Under Armour's much anticipated cross-trainer launch did not break any sales records last week -- by a long shot.
Our contacts suggest that initial sell-throughs were around 10% in the mall (i.e. mostly Finish Line). Fyi, 'sell through' refers to the percent of allocation sold through in a single week.
The surprising aspect of this statistic is that it is actually above the 6% we're seeing in some major sporting goods retailers. We'd think it would be the opposite given UA's stronghold in the sporting goods channel.
These are not disastrous numbers by any means, and we certainly won't judge the success of UA's footwear initiative by a mere week -- or even a full season. In fact, these numbers are pretty good in the context of such a weak retail environment.
But let's not forget that UA's initial launch of its cleated footwear business last year sold through at a rate of about 20-30%.
Such a wide divergence is simply too great to ignore.
Our contacts suggest that initial sell-throughs were around 10% in the mall (i.e. mostly Finish Line). Fyi, 'sell through' refers to the percent of allocation sold through in a single week.
The surprising aspect of this statistic is that it is actually above the 6% we're seeing in some major sporting goods retailers. We'd think it would be the opposite given UA's stronghold in the sporting goods channel.
These are not disastrous numbers by any means, and we certainly won't judge the success of UA's footwear initiative by a mere week -- or even a full season. In fact, these numbers are pretty good in the context of such a weak retail environment.
But let's not forget that UA's initial launch of its cleated footwear business last year sold through at a rate of about 20-30%.
Such a wide divergence is simply too great to ignore.
