BOSTON -- After striking gold in the turf-training market with a crosstrainer designed for football and baseball players, manufacturers are looking to further segment this red-hot footwear category.
One strategy has vendors splitting the turf-training category into speed and strength shoes. However, many manufacturers are also looking beyond football toward training shoes for other outdoor activities, such as ice hockey and extreme events like rock climbing and snowboarding.
Manufacturers say the recent increase in the popularity of football has helped fuel the current growth of the turf-training market which is geared to the 12-18-year-old age group, with footwear selling strongest in the $60 to $75 price range.
Not only are television ratings for football viewing on the rise, but participation is increasing as well. Between 1987 and 1994, the number of people playing tackle football rose 17.3 percent to 13.7 million in the U.S., while participation in touch football increased 13.5 percent, to 23 million players, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers & Association (SGMA).
Crosstraining was one of the few athletic footwear categories to post a healthy increase in 1994, with wholesale sales climbing 15.2 percent to $1.3 billion, according to the SGMA, making it the second largest athletic footwear category after basketball.
How much of those sales were attributable to turf trainers is not known -- the SGMA doesn't break turf trainers out of the crosstraining category -- but manufacturers say it is becoming an increasing percentage each season.
Eric Martin, footwear buyer for City Sports, Boston, said he has been pleasantly surprised by the category this year. 'It's a younger shoe than our market, but it sold a lot better than we expected,' said Martin, adding he will buy more heavily into the category next season.
For spring, City Sports is only stocking Nike turf trainers, and the Diamond Fury has been a best seller. But, Martin said for fall he plans on bringing in Adidas turf trainers and will look at Reebok.
By fall '95, when cleaner baseball looks give way to chunkier football interpretations, the increased segmentation of the turf-trainer category will be readily apparent.
'We looked at the types of athletes who play football,' said Steve Castledine, business unit manager for training at Adidas, Portland, Ore. 'We looked at the differences, [for example, at] the strength of the power athletes, like linemen.' As a result, Adidas introduced the Equipment Strong Side for strength players who need more support, and the Equipment4.3 for speed players such as defensive backs, wide receivers and running backs, who need a quicker shoe.
But, Adidas isn't the only one adopting this strategy.
'We had `runability' within our cross-training line, but not within our Preseason line,' explained Pete Worley, general merchandising manager at Reebok. Reebok's turf-training offerings fall under the Preseason collection.
For fall, Reebok will offer the Brutus, in a mid and low cut, a chunky and aggressive shoe designed for strength athletes. Meanwhile, the Righteous, a lightweight shoe built on a running last, has been designed for speed athletes.
Reebok will market the two shoes differently, using athletes like Ken Norton of the San Francisco 49ers to promote strength shoes, and athletes like Emitt Smith to promote the faster shoes.
Going forward, Worley said he sees potential beyond baseball and football; for example, a shoe aimed at ice hockey players would make sense as that sport gains in popularity, he noted. Meanwhile, Nike is introducing a new line of Severe Training shoes aimed at those in the their 20s who are training for extreme events such as downhill skiing, rock climbing and snowboarding. As a result, the shoes, including the Air Max Trainer Mid and the Air Howl Chukka, are built to be durable and versatile, explained Nike spokesman Tom Feuer. 'A lot of these guys like to go running down hills and then into the weight room,' he said. Dennis Driscoll, category manager for crosstraining at Converse, said turf training is the most energetic portion of the market. 'It will become the dominant sector for our cross-training market,' said Driscoll. He added, excitement for the category has been fanned, in part, by the shoes' bold product designs. 'Turf has been more edgy [than other categories],' said Driscoll. 'There's more opportunity for detailing.'
While the category is an outgrowth of baseball and football participation, the turf-training look may also have some roots in the environmental movement, as people are looking to do more of their training outside.
'When the athletic market softened, the outdoor cross-training market was an attempt by athletic makers to capture some of that [outdoor business] volume,' said John O'Rourke, president of Pony, Concord, Mass. 'Turf trainers are enjoying popularity because it's plugged into the whole environmental thing. The luggy outdoor look found its way into crosstraining.'
