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sportstylemag.com • sportstyle September/October 2022 • 9 • Sorbothane ® Insoles provide Comfort, Protection & Performance • Sorbothane ® Material is accepted by the APMA • Sorbothane's benefits will never waver in any environment • Sorbothane ® can absorb impact – helping to reduce discomfort For 40 YEARS Sorbothane ® Insoles have provided active individuals with long-lasting comfort and peace of mind. insoles-sorbothane.com • sorbothane.com 800.838.3906 Why Buy Sorbothane ® Insoles? Ultra SOLE Sorbothane ® Insoles - MADE IN THE USA 40 Years Of Excellence 1982 - 2022 Sorbothane_BBB-Ad.indd 1 Sorbothane_BBB-Ad.indd 1 4/29/22 12:07 PM 4/29/22 12:07 PM Dick's SG Benefitting from 'Best in Class' Footwear Range Lauren Hobart, president and CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods, the nation's largest full-line sporting goods chain, said the retailer's footwear segment today is really strong due to its best-in-class assortment that is connecting with customers. During its Q2 results call, Dick's did not provide specific sales figures for the footwear category during the period, but said that overall net sales declined 5.0 percent year-over-year. In footwear and apparel, Dick's CFO Navdeep Gupta said the retailer's current ranges are benefitting from higher margin rates and a lack of promotions due to the number of allocated products it currently sells. "Footwear is doing incredibly well across the board," Hobart said in response to an analyst question. "Nike is doing well. Other brands are doing well. So just in general, the quality of our assortment and the type of products we have is so meaningfully different than it was before that the business is really being responded to very well by consumers." Journeys Consumers Continue Shifting Toward More Casual Offerings Customers at Journeys, the Genesco- owned retailer, who were getting squeezed by inflation and trading down to more af- fordable price points in the second quarter ended July 30, are continuing to move their footwear preferences away from fashion athletic styles to more casual offerings. "ere is a re-interpretation of the '90s trends," Mimi Vaughn, president and CEO of Genesco told analysts. "I've talked about even a little bit of the '80s (trends surfacing), and there just are a number of brands that are popular right now that are being sub- stituted for sandals and other things as we saw through the summer." Journeys suffered some traffic weakness in the latter half of July that subsided into August as the back-to-school season picked up momentum. Still, the retailer improved its conversion rate and transaction size for those who did shop the banner with the metrics aided by higher average selling prices (ASPs). Comparable store sales declined 8 percent as total banner revenues dipped 7.2 percent to $321.3 million and operating income slide 70 percent to $9.2 million. While it exceeded pre-pandemic levels, Q2 gross margin fell on a return to a more normalized promotional environment, the company reported. Genesco senior management says it re- mains "confident" in its footwear-focused strategy for the banner going forward. A large part of the initiative leans on maximiz- ing the relationship between physical and digital channels and accelerating Journeys "off-mall strategy." e company has opened five off-mall locations thus far with plans for 10 more by fiscal year end. e doors are larger than Journeys' mall locations and can carry a full assortment of adults and children's product. More than 25 off-mall leases have been signed to date. n

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