season (previous highest sales record was $3 billion, set in 2007/08). Overall, snow sports sales were up 8% in units sold, and 12% in dollars sold.  Leaner inventories kept prices strong throughout the season, equipment inventories finished the season 19% leaner and equipment prices were 10% higher than they were at the close of last season.  In fact, retail margins finished the season up 10% for equipment, up 10% for accessories, and up 4% for apparel goods sold.

Source:  SIA RetailTRAK™ BY Leisure Trends Group.  Topline data includes carryover sales.

2010/2011 Season Trends

• Alpine skis (flat skis sold without bindings) in the 80mm-110mm waist width category were up 74% in dollars sold on more than 74,000 units compared to 47,000 units sold last season.
• Women’s ski sales increased 20% in units sold and 26% in dollars sold this season.  149,000 out of a total of 419,000 alpine skis sold were women’s models this season.
• AT/Randonee equipment sales finished the season up 90% overall in dollars sold, and up 87% in units sold.  Most notably, AT/Randonee boots sales finished up 126% in units and up 124% in dollars sold. 
• Reverse/Mixed camber ski sales finished the season up 134% in units sold and 129% in dollars sold.  Approximately 54,000 pairs of reverse camber/mixed camber skis were sold this season.
• Reverse camber snowboard sales were up 42% in units sold and 46% in dollars sold.  In fact, 45% of all current season model boards sold this season have reverse camber.
• Americans fought the cold with insulated parkas this season and sales reflected cold and snowy La Niña conditions.  Insulated parka sales finished the season up 24% in units sold and up 24% in dollars sold to $394 million in total sales.
• Helmet sales were very strong this season with 1.2 million sold, up 3% in units sold and up 12% in dollars sold.
• Snowshoe sales are up 21% in units and up 20% in dollars sold through February this season. 

This season, American consumers spent $902 million on snow sports equipment.  Sales peaked in December and January but fell off the pace in February and March due to scarcity.  Prices remained strong through the end of the season, particularly for equipment, demonstrating the market power of leaner inventories.  In the past, retailers incentivized buyers with slashed prices for equipment, often selling current season equipment as carryover (sold at or below average retail cost).  This season, sales of carryover equipment units were down 37% in February and down 27% in March 2011. 

Apparel sales set a new record this season with $1.2 billion sold.  The weather helped push apparel sales throughout the season as La Niña dumped snow across the Northern half of the U.S. through April.  Overall, apparel sales were up 7% in units sold and up 11% in dollars sold.  Keep in mind that snow sports apparel is purchased by many who will never ride a ski lift but want to be warm, dry and fashionable in the worst winter weather.

Snow sports accessories like helmets, gloves, ski racks, and snowshoes enjoyed excellent sales this season, accessories sales finished the season up 9% in units sold and up 14% in dollars sold bringing in $1.2 billion total. Helmets accounted for 10% of all accessories sales this season as the trend to protect against head injuries in skiing and other sports where collisions are likely continued to gain strength on new medical discoveries.  In fact, more than 1.2 million snow sports specific helmets were sold this season.

Weather plays the most critical role in snow sports sales. Regionally, heavy snow and colder than average temperatures drove consumers to buy in the western region where sales were up 21% in equipment dollars sold, 14% in apparel and 20% in accessories sales.  The Northeast also enjoyed sales increasing including 15% more in equipment dollars, 18% more in apparel and 19% in accessories dollars sold during the season.  In the South, snow sports participants who were headed for more mountainous terrain continued their equipment buying spree increasing sales up 16%, but warmer weather in the southern U.S. did not drive apparel and accessories sales. Southern apparel sales were relatively flat with a 2% gain in dollars sold and accessories are up just 1% over last season.  The Midwestern region’s sales continued to grow this season; up 13% in equipment, 4% in apparel and up 13% in accessories dollars sold. 

SIA Members get free access to Snow Sports topline data produced by The Leisure Trends Group as well as topline data for the Outdoor, Running, Paddle Sports, Athletic Apparel, and SCUBA Dive markets. Click HERE to register for the SIA Cross Industry RetailTRAK™ Portal and get 24/7/365 unrestricted access to topline information as a member benefit.

The market data presented in this report comes from the SIA RetailTRAK™ produced for SIA by the Leisure Trends Group.  RetailTRAK™ data is gathered directly from a representative panel of more than 1,500 snow sports retailers who provide sales data directly to the Leisure Trends Group from their Point of Sale systems.  The RetailTRAK™ panel and the method for extrapolating the results out to the entire industry is based on a triennial census of snow sports retailers designed to accurately define the size and structure of the snow sports retail marketplace.  SIA maintains these data for members down to the product level.  For more information about SIA’s RetailTRAK™ information please contact Kelly Davis, SIA’s Director of Research at KDavis@snowsports.org.

