The Footwear Industry & Market

Statistical evidence indicates that hiking-style shoes and boots are in a "take off" position as a high visibility fashion item in much the same way that athletic footwear was in the last decade. This area of footwear trade had total sales of more than $1.3 billion in 1993. This growth was apparently caused by the increasing popularity of outdoor activities such as hiking and rock climbing.

To capitalize on this trend in the footwear market, Cliffhanger Sports has developed a line of outdoor styled shoes and boots. Their designers have developed a line of uniquely styled products that incorporate hiking and climbing accessories into the design of their shoes as well as not forgetting about the aspects of a high quality product. The products will be licensed under the Jansport name and will be distributed with their existing product lines.

The general market share for some major footwear categories for men's and women's shoes is as follows, according to the breakdown March 28, 1994 issue of the industry trade journal, Footwear News:

. . .
r both men's and women's styles, the leading area of growth appears to be the "casual" category, which is expanding primarily at the expense of the athletic category. Sales of work styles and boots appear to be relatively flat for both sexes. The excitement in the industry has been concentrated, in practice, in street hikers and related types. Thus, what these tables really show is a move away from athletic styles into general-purpose street shoes. Until the 1980s, "sneakers" or "tennis shoes" were a relatively generic and utilitarian item. Serious participants in a sport might buy shoes suited to that sport, but otherwise sports shoes were largely invisible in fashion terms. Blue Jeans and tennis shoes might both be part of one look, but the shoes were much slower to gain a strong consumer connotation. Once they did gain a fashion image, however, athletic footwear sales took off. Indeed, sports-shoe marketing became itself a part of popular culture. Outdoor wear is utilitarian by nature, but hiking shoes have come and gone before as a fashion item; they were popular in the 1970s, at a time when sneakers were still a generic product. During this cycle, however, the demand was filled largely by traditional utilitarian p
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Boot Categories, Annual Report, Louise Rooney, Overland Trading, Executive Summary, Blue Jeans, Nike Reebok, References Basic, Cliffhanger Sports, Havana Joe, annual report, footwear market, havana joe, athletic footwear, outdoor footwear, footwear industry, footwear breakdown, annual report 1993, footwear categories, 1993 reebok, silverman 1993, 1993 growth apparently, increasing popularity outdoor, caused increasing popularity, apparently caused increasing,
Approximate Word count = 1591
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

More Essays on The Footwear Industry & Market