December 2010 Outdoor Product Sales Pass $2 Billion Mark

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information contact: LaRae Marsik, Outdoor Industry Association, 303.327.3514

James Hartford, The SportsOneSource Group, 704.987.3450

December 2010 Outdoor Product Sales Pass $2 Billion Mark

Outdoor Specialty Channels Post 7.3% Monthly Sales Increase

Boulder, CO — January 14, 2010 – After a very strong showing for outdoor product in fiscal November and the first week of the holiday selling season, growth trends moderated a bit for the five-week fiscal month of December through January 1, 2011. Fiscal December sales of outdoor products grew by 4.8 percent over 2009 levels to nearly $2.1 billion, pushing outdoor product sales for the 11-month fiscal year-to-date period to over $10.1 billion for the year. According to retail point-of-sale data compiled by SportScanInfo for OIA VantagePoint™, early holiday promotions and discounts motivated many a consumer to spend before the height of the holiday rush, but the early activity cut into expected sales in many channels later in the season. The outdoor specialty channels and Internet both outpaced the broader market for the week and year-to-date periods.

The Internet channel, one of nine channels tracked by OIA VantagePoint™, showed the largest increase in outdoor product sales for the month, surging ahead by more than 24 percent over December 2009 figures. Outdoor specialty stores trended well above the total market with sales growing 7.3 percent over December 2009 levels. Also, Outdoor Apparel and Outdoor Footwear both posted their biggest weeks of the year during December, peaking the weekend before the Christmas holiday.

“Looking at the entire market, outdoor product sales have emerged from the uncertainties of 2010 on solid footing,” said Frank Hugelmeyer, President and CEO at Outdoor Industry Association, “The outdoor specialty business is proving highly competitive as every brick-and-mortar business keeps a wary eye on the success of Internet channels.”

Outdoor Footwear sales in outdoor specialty stores grew 10.2 percent, significantly lower than the 33.1 percent gain in November 2010, as consumers focused more on holiday buying versus the weather-driven surge in personal purchases seen in November.

Outdoor apparel sales grew more than 9 percent in December 2010, with the greatest growth coming from the Internet channel, again, expanding 27.3 percent over 2009 levels, though the Sporting Goods trade channel maintained its position as the largest single channel for sales of outdoor apparel for the year. With frigid arctic temperatures commonplace across the country, and New Year’s resolutions looming, it was no surprise to see a number of jacket categories and long-sleeve fitness/yoga tops all posting sales increases in excess of 25 percent for fiscal December 2010.

Outdoor hardgoods dipped slightly negative overall in December, though daypacks, sleeping bags, kayaks, snowboards and three-season tents all increased sales in double-digits. The Internet channel gained more ground in outdoor hardgoods than in the apparel and footwear categories, mostly by taking share from the sporting goods channel. In snow sports, Snowboard, AT and Alpine Systems drove a mid-single-digit gain.

Retailers will be looking for spring to arrive early this year. After the holiday madness, and the weather effect realized in most every market in the U.S., January and February are considered “clean-up” time, but retailers have relatively little inventory to promote to coax consumers into the stores unless early Spring 2011 merchandise is available.

OIA members can access the OIA VantagePoint™ monthly trend report for December by logging in to www.outdoorindustry.org/vantagepoint.

OIA VantagePoint™ is the first and only full market point-of-sale data view built specifically for Outdoor Industry Association members. OIA VantagePoint™ provides comprehensive visibility into the outdoor marketplace by tracking weekly point‐of‐sale data from over 10,000 retail doors and websites carrying outdoor products, including over 350 outdoor specialty locations. In‐depth sales information is available online within five days of the prior week close — a competitive advantage for businesses who can shift critical resources and react quickly to ever-changing consumer preferences.

About Outdoor Industry Association

Outdoor Industry Association® (OIA) is a national trade association whose mission is to ensure the growth and success of the outdoor industry. OIA provides trade services for over 4,000 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, sales representatives and retailers in the outdoor industry. OIA provides industry defining resources and support in government/legislative affairs, market and social research, business‐to-business services and youth outreach initiatives. Ongoing education opportunities and strategic business workshops provided by OIA include the annual Rendezvous®, Outdoor University® sessions, and the Capitol Summit. Outdoor Industry Association is based in Boulder, Colorado, and is the title sponsor of the Outdoor Retailer tradeshows. For more information about OIA go to www.outdoorindustry.org or call 303.444.3353.

About The SportsOneSource Group

The SportsOneSource Group is a full service market research company delivering solutions through consumer insight research, retail insight research and retail point‐of‐sale trending and analysis. The company provides the most reliable, timely and comprehensive sports and outdoor industry information available in the market today. SportScanInfo is a SportsOneSource technology platform developed to compile, aggregate and disseminate aggregated retail point‐of‐sale information. SportsOneSource also publishes the Sports Executive Weekly and The B.O.S.S. Report executive newsletters, along with the SGB, SGD TEAM Business and Performance Sports Retailer print publications and their related online, e‐mail and digital products. For more information about the SportsOneSource Group call 704.987.3450 or go to www.SportsOneSource.com.

# # #