Footwear Insight

6 • Footwear Insight ~ June 2021 footwearinsight.com THE FOOTWEAR EYE By Bob McGee D ick's Sporting Goods, the largest full-line sporting goods chain in the U.S., is opening a new off- price store concept — Going, Going, Gone — as part of an expansion that also includes a new warehouse store, a Dick's-bannered location, six redesigned Golf Galaxy locations and experiential "Soccer Shops" inside existing stores in Atlanta, Oregon, Illinois, Long Island, NY, California and Columbus, OH. The Going, Going, Gone doors, which were scheduled to open in late May in Avon, IN and Monroeville, PA, will offer local customers deep discounts on footwear and apparel that have been available in Dick's locations for years. Changes at Golf Galaxy stores also include eight locations that will have new technologies and service features available, ranging from hitting bays and custom fittings to golf lessons. These stores are in Virginia Beach, VA; Las Vegas; Toledo, OH; Roseville, MN; Cool Springs, TN; Columbia, MD; Buffalo, NY and Boise, ID. Dick's new warehouse store, a temporary pop-up style location, debuts May 12 in Metairie, LA with the new full-price bannered store opening May 21-23 at the Northridge Fashion Center in Northridge, CA. In other news, Big 5 Sporting Goods, the off-price, 430-door retailer, is actively pursuing expanded relationships with existing footwear vendors and partnerships with new shoe vendors to help make up for likely lost Nike sales in the months ahead. In Q1, Big 5 was informed by Nike that its availability of the Swoosh, which represented an estimated $88.5 million (or 8.5 percent of total revenues) of chain sales in FY20, will be significantly reduced as the shoe company expands its DTC initiatives. According to public filings, Big 5's Nike sales rose nearly 16.3 percent in FY20 from $71.74 million the prior fiscal year. Conversely, the chain's overall Athletic & Sport Footwear sales declined to 22.0 percent of revenues in FY20 from 28.2 percent in FY19 and 28.6 percent in FY18. In the retailer's Q1 ended April 4, total Athletic & Sport Footwear sales rose 16 percent to more than $66.6 million. But it's not clear how much of that total was generated by Nike footwear. "This transition is not expected to impact the company's ability to continue to purchase certain Nike branded products from authorized licensees," Big 5 said in a recent public filing. Meanwhile, British retailer JD Sports continues to march across the U.S. JD's growth has accelerated in recent months via strategic acquisitions of West Coast- based Shoe Palace and DTLR in the East. The retail chain will focus on expanding its nameplate by another 50 before the end of its current fiscal year, which would bring its store count to nearly 100 in the U.S. In its most recent fiscal year, the Finish Line parent company opened a JD flagship in New York City's Time Square and converted 37 former Finish Line doors to the JD nameplate and format. "Our recent completed acquisitions of Shoe Palace and DTLR in the United States together with the conditional acquisition of Sizeer in Central and Eastern Europe are important steps in our evolution, which will transform our consumer connection in these markets and further develop our key brand relationships," JD Sports Executive Chairman Peter Cowgill said in a statement. The JD Spor ts Group is currently forecasting EBIT of £475-500 million ($653.3- $687.7 million) for the fiscal year ending Jan. 29, 2022. In the recently completed fiscal year, JD's combined U.S. businesses, including 290 Finish Line shops in Macy's locations, generated total revenues of £1,760.4 million ($2.42 billion). The revenue total included approximately six weeks of sales, an estimated $77.2 million, from Shoe Palace. Fueled by a stronger margin in the U.S., prompted by what it called "lower levels of promotional activity in the overall market compared to previous years," JD Sports annual gross margin rose 100 basis points to 48.0 percent last year. n Sporting Goods Retail News of Note RETAIL ANALYSIS Photo courtesy of Dick's Sporting Goods

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