THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 10, 1995 TAG: 9511100502
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Sneaker Stadium Inc., an Edison, N.J.-based athletic shoe retailer, plans to enter Hampton Roads with several stores.
The company's first outlet will debut Nov. 24 near Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach. Sneaker Stadium will likely have two more locations in the region within the next year, spokeswoman Laura Anne Williams said. She did not indicate specific sites.
The typical Sneaker store is about 20,000 square feet - smaller than a sporting goods superstore but larger than the average athletic shoe shop.
Sneaker Stadium carries jogging suits, jackets and other athletic apparel. But its specialty, of course, is athletic footwear. Each outlet carries about 30,000 pairs and 3,000 styles of footwear - everything from in-line skates to logrolling shoes. Prices range from $9.98 to more than $150.
The company's niche is selling a wealth of shoes in an interactive entertainment climate. Its stores, for example, feature a basketball court and games that allow shoppers to test their hang time (how long they're in the air) on an electronic jumping pad. To ensure a better fit, customers can try on shoes and run a few laps on a track inside the store.
``It's so that people can test drive their shoes,'' Williams said. ``Stepping into shoes is one thing. If you start jumping and running in your shoes, they may feel different.''
To pinpoint what customers want and what's on their feet, the company sets up ``student advisory boards,'' which include local high school athletes, school representatives and store employees.
Sneaker Stadium's expansion comes at a time when the sporting goods industry - like other retail sectors - is becoming increasingly competitive and crowded.
``It's very fierce,'' said Arnold Sedel, senior vice president of The Sports Authority, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ``If you're not a good operator, you can only use pricing as part of your attack. And once you do that, it creates a lot of problems.''
But Sneaker Stadium says it's no slouch. It was co-founded by a man with experience in both sporting goods and superstores. As a former executive with Herman's Sporting Goods Inc., David Bloom opened a superstore called Total Sports for Herman's. After he was essentially fired during a hostile takeover of Herman's in 1990, Bloom went on to work for bookseller Barnes & Noble and then Record World.
By 1993, Bloom had paired up with James Didieo, another former executive with Herman's Sporting Goods, to test out their large sneaker-superstore idea. They now have expanded to nine Sneaker Stadiums and plan to open 15-22 stores next year, Williams said.
For now, Sneaker Stadium is concentrating on Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, as well as Hampton Roads. The company likes this region for its demographics and reputation for accepting new retail concepts.
Officials with Sneaker Stadium also eyed Richmond but have no immediate plans to open stores there. Bloom said he wants to keep the company's expansion manageable.
``There's no need for us to rush there.'' by CNB