Fitness, footwear lift spirits of German sports retailers

With weather that didn’t play well to solid sales in snowsports and other sporting goods categories still suffering from the economy, fitness and footwear sales last winter have been two categories that have helped German retailers crack a faint smile.

Sports segments that aren’t dependent on the weather have done better than classic winter categories, such as snowshoes, winter boots or skis, according to a retailer survey done recently by the German trade magazine SAZ.

For example, 37 percent of retailers said that sales in the fitness category were either good or very good compared to a year earlier, while another 44 percent said sales were fair. Footwear, too, found retailers calling sales good or very good 48 percent of the time, with another 39 percent saying they were fair.

That compares to winter boots where none said sales were very good, and only 17 percent said they were good, with 33 percent opting for fair and a whopping 50 percent saying sales were poor.