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SIA News 5.7(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MCLEAN, Va., Dec. 10 -- SnowSports Industries America issued the following newsletter: SNOW SPORTS EQUIPMENT SALES TAKE OFF IN THE PRE-SEASON The 2010/2011 snow sports season is underway and equipment and equipment accessories sales increased through October while apparel and apparel accessories sales lagged. Overall, sales from August to October 2010 match sales for the same period last year with a 1% increase in dollars, but 5% fewer units sold. Apparel sales are down 6% in dollars and in units. The slump in apparel sales may be due to continuing economic concerns, difficulty shipping goods from production facilities in China, and warmer weather through October. Alpine equipment sales are up 8% in units and 16% in dollars sold. Carryover sales are down across all categories, as retailers started the season with leaner inventories. Snow sports specialty shops enjoyed strong equipment sales and an overall increase of 3% in dollars sold. Online sales have finally leveled off after four seasons of vast increases in sales, and chain stores sales are down 14% in units and 5% in dollars sold through October. November weather surpassed expectations for snow across the country and snow sports sales are highly correlated with snowfall. SIA will release November data on January 5, 2011. "Sales are going very well, with an earlier than usual start to the season, and so far, we are achieving our goals for November, which are aggressive." - Spike Clayton, Ski Rack, VT Quick Trends * Women are buying ski systems - Women's specific ski systems are up 27% through October and 86% of women's systems sold have waist widths of 70-79mm. Women purchased 16,800 systems and 7,100 flat skis so far this season. * Alpine equipment sales are at a 10 year high, so far this season, in units and dollars sold (see chart below). * AT/Randonee equipment - Sales increased 55% in dollars and 62% in units through October. * Goggles sales soaring - Sales are up 32% in dollars sold and 23% in units sold. * Insulated apparel - October was significantly warmer this year and may be to blame for a 5% decrease in units and dollars sold. * Reverse camber snowboards - Rocker boards now make up 55% of all snowboards sold. * Cross Country boots up - Cross country ski boot sales increased 17% in units sold. View chart here: (http://www.snowsports.org/Reps/SIANewsletter/NewsletterDetail/Contentid/1401/) Sales by Region - In Specialty, stores where sales are tracked in 4 distinct regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West), a 21% boost in the West, the largest region, as well as a 3% increase in the South contributed to a strong Specialty channel while sales fell 8% and 10% in the Northeast and Midwest respectively. View chart here: (http://www.snowsports.org/Reps/SIANewsletter/NewsletterDetail/Contentid/1401/) Channels Snow Sports Specialty, $284 million - Down 2% in units and up 3% in dollars Alpine ski equipment sales soared in the pre-season with a 12% increase in units sold and 20% increase in dollars sold. Adult twin tip ski sales are up 37% in units and 45% in dollars sold to $1.8 million. Snowboard equipment sales decreased 4% in units but higher average prices due to a decrease in the sales of carryover equipment prices of snowboard equipment led to an increase of 2% in dollars sold. Cross Country equipment sales are up 24% in units and 18% in dollars sold and AT/Randonee sales remain small at 2600 units total but sales are up more than 100% in units and in dollars sold. Apparel sales suffered in specialty shops through October as warm temperatures and a sputtering economy did little to spur sales of parkas, suits and snowboard apparel; apparel unit sales and dollar sales fell 7.5% in specialty shops. Accessories sales results varied with stellar results for goggles and backcountry but sharp decreases in sales of gloves and hats. Internet, $162 million - Down 5% units and down 1% in dollars The Internet channel finally leveled off after 5 seasons of notable expansion. Equipment enjoyed 9% growth in dollars sold, while apparel sales fell 9% in units and 6% in dollars sold. Keep in mind that a portion of the downturn in apparel sales during this period may be due to difficulty getting goods shipped from production facilities in China into U.S. retail channels. Accessories sales were up 3% in dollars largely due to strong sales of goggles, auto racks, and backcountry accessories including shovels, beacons and probes. Internet sales include sales through "clicks only" establishments that have no brick and mortar shop for customers to visit. It's all online, as well as online sales in shops with a brick and mortar location and a commerce enabled website for their customers. Many of the sales reported come from brick and mortar establishments that are reaching customers online and in the shop. Chain Stores, $76 million - Down 14% in units and down 5% in dollars Chain store sales are down in in equipment, apparel and accessories through October this season. Chain stores sell far less equipment than specialty or online sales channels. Fewer than 7% of skis, 15% of snowboards, 3% of Cross Country skis sold in snow sports sales