US retail sales of sport footwear fell 4% for the six-month period, October 2001 through March 2002, according to data released by the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA). Sales were $6.49 billion versus $6.75 billion the year before.

“For the first half of our reporting year, the declines affected practically all of the 24 sport footwear categories surveyed,” NSGA Vice President of Information & Research Thomas B. Doyle said. “Only skateboarding shoes showed real strength, up 19%. Golf, basketball and soccer shoes showed modest gains.” 

“The Association had projected a 1% increase in athletic footwear sales for 2002. Given the weak first six months of our survey period, it is unlikely we will reach that projection,” Doyle said.

For the six-month reporting period, sporting goods stores and specialty athletic footwear stores gained market share in sport shoe categories. Sporting goods stores claimed 12.1% of the sport footwear market versus 10.9% the previous year; specialty athletic footwear stores, 12.8% in 2001 versus 11.4% in 2000.  Discount stores, department stores and factory outlets lost slight market share.  Online/internet sales were 2.1% of the total sport footwear market, up from 1.2% the previous year.  Fashion sneakers, a new category for the report, will be included in the final data for the current study.

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