January CPI for Sporting Goods Starts Negative for the Year
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The CPI was again negative in January while the CPI for All Items continued positive. The CPI for Sporting Goods fell 2.9% in January and follows declines of 4.4% in December, 5.9% in November, and 5.2% in October. Although declining 2.9% is January, the decline was less that any month in 2011.
The CPI for All Items continued positive In January with a 3.0% increase. This followed another 3.0% increase in December and a 3.4% increase in November.
For 2011, The Sporting Goods CPI averaged a 4.7% decrease, following a 3.0% decrease in 2010. This is the second year in a row that Sporting Goods CPI has shown a decrease. It increased 2.1% in 2009.
In the past five years (2011 versus 2006), the Sporting Goods CPI average has declined 1.2% in the face of a 3.0% rise in the CPI for All Items.
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Management Conference & Team Dealer Summit to Attract Major Industry Players
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The 2012 NSGA Management Conference & Team Dealer Summit, to be held May 6-9 at The Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, Texas, attracts many of the industry's top companies year after year. This year's event should continue that tradition, as executives from over 80 companies have already registered and made plans to attend. Click here to see a list of the currently registered companies and to add yours to the list!
Discover innovative new ways of doing business, connect with your fellow sporting goods industry executives, and apply what you learn when you return to the office after attending the 2012 NSGA Management Conference & Team Dealer Summit. Register today and lear more at www.nsga.org/conference.
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January Weather: Golf Benefits from an Inconvenient Truth
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The 2011-2012 "winter season" continues to be an extreme anomaly but one that benefits the golf industry in the form of Golf Playable Hours (GPH) being +57% vs. last January at the national level! Since this is the first month of the year, the Year-to-Date (YTD) figures are identical to the January results.
Expanding on the good news, regional breadth for the YTD period was significantly favorable at 4.3:1 with 17 regions having favorable weather against 4 regions with unfavorable weather (the remaining 24 either in the neutral zone of +/- 2% or out of season). The only thing keeping the industry from the weather trifecta was that weekdays had slightly better weather gains (+61%) than weekends (+48%) for the month. Regardless, when both week parts are up that much and they're that close, the mix doesn't matter that much in rounds impact.
Looking back on December rounds demand as reported by Golf Datatech/NGF to calculate the facility Utilization Rate, it comes out mathematically as a big drop in Utilization but given that many areas had exponential gains in Capacity Rounds (CR), we know that it's unlikely in the transitional geographies that a doubling of the CR is going to produce a doubling of rounds. The YTD Utilization registered at 52% (comprised of a 3% decrease in Played Rounds against a 1% decline in Capacity Rounds) which is a full point lower than the 2010 year-end value. In other words, as an industry at the national level, we basically held our ground against slightly poorer weather.
For more specific information on how Pellucid's Weather Impact capabilities answer key business performance questions, including a sample report and pricing, contact Jim Koppenhaver at jimk@pellucidcorp.com.
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Monthly Report: Sporting Goods Store Sales
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Sporting goods store sales fell 2.3% in December according to the Monthly Retail Trade Survey prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau. The fall in December compares to a 7.4% increase for the same month in 2010 and follows a 3.3% decline in November. For the most recent reporting month (December) sales were $5.2 billion (preliminary).
Sales for 2011 were $40.9 billion, up 1.7% for the year. That compares to the 6.6% jump in 2010 when sales were $40.2 billion. Sales for 2009 were $37.7 billion, up 1.6% for the year. Sales for 2008 were $37.1 billion, up 2.3% from the 2007 sales of $36.3 billion.
The annual sales estimate for sporting goods stores in the U.S. Census Bureau Monthly Retail Trade survey is consistent with sporting goods sales reported in the NSGA study "The Sporting Goods Market 2011." The U.S. Census Bureau estimates are based on data from the Monthly Retail Trade Survey, Annual Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records. They have been adjusted using results of the most recent economic census. The NSGA study is based on a sampling of 41,000 U.S. households.
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Firearms Indicator Up Moderately in January
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Background checks for firearms rose 4.1% in January according to data from the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). This comes after a 22.4% increase in December. In January, 1,377,301 background checks were performed compared to 1,323,336 in January 2010.
For 2011, total background checks numbered 16.5 million, up 14.2% from 14.4 million in 2010.
For 2010, total background checks were up 2.7% from 14.0 million in 2009.
FBI background checks are required under federal law for all individuals purchasing firearms from federally licensed retailers and are considered a strong indicator of actual sales by industry experts.
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Revenues Up at U.S. Ski Areas but Expenses Lessen Profitability
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 Although the 2010/11 season set a record with 60.54 million total visits, U.S. ski areas experienced an average season in terms of profitability, according to the 2010/11 NSAA Economic Analysis of U.S. Ski Areas. Last season, average gross revenue increased to $25.7 million per ski area up 7.9% from the 2009/10 season. Nevertheless, total expenses were up 13.2%, leading to a decline in profit margins for the industry.
Average gross revenue was up in all regions of the country. Percentage increase was largest in the Pacific South, up 9.3% to $31.8 million per ski area. Increase was also significant in the Pacific North, up 9.0% to $12.8 million. Average gross revenue was up 8.8% in the Northeast to $22.7 million and the Rocky Mountain region saw an 8.4% increase to $39.1 million. The Midwest saw a solid increase, up 5.7% to $8.2 million while the Southeast region showed the smallest gain, up 0.4 percent to $19.6 million per ski area.
The 2010/11 NSAA Economic Analysis of U.S. Ski areas is prepared for the National Ski Areas Association by RRC Associates and is reported in the February/March issue of the NSAA Journal. For a more complete analysis, segmented into various size and regional categories, a full copy of the Economic analysis may be ordered online at www.nsaa.org.
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