Cross-trainers breed sneaker war
That pair of scuffed running shoes you wear to the gym may not look like much, but it represents a battleground between a sports apparel upstart and the industry Goliath over a newly minted market.
This spring, Nike Inc. and fast-growing Under Armour Inc. will both launch next-generation cross-trainers that are a quantum leap from the multisport sneakers that have descended from trendy to tired in the last few decades. The new shoes are designed to handle various training activities, from sprinting to pumping iron, within a specific sport.
Running shoes, often the default training footwear, aren’t properly cushioned and don’t maximize propulsion or allow for side-to-side movement, experts say.
Under Armour’s new cross-trainers mark the first step in its conversion into a footwear company that also makes popular sports apparel instead of vice versa.
Under Armour, which began in 1996 by making snug clothing that wicks sweat away from the body, is essentially throwing down a glove on Nike’s playing field.
Under Armour’s adult apparel sales are bustling, and its cross-trainers are the next step up from the cleated shoes it started making only in 2006.
Analyst Matt Powell of research firm SportsOneSource said Under Armour knew it needed to make both footwear and apparel to become a major industry player.
Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike, which will launch its “performance” shoes Wednesday, intends to head off Under Armour’s momentum.
In the late 1980s, Nike tapped pro athletes to tout its first cross-trainers. But the category later fell into disfavor and became, as Powell said, “the kind of shoes your Uncle Tony wears to a barbecue.”
Young athletes today want shoes that help them improve as they train for one specific sport, said Joaquin Hidalgo, Nike’s vice president of global marketing.
Baltimore-based Under Armour’s three Prototype styles will sell for $80 to $100. The shoes, it says, add strength, explosiveness, speed and agility.
Nike’s three styles priced between $70 and $90 include the Air Zoom SPARQ TR Elite, the lightest training shoe Nike has made.
