e the same technical advantages that the footwear designed for athletes boasted.
At this point, the demand for athletic shoes encompasses demand by athletes as well as by individuals who are making a fashion statement. Consumers are now coordinating their athletic shoes with their casual outfits, and most consumers in this niche no longer have only one pair of shoes, but rather have several different pair for different situations. Athletes may have different shoes for different activities while fashion consumers have different shoes for different sports, including shoes which can be used for multiple athletic events (cross-training shoes).
Athletic shoes are popular not only with adults, but are also very popular with teenagers, who may heavily influence the buying decision of their parents. Because of this, a marketing program designed to boost sales of athletic footwear needs to take into account the high level of demand among teenagers, and the special needs that they have in this market.
The American footwear market is large, with sales in excess of $7 billion. Many Consumers purchase more than one pair of athletic footwear during the course of a 12-month period, and a significant percentage of consumers purchase more than two pair of these shoes in that time. Because these shoes are targeted not only to athletes but also to fashion consumers, there is a growing market for the product which is expected to increase. Although there are two types of consumers (athlete and fashion), the fashion consumers is interested in having the athletic shoe look; for this reason, the market is best viewed in the aggregate rather than segmented along these lines. However, segmentation does make sense along gender lines, with the result that women's shoes are likely to be marketed differently than men's shoes.
Although there are more than 15 competitors in the market, there are only a few against which LA Gear actively competes: N...