Content area
Full Text
NATIONWIDE DSN REPORT - The competitive and fragmented nature of the sporting goods market ensures manufacturers will have a variety of issues to address when retail buyers come calling during the National Sporting Goods Association's World Sports Expo July 12 to 14 in Chicago. This year's show boasts 1,400 exhibitors displaying 250,000 new products, according to NSGA figures.
Aside from apparel and footwear, show officials expect three key areas at this year's event to be women's team sports, in-line skating and fitness equipment.
A variety of women's sports are experiencing new growth. Participation in basketball, soccer and softball have grown recently thanks to the media exposure given the U.S. women's softball and soccer teams in the 1996 summer Olympics and the new WNBA professional basketball league. Retailers are looking for products and strategies to capture sales from this growing consumer base, and it's a topic NSGA focused on at it's spring management conference.
JumboSports president, ceo and chairman Stephen Bebis was among those who attended. He came away from that seminar realizing that when it comes to marketing and merchandising products for women athletes, "we in our industry have not done a great job, and our suppliers have not done a great job." Bebis said that JumboSports is...