Join SIA and Leisure Trends for a FREE Webinar on March 17, 1P – 2P (MST) as Scott Jaeger, Senior Retail Analyst at Leisure Trends presents Industry overviews for the Outdoor, Running and Snow Sport industries.  Scott will then dig deep into Outdoor RetailTRAK™ to isolate key category, regional, retail price, margin and inventory trends that give important insight into what you can expect and where you can capitalize in 2011.

In this year of rapidly escalating production and transportation costs, Leisure Trends Group is hyper aware of price elasticity concerns. Scott will closely examine rising retail prices, wholesale costs and retail margins across several categories. He will then take that behavior at retail and overlay it with findings from LTG’s most recent Most Active Americans Panel™ poll where active Americans were asked several questions regarding price sensitivity and how rising prices might affect buying behavior on sports, recreation and recreation products.

Click here to register for the webinar. Space is limited.

Want to ensure you have access to retail sales data across 6 key industries? Register Now for the Cross Industry Retail Sales Topline – $375.00 annual fee

Thanks to a generous sponsorship from SnowSports Industries America (SIA), the 2011 access fee for retail sales data across 6 industries is just $375.00!  Don’t wait, sign up now for a year of accurate and timely retail sales data across 6 sports & outdoor recreation industries.  Your $375 fee will give you a year of unlimited access to industry, category and class retail sales reports across the following industries:

•  Outdoor 
• Snow Sports
• Running
• Athletic Apparel
• Paddle Sports
• SCUBA Dive 

From overall industry trends to deep dives into hundreds of sub categories of products, you can access sales by: dollars sold, units sold, average retail selling prices, adult vs. jr sales, men’s vs. women’s sales, boy’s vs. girls sales, sales by price point and in specialty store channels you can also access business metrics such as: margins, turns, sell through and view even view regional sales trends in the outdoor and snow specialty channels. 

Your Topline retail sales data is updated monthly for each market listed above (note snow sports data measures sales from August through March only) and is available for access online 24/7/365 basis.   

If you have any questions this subscription, available data, or about brand market share information, please contact: Julia at LTG at 303-786-7900 x107 / jday@leisuretrends.com

Don’t hesitate!  SIGN UP NOW and for $375.00 you will have access to six markets through December 31, 2011.

Preliminary SIA RetailTRAK™ data, provided by Leisure Trends Group, points to another extremely healthy sales month in January for the snow sports retail market.  Comparing January 2011 with January 2010, sales jumped approximately 17% across all sales channels including chain stores, online retail, and specialty shops.  Season to date, sales in the snow sports market are up to $2.6B, a full 16% higher than last season at this time and well above Aug – Jan in both the 2008/2009 and 2007/2008 seasons. Snow sport retailers comfortably outpaced general retail this month, which was up 8.3% over January 2010, according to the US Census Bureau.

January 2011′s strong sales occurred in a month which, despite several large winter storms across the country, actually ranked 9 driest on record.  However, the colder than average temperatures across the country kept consumer demand for winter-related products high.  Especially strong growth came out of insulated jackets, fleece jackets and cold-weather accessories such as gloves, hats, base layer and socks.

 Sales at snowsport retail are expected to maintain an upward trajectory in 2011.  While weather certainly plays a role, it is not the only factor influencing growth in the snow sports industry.  The consumers that shop at specialty and core snow sport retail are more likely to be peer leaders, trend setters and core enthusiasts; they are passionate about what they do, and that passion encourages spending.   “These consumers are more likely to make room in their budget to support the things that they love to do,” explains LTG retail analyst Elisabeth Stahura, “even if it means cutting back in other areas.  The fact that snow sport retailers outperformed general retail is evidence of this.

 “I love to ski!  We have pre-invested in lodging and ski passes in Vail Colorado for the upcoming season… We will just spend less on food.”  - Most Active American – MAAP Panel member

 The improved retail sales numbers are also supported by consumer opinion.  A recent poll of Leisure Trends Group’s Most Active Americans™ consumer panel found that over half (51%) of the respondents plan to spend the same amount this year on sports, recreation and fitness products and services as in 2010 while a full 30% plan to spend “More” or “Much More”. Only 17% plan to spend “Less” or “Much Less” in 2011.