channels were sold in chain stores through October. Apparel didn't fare much better with a 6% decrease in units and dollars sold so far this season. Some accessories performed well in chain stores including goggles, helmets, wax and sunglasses. The market data presented in this report comes from the SIA Retail Audit, conducted by the Leisure Trends Group. The Retail Audit data is gathered directly from the Point of Sale systems of about 1/3 of the snow sports retailers in the U.S. market. Each season, Leisure Trends gathers snow sports sales data from a representative panel of more than 1,200 snow sports retailers who provide sales data directly from their Point of Sale systems. The 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 Retail Audit information please contact Kelly Davis, SIA's Director of Research [email protected]. INCREASE PROJECTED FOR SNOW SPORTS MARKET HOLIDAY SALES The 2010 holiday shopping season is about to hit top speed and consumers are ready to spend on more than the fundamentals despite lingering worries about the economy. Snow sports consumers will buy a third of all products sold for the season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The National Retail Foundation's Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey provides insight on 2010 holiday shopping trends and overall consumer sentiment that is sometimes surprising and paints a brighter picture for retailers this holiday season. The snow sports market relies heavily on sales between the weeks of November 16 and December 21. Historically, sales for these 6 weeks represent one-third of all sales for the snow sports season. Last season, snow sports retailers brought in more than $865 million in sales during the holiday shopping season out of a total of $2.94 billion for the entire season. In fact, during the "last minute" shopping frenzy, that generally takes place the week of December 21, sales for the week represented 9% of the season's total sales in the snow sports market. View chart here: (http://www.snowsports.org/Reps/SIANewsletter/NewsletterDetail/Contentid/1401/) For some insight on consumer sentiment in general, SIA looked to the National Retail Foundation's Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. The National Retail Foundation (NRF) interviewed 8,767 consumers between October 5 and 12, 2010 to find out how consumers are feeling about the economy and what they plan to buy this holiday season. Results of that survey indicate that consumers will increase the amount they spend during the holidays this season by about 1%; from $681.83 last year to $688.87 this year. "Consumers will still shop with the economy in the back of their minds, but we're starting to see shoppers take baby steps toward a new normal," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. "As Americans open up their wallets for more discretionary gifts like jewelry or take advantage of sales to buy for themselves, retailers will begin to truly believe that the worst may be behind them." In fact, the NRF is projecting holiday sales to jump 2.3% overall this year. SIA will report official data for the full 2010 holiday sales season on January 27, the opening day of the 2011 SIA Snow Show in Denver, Colorado. In just three short weeks, on December 5, SIA and Leisure Trends Group will release the first retail sales results for the season; covering the August 1 - October 31 time period. Early indications point to increases in early season sales of more than 10% and momentum in the market appears to be building as the snow sports demographic finds more stable ground in the recovering economy. Keep in mind that snow sports consumers are more educated (85% have or are tracking toward a college degree, at minimum), live in households with incomes above $100,000, and generally have more discretionary income than the average consumer. Overall, all of those factors point to strong holiday sales this season. To get more information about snow sports retail sales, or SIA research in general, please contact Kelly Davis, SIA Director of Research at 703-506-4224 or by email at [email protected]. SIA LAUNCHES "THE LATEST" FOR EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SHOW, DEMO & THE INDUSTRY With 48 days to go til the 2011 Snow Show & On-Snow Demo/Ski-Ride Fest we've launched a new way to get you geared up with SIA's "The Latest". Hosted on siasnowshow.com, this new section is the HQ for everything Show and Demo related. The format allows you to select the news that you need/want to read quickly. In a few weeks, we will also be launching a similar section on our SIA Association site,snowsports.org, so be on the lookout. "The Latest" is updated on a continuous basis with Show and Demo news. So without further ado, enjoy "The Latest". SUPPORT WORLD SNOWBOARD DAY, DEC 19 100 resorts. 