Running Insight

T he Epic React Flyknit, Nike's ballyhooed running shoe launch featuring "React" foam, launched at retail last week and retailers are raving about the shoe's performance at the cash register. Sell-through reports for the $149.95 shoe ranged from 35 percent to 70 percent. The shoe launched at a range of retailers including FootLocker and Dick's Sporting Goods, but run specialty retailers say that Nike's allocation of the product was very tight and that is help- ing to drive interest and strong margins along with the solid early sell through. Ross Martinson, owner of the four Philadelphia Runner stores based in Philadelphia, PA, said a well-executed rollout supporting product with crossover appeal drove sell through of 70 percent for his stores in the first three days the shoe was available. "We're psyched to see it doing so well — people ordered ahead of time and have been coming in looking forward it," he said. "The look and feel mean its great to run in, but it defi- nitely has crossover appeal. And the colors were spot on, and that helped, too." Martinson said Nike's pre-release promotional efforts, aided by the general consumer thirst for the next big thing, had paid off. "We've already wrote to our rep and asked for more," he said. "This launch was one of their best ever," said Kris Hartner of Naperville Running Co. in Illinois, one of only two run stores in the state to receive the shoes. "About half of our initial allocation was reserved before launch. Allocation is tight. The shoe fits really well and the React foam delivers as promised – bouncy and responsive. Men's sold through 60 percent, Women's 45 percent. But we had twice as many men's pairs (as women's), so it looks like ratio of men's to women's initial supply was pretty dialed in. Men's shoes tend to do better with this type of launch." Ray Pugsley of Potomac River Running said the Northern Virginia-based store sold 35 percent of its Reacts. "It has an appeal much wider than running so it's going to be a mainstay in other channels," he wrote in an e-mail to Running Insight. "The limiting factor in customer accessibility will not be distribution as much as the limited amount of inventory." Fleet Feet Sports Chicago hosted a raffle with its customers for the chance to buy the shoes and had more than 200 people sign up for the raffle. "It created a lot of buzz in our stores, and we continue to have customers coming in asking for it," reported Kyle Larson, product manager, Fleet Feet Sports Chicago. "We didn't sell all pairs through the raffle, so we've been able to accommodate the customers coming in on a first come, first served basis." Big River in Saint Louis also had a great first weekend with the shoe, racking up a 56 percent sell-through. Owner Matt Helbig said he initially thought the Epic React would launch at run specialty only, but was concerned that the shoe was in Dick's and mall-based stores. The 70-store JackRabbit chain also was a launch retailer. "We had a very strong response from the consumer to the Nike React launch. The reviews from our customers on the product were very good. We had high expectations after seeing the product but the launch exceeded our expectations," said Bill Kirkendall, CEO, JackRabbit. n RUNNING INSIGHT 2 runninginsight.com © 2018 Formula4media LLC. RUNNING INSIGHT ® is a registered trademark of Formula4Media, LLC. © 2018 all rights reserved. Running Insight is published twice each month, is edited for owners and top executives at running specialty stores and available only via email.The opinions by authors and contributors to Running Insight are not necessarily those of the editors or publishers. Articles appearing in Running Insight may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of the publisher. Formula4Media, LLC, P.O. Box 23-1318, Great Neck, NY 11023. Tel: 516-305-4709. Jeff Nott ...................................jnott@formula4media.com Jeff Gruenhut .................. jgruenhut@formula4media.com Christina Henderson .... chenderson@formula4media.com Katie O'Donohue .........kodonohue@formula4media.com Sam Selvaggio.............. sselvaggio@formula4media.com Daemon Filson .....................dfilson@formula4media.com Editor-in-Chief ........ Mark Sullivan: msullivan@formula4media.com Managing Editor ............ Cara Griffin: cgriffin@formula4media.com Publisher .....................Troy Leonard: tleonard@formula4media.com SUBSCRIBE store.formula4media.com BACK ISSUES runninginsight.com Advertise React-ions React-ions React-ions React-ions Nike's launch last week created buzz and sell-through.

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