Bright spots in early snow sales

All charts courtesy of SIA

The snow industry experienced several bright spots through October, including strong sales at specialty stores in the West, an increase in snowboard equipment sales in dollars, and double digit increases in goggle sales.

Reverse camber snowboards continue to be an important category, accounting for 55% of all snowboard sales from August-October.

(In the chart at left, sales for 2010/2011 are for August-October, while the other years are full season reports.)

Alpine ski equipment appears to be flying out the door, with sales at a 10-year high, according to data from SIA.

Another interesting trend is that online sales have leveled out after years of rapid growth.

Overall, total snow industry sales from August-October rose 1% in dollars and fell 5% in units.

Equipment

Leaner inventories led to higher dollar sales in many categories as fewer carryover styles were sold.

For instance, snowboard sales in all channels combined fell 0.6% in units. In dollars, however, snowboard sales rose 3%.

The same trend held true with boots, with sales falling 7.7% in units and rising 2.3% in dollars.

Sales of alpine equipment in all channels rose 8% in units and 16% in dollars.

See page 2 for results on apparel and goggles, and by region