32 countries. Limitless riding. For its 5th edition, the World Snowboard Day (WSD) returns on Sunday, December 19, 2010. This free, worldwide, one-day event is the best opportunity to discover snowboarding and its culture. One hundred resorts are already preparing free snowboarding activities in 32 countries. Learn more at World-Snowboard-Day.com. Recently, SIA joined the WSD team to help support this universal event. Get involved, become an organizer or talk it up to your customers, peers and staff. Download the Organizer's Guide here. The goal of World Snowboard Day is to enable the masses, from beginners through experts of all ages, to discover the snowboard culture and experience the excitement of snowboarding at resorts around the world. Questions? Contact WSD [email protected] or P Tel: +33 (0)4 50 67 53 91. Continue to visit World-Snowboard-Day.com for updates on new events, and join the World Snowboard Day community on social networks: MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. "ESTABLISH GENUINE RELATIONSHIPS AND BE A PROFESSIONAL. WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER," TIPS FROM DANNY BARONE Congrats to Danny Barone, SIA's 2010 SIA SnowSports Rockies Rep of the Yearwinner. We caught up with Danny to learn more about the Colorado native. Danny grew up in Colorado Springs, where he worked at BC Surf and Sport for nine years before becoming a rep. He began working for DC Shoes, Northwaveand Section Outerwear as a tech rep in 1992 and after a few years, the rep group that he was working with, was hired by Smith Optics. Currently Danny reps for Smith Optics exclusively, with his colleagues: Axel Geittmann, Jake Pedziawatrand Heather Crawford. SIA: Why are you in this industry? Danny: Because I have skated for 20+ years and snowboarded for over 10. I love the people and relationships in this industry. SIA: How did you get started in the industry? Danny: I worked retail for about 9 years and when I left, I was approached to tech-rep a few lines. SIA: What does winning the SIA Rep of the Year award mean to you? Danny: It means that being passionate about the people you work with and the products you believe in transcend into positive actions on a day to day basis. SIA: What can retailers, suppliers and reps do to do better business? Danny: Work together to get through tough situations. Be the professional your retailers are looking for to manage their business. SIA: How do you feel about the upcoming season? Predictions? Danny: Off to a good start. There's a lot of hype and excitement right now. Hope it snows. SIA: What do you see as your immediate business priorities in this current economic climate? Danny: To be the best business partner for my retailers and be proactive in any situation. SIA: What are some top sales tips Reps should follow? Danny: Do not over promise and under achieve. Establish genuine relationships and be a professional. We're all in this together. SIA: Which retailer, rep, company or individual - do you admire the most in the industry and why? Danny: Eric Carlson and everyone at Smith Optics. Also, my wife Heather for putting up with me. SIA: Plans for the holidays? Danny: To ride as much as possible and have my 5 year old not find his Xmas presents early. SIA: What do you do to prepare for the Show? Danny: Meditate while eating cereal. Danny currently lives in Littleton, CO with his wife, Heather, and sons Asher and Jett. Learn more about the SIA Awards Program. FREE SMARTPHONE APP AND ONLINE FLOOR PLAN HELP YOU PLAN 2011 SHOW AND DENVER After receiving very positive survey results in 2010, SIA continues to offer the Interactive Online Floor Plan tool based around the 2011 Show Floor Plan. Use the online floor plan to search hundreds of exhibitors and brands and navigate the new convention center in Denver. Other useful features include, Show events and education sessions, on-line based to-do/who-to-see list with the interactive My Show Agenda Planner. Recently released is the FREE 2011 SIA Show App. Ranked 4 out of 5 stars on iTunes. iPhone, iTouch and iPad are all supported and native apps are now available for Android, Blackberry and Palm smartphone users. This Show feature was new in 2010 and was used by more than 7,000 Show Attendees. Download the App and navigate Downtown Denver bars and restaurants, receive real-time Show alerts, Interactive floor maps, GPS mapping, SIA's twitter feeds, event listings, a community photo zone and more. GET THE APP: Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users: http://bit.ly/SIA2011 Blackberry, Android and web-based app users: http://m.core-apps.com/sia2011 NEW CONSUMER FEDEX DISCOUNT PROGRAM FOR SHIP YOUR GEAR! TELL YOUR CUSTOMERS! Two years ago SIA launched the initiative Ship Your Gear to educate and encourage skiers and snowboarders to ship their gear. The program works to influence the behavior of air travelers that shipping gear is easy, affordable and hassle free. NEW is the first-ever FedEx Discount Program for our skiers and snowboarders. SIA has negotiated a consumer discount on shipping of up to 16% off select FedEx Express(R) services, up to 8% off select FedEx Ground(R) services and up to 15% FedEx Ground service to Canada processed through FedEx Ship Manager(R) at fedex.com or FedEx Ship Manager(R) Software. This program is open to consumers eligible for a U.S. based FedEx account. All consumers must enroll atfedex.com/shipyourgear. If you're an SIA Member, you can use your SIA discount to create your own Ship Your Gear program and provide a package deal for gear tune-up and shipping. Find Ship Your Gear branded logos, posters and talking points from SIA atsnowsports.org/shipyourgear. NEW SALES TRAINING PROGRAM FOR RETAILERS ONLINE, ON