Footwear Insight

THE FOOTWEAR EYE 8 • Footwear Insight ~ March/April 2019 footwearinsight.com By Jennifer Ernst Beaudry D o runners want the same thrill of the bargain hunt that shoppers find at stores like TJ Maxx or Marshalls? Kris Hartner thinks they might — and he's hoping to serve them with his new store, Naperville Running Co. Annex, which he's planning to open later this spring. "It's going to be a mix of everything," Hartner, the owner of the three-store Naperville Running Co. chain says: close- outs, past models and other opportunistic purchases as well as special merchandise like surplus Chicago Marathon gear. "Our main purpose is to have some great value buys on our top 20 shoes," Hartner says. "We want stuff we know sells and works." The new location will open steps away from NRC's main location in downtown Naperville, IL — in fact, it'll be housed in the same retail space that the store first occupied 19 years ago when it opened. Hartner says response has been positive from his vendor partners: "As far as I know, they love the idea of a run specialty store buying [these models] and handling it in a non-promotional space." And he thinks the community is going to like it, too. "Will we have current customers who will shop at the Annex? Absolutely," he says. But he's not worried about shoppers trading down: sharp buying of closeouts styles means the profit margin on styles will be similar. And it opens up new opportunities to target new customers, too. "Ninety-four percent of shoes aren't sold in our channel. There's a massive market out there and there's a lot of people that just don't care if it's a brand-new model," he says. "Maybe they do all their shopping online or at Nordstrom Rack or Costco. And there's shoppers who love the treasure hunt." l RUN SPECIALTY BRAND STRATEGY Naperville Running Opens New Concept Shop The Annex, Targets a New Category of Shopper Adidas Makes Yeezy More Accessible, Pumps Up Speedfactory Kris Hartner, owner, Naperville Running Co. CEO Kaspar Rorsted says Adidas is setting aggressive goals for the year, including ongoing profitability improvements in North America, where topline growth of 35 percent in FY17 was followed by 17 percent expansion last fiscal year. Overall North American revenues rose 15 percent on a currency-adjusted basis in FY18 to the equivalent of approximately $5.32 billion. Within footwear, the Three Stripes is making the Yeezy franchise more mainstream and continuing its Speedfactory efforts with Foot Locker. Aiming to protect the future of Originals Stan Smith and Superstar amid slow- ing market demand, Adidas pulled back distribution on both styles in FY18 at a cost estimated at 500 million euros. — Bob McGee Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2.

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