SIA Topline Retail Audit:
August 1998 - March 1999 Junior Equipment Sales Increase 42 Percent In Winter 1998-99
6/21/99

McLEAN, VA (June 21, 1999) - A sales pattern is evolving in the industry that looks to the future. As big as the baby boom, or bigger, Generation Y (ages approximately 17 and younger), is beginning to buy snow sports equipment. According to the fifth and final SIA Topline Retail Audit for the 1998-99 winter season, sales of junior equipment brought in more than $44 million, exceeding last season's sales of $31 million by 42 percent.

"More and more, every year, we have been running out of junior equipment and scrambling to find more," said Bill Tregoning, president of specialty shop Greenwood's Ski Haus in Boise, Idaho.

According to specialty shop owner Skip Beitzel of Hickory & Tweed in Armonk, N.Y., "the junior market is our future. Snowboarding brought in a lot of kids, but in order for skiing to survive, we [the industry] need to focus on the family and children."

Of the total dollars spent at both specialty and chain ($2.23 billion) this season (August 1998 - March 1999), over $92 million (4 percent) can be attributed to the junior market. Jim Spring, president of Leisure Trends, the research firm that conducts the Retail Audit for SIA, explains that this percentage could be potentially higher as Gen Yers "come in all shapes and sizes." For example, consumers under the age of 17 who are large enough to use adult skis are not captured in the Retail Audit junior ski numbers as tracking is performed from a merchandising perspective (i.e., type of product sold, not age of consumer).

"The largest slice of the Gen Y pie is almost a decade away from adolescence," says SIA's Associate Research Director, John Packer. "There is no doubt the junior market exhibits significant potential for the future of our industry."

Junior Equipment Sales Highlights

The sales of junior equipment brought in more than $44 million in 1998-99, exceeding last season's sales of $31 million by 42 percent. In specialty stores, sales of junior equipment posted gains of 40 percent. In chain stores, there was a sales increase of 48 percent.

In individual categories, at specialty stores, sales of junior alpine skis increased 16 percent, boots rose 81 percent, bindings were up 36 percent and poles posted gains of 4 percent. In chain stores, sales of junior alpine skis increased 70 percent, boots were up 42 percent and bindings rose 58 percent. Poles fell 73 percent.

"We have a huge opportunity in the industry to introduce kids to the sports," said David Auer, president of Fischer Skis. "Where should we start? With kids' skis."

Overall, retail sales of snow sports products in February and March 1999 advanced 16 percent compared to the same period last year, helping the industry sneak ahead of the 1998 season by 1.3 percent in dollars. Overall, sales at specialty stores were up 2.3 percent, but down 1.2 percent in chain stores. Total dollars spent this season at both specialty and chain (August 1998 - March 1999) were $2.23 billion versus last season's $2.2 billion, setting a new record for snow sports product sales.

This is the second of several monthly press releases on the 1998-99 winter season, according to the fifth and final SIA Topline Retail Audit. The next release will align the year-end findings of the Retail Audit with this season's year-end SIA Sales and Order Survey (i.e., examine product sales at the consumer level vs. orders written at the retail level).

SnowSports Industries America (SIA) is the national, nonprofit, member-owned trade association of more than 800 competing snow sports product manufacturers, suppliers and distributors working together to promote and develop the snow sports industry. For more information, check out www.snowlink.com or the SIA Fax-On-Demand service, (800) 730-3636.