DEMAND: SALES TRAINING SIA has teamed up with Graff Retail TV to bring retailers a proven training solution that will maximize sales performance and build a sales culture in your stores. LEARN MORE. SIA members will receive an exclusive membership pricing when you subscribe to the online sales training series. To learn more about Graff Retail TV's "Get Selling" online retail sales training series, visit GraffRetail.tv to watch a sample sales trainingepisode. To subscribe nowor take an online tour of the e-learning site where the entire sales training series resides, please [email protected]. Our Regular Subscription Rate: $500/store/year SIA Member Subscription Rate: $450/store/year SIA Snow Show Subscription Rate: only $400/store/year (when you subscribe by Feb 4, 2011) WILLI'S SKI AND SNOWBOARD SHOP CONNECT WITH WOMEN CONSUMERS WITH WINTER DIVAS PROGRAM "When you take into account the statistics about women's buying power and combine those with the data on women's participation in snow sports, you get a clear picture of who is really driving the minivan to the mountains." SIA caught up with Katy Rullo, events manager at Willi's Ski and Snowboard Shop, to learn more about their Winter Divas Program. Winter Divas is a free club for ladies that offers a range of experiences and events throughout the season. SIA: How did you get started in the industry? Katy: I was your typical ski mom, I guess. My husband and I agreed to raise a family of skiers before we even had kids. We taught our kids to ski when they were three and when we were able, we built a home in the mountains where we spend every weekend. I was such an avid shopper that the manager of Willi's asked me if I wanted a job! I'm actually the typical member of Winter Divas! I spent a great amount of time volunteering in my community and organizing fundraising events, etc. I saw a need for someone to take that role over at Willi's as we were starting to get more involved in planning events but no one quite had a plan for doing so. The Kleins gave me a chance to create my own position and the rest is history! SIA: How and why was the Winter Divas Program developed? Katy: The program is the brainchild of our owner, Greg Klein and executives at Seven Springs Mountain Resort. Once they had a solid idea for a club, Greg asked our Social Media Coordinator and Technical Writer, Kjerstin Klein and me (our own 2 member ladies ski club) to work out all of the details. Part of our focus in working together is getting the word out and using social media is one of the keys to running the program. We're hoping that by using Facebook, we can interact with the club members and they with each other. In addition to our six physical locations, Willi's also owns four online stores. Winter Divas is the name of our women specific online store which also has a Facebook Fan Page. So, you can see, we have a comprehensive plan: We interact with our customers on the mountain, and we communicate with them on Facebook. Hopefully this all leads to brand loyalty for our Willi's stores and for our Winter Divas online store. SIA: How long has the program been in place? Katy: This is our first year. Our kickoff event was November 21! The event was a blast! We really had a great time. Iwan Fuchs, the Director of the Snowsports School came and spoke about the importance of using equipment that suits your style and ability level. The club is now up to 94 members and is still growing! SIA: How important is it to market to women/mothers? Katy: Women have combined earnings totaling one trillion dollars and total annual spending topping two trillion. They influence 95% of household purchases, 92% of vacations and 80% of sporting goods and apparel purchases. Right now, about 27% of all snowboarders and nearly 50% of all skiers are female. Recent years have seen a decline in sales of men's equipment but a rise in sales of women specific equipment. When you take into account the statistics about women's buying power and combine those with the data on women's participation in snow sports, you get a clear picture of who is really driving the minivan to the mountains. Women like to have relationships with their resort and their retailer and I think we can learn a lot from our relationship with them. SIA: What do you enjoy most about the program? Katy: So far, I've been very excited about the interest. I can certainly relate to the target audience, women who enjoy skiing and snowboarding but want friends to share it with. Many of us have been snow sport enthusiasts for decades and have shared that love with our families but now our kids have passed us by and we have a little more free time to get back to having fun in the snow. While I love planning action sports type events, they do not have the wide reaching emotional appeal that this program has. I've already met so many interesting women who are returning to skiing after 10, even 20 years away now because they feel comfortable in this environment. I am really excited to see where the program takes us! SIA: Are you planning on developing more programs like this? Future plans for the program? Katy: I'm taking a wait and see approach. I'm optimistic that the program will be a huge hit but I'm a pragmatist and I know that this season's not going to be