More Changes Coming Up

Who said working at a publication was boring?
American Fitness may be no New Yorker, but it helps to have an open-minded boss to keep things interesting around here. Coming soon, our magazine is going to change up some of its pages.

It's already in the works—our Professional Edge section is getting bigger and moving to the front of the magazine. To emphasize our commitment as a "fitness industry" magazine, we want to give PE more room to feature industry-related news that affect all of us. Given the current economic situation in the U.S. (and perhaps the world soon) it would be irresponsible for us to ignore the most pressing concerns of our readers. The information we provide is a small, but vital, contribution that is instrumental to their decision-making as it relates to the industry.

If you have news about the industry, changes in a company, expansion news or any information that could serve our readers, please e-mail at lgomez.afaa@gmail.com.

Fitness Magazine: Change is in the horizon

So, without giving away many details let's just say that the magazine is about to get upgraded. Starting with our January/February 2009 edition, we're going to see some pretty dramatic changes in the magazine's content, layout and overall feel.

The goal is to make the magazine truly invaluable for our readers: fitness professionals. We know there are many sources of fitness industry news out there and we recognize the growing demand for better information. Ultimately, good information leads to better decisions--especially at this time of economic uncertainty.

I'll keep you posted when things start to shape up better for the new edition.

Sporting Goods: sales slow, according to survey

The Monthly Retail Trade Survey, prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau, reported sales in sporting goods stores of $3.51 billion (preliminary) for the most recent reporting month (June), a 0.7 percent increase from $3.49 billion in June 2007. This follows a 5.7 percent increase in May.

Sales growth year-to-date is behind the first six months of last year. Sales for the first six months of 2008 were $17.9 billion, up 4.8 percent from the first six months of 2007. At this time in 2007, sales were up 9.1 percent over the previous year.

Sales for 2007 grew more slowly than in 2006. Sales for 2007 reached $37.1 billion, up 8.1 percent from 2006 sales of $34.3 billion. Sales in 2006 were up 11.0 percent over the previous year. The 2006 growth represented the strongest increase in the past 10 years.

Total sales for calendar year 2005 were $30.89 billion, up 7.0 percent from 2004. In 2004 sales were $28.85 billion, up 6.2 percent versus 2003. Sporting goods store sales for all of 2003 were $27.17 billion, a 3.1% increase versus 2002 when sales were up a meager 0.2 percent.

The estimated annual sales for sporting goods stores in the U.S. Census Bureau Monthly Retail Trade is consistent with sporting goods sales reported in the NSGA study "The Sporting Goods Market," a fact that pleases NSGA. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates are based on data from the Monthly Retail Trade Survey, Annual Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records and have been adjusted using results of the most recent economic census.

For a full comparative chart of sales in sporting goods stores, visit the members-only "Research & Statistics" area of the NSGA website (www.nsga.org).