perfect. I want to remain opened minded and see how things go so that I can tweak things and make adjustments going forward. We have over 60 members as of now, so I'm convinced that the program will be enormously popular. I'm just going to enjoy this season and let the future unfold! I'm really excited about "Ski Your Tiaras Off" an event that our Spyder Rep created just for us. The day-long event will honor Olympic Medalist Julia Mancusso and is sponsored by her companies, Spyder and Volkl. It will provide attendees with race training on our NASCAR course. During the season Katy's goal is to plan events to meet the needs of each customer from the Winter Divas club to a huge freeski/snowboard series. She is also going to be the Coordinator of a Freeride Development Program that Seven Springs resort is creating this season. Katy is also looking forward to spending time with her family during the winter months skiing, enjoying great meals, warm fires and lots of card games. GET INVOLVED WITH WINTER TRAILS AND REACH 11,500 CONSUMERS With December upon us, there is still time to get involved with Winter Trails. Winter Trails offers children and adults new to snow sports the chance to try snowshoeing and cross country skiing for free. Opportunities are available for both retailers and manufactures to utilize this powerful outreach vehicle to get your message directly to the consumer. Last year, approximately 11,500 people attended Winter Trails events. Visit WinterTrails.org for more information and contact Reese Brown at 802.236.3021 or [email protected] to get involved. NEW PARTNERS AND SPONSORS JOIN JANUARY 2011 LEARN TO SKI AND SNOWBOARD MONTH INITIATIVE Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month (LSSM) 2011 continues to generate a wide range of new support from the snow sports industry. The Massachusetts Ski Areas Association is the latest association to participate bringing the total number of state and regional resort association LSSM partners to 19. California Ski Industries Association also is new for 2011. Other new partners for the 2011 program are: The Eastern Winter Reps Association, the New England Winter Sports Representatives, Inc., the Southeastern Winter Reps Association, the Western Winter Sports Reps Association, Snowsports Merchandising Corporation, Sports, Inc, Head Ski Company, and the National Ski Patrol. New individual resorts include Beaver Creek, Vail, Breckinridge, and Keystone in Colorado, Heavenly Valley and Northstar in California (members of California Ski Areas Association), Diamond Peak at Incline Village in Nevada, Jackson Hole in Wyoming, Wintergreen in Virginia, Campgaw in New Jersey, and Jiminy Peak and Blue Hills as individual partners in Massachusetts. The website, SkiandSnowboardMonth.org, makes it easy for consumers to find ski areas and resorts that are hosting special learning programs in January. It primarily is dedicated to providing practical information for consumers who want to learn how to ski and snowboard. The site, which was developed by nxt Concepts, Ltd., strongly recommends taking lessons from a professional instructor. Current partners and sponsors are listed on the site. Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month is an industry initiative organized by numerous state and regional ski associations, the leading snow sports media outlets, snow sports rep associations, the Professional Ski Instructors of America, the American Association of Snowboard Instructors, SnowSports Industries America, the National Ski Patrol, and the National Ski Areas Association. THE WORD ON THE SLOPES Watercolor Words Unite Painting and Poetry Cathy Quaglia, owner of Aspen East Ski Shop and Surf the Earth Snowboards, began her Water Colors Words project when her poem Ode to Skiing was included in The Mountain Times' special Killington 50th Birthday commemorative issue December 2008. After this, customers began coming into Aspen East Ski Shop asking for copies and one thing led to another. Cathy then mentioned her idea of collaborating and creating a watercolor painting especially for the poem to Alice Sciore, fellow Killington Arts Guild member, friend and owner of Mountain Gallery, and Watercolor Words was born. Their unique combined art form draws the viewer in to read what the painting is saying. Their second project, Reflections on Snow soon followed and their newest, Mountain Home is out for the holidays. Art prints produced by Awesome Graphics are available at Aspen East Ski Shop, galleries and gift shops throughout the region. Cathy & Lee Quaglia have owned Aspen East Ski Shop and Surf the Earth Snowboards for thirty-five years. Aspen East has been the recipient of top shop awards and named Gold Medal Shop of the Year for all of New England by SKI Magazine in 2006 and 2009. SIA: What inspires you? Cathy: Skiing, the mountains, landscapes, windsurfing, ocean, waves, the power of nature, reading, people, creativity in always making life and work better, as I say, "It is what it is...until you make it better." Alice: Ideas, Nature, Light, Wind, Sky, People, History, Art. Contact Cathy at 802.422.3739 or [email protected]/Alice at 802.422.3642 [email protected] for more information. TNS sm92 101217-sm92-3154911 71SibanaM (c) 2010 Targeted News Service |