Industry analyst at SportsONESource Matt Powell provides us with an inside look into his monthly footwear industry sales report. Key storylines continue to be hot Running sales, a turn-up in Basketball and Jordan Brand business, and a general strengthening in the marketplace for the month of August covering up some seasonal and category declines. Continue reading for Matt Powell’s complete Footwear Industry Sales Report: August 2010.

August was a very strong month for the athletic footwear industry and hopefully will be a harbinger for a strong September…

The biggest drivers for August were Jordan Basketball and Lightweight Running. Toning also made a significant contribution, but Toning is not really a strong Back to School category.

According to SportScanINFO, Sales of Sport Footwear for the month of August improved in the high single digits in dollars, and the low single digits in units, yielding a mid single digit increase in average selling price.

By Channel, the mall had the strongest quarter, followed by Family and then full line Sporting goods.

By Gender, Men’s and Women’s improved in the high singles and kids declined in the low singles.

Top selling styles for the month were lead by perennial Air Force 1 white/white low and mid, along with Jordan 7, 9 and 6. Nike Shox Turbo 11 and Land Shark football shoe made the top ten. Two Skechers styles also made the list: The Original Shape Up style ($85) and a TwinkleToes style. This is the first time we’ve seen a Skechers Kids styles make the top ten.

Running was the hot story in August, with sales growing nearly 25%. Running sales at the mall grew nearly a third. Lightweight remains the biggest story as sales grew nearly 6 times against a small base last year.

In overall Running, Nike has a 62% share with sales growing more than 20%. Asics share slipped 165 basis points to 11% as sales only grew in the high singles. New Balance had another strong month in Running while adidas slipped in the mid teens again. The core Running brands (Saucony, Brooks, and Mizuno) all had solid growth. Puma Running doubled, driven by strong fashion styles. Reebok Running grew nearly 6 fold on the very successful Zig launch. Reebok has a 2.3% share of Running now. K-Swiss saw Running sales also grew in high multiples on a very small base. The Tubes program appears to be gaining traction in the mid market. Under Armour Running declined in the high teens and share dropped to 1.3%.

Basketball had its first positive month (+ high singles) since Easter, on improved Jordan and Pricepoint Nike styles. Jordan had a 75% share and sales grew in the high singles. Nike had 19% share and sales grew in the high teens. adidas sales declined in the mid teens while And1 grew 25%.

Toning is clearly a seasonal business, just like the rest of Athletic Footwear. While sales grew 5 times in August, the pace of growth and the contribution of Toning to the total were well off the year’s pace. While Toning represents about 6% of the total sales for the year, in August it was only 3.5%. It will be interesting to see how much this weekend’s promoting accelerates sales Skechers has a 63% in Toning, while Reebok has 28%, and Avia and New Balance each with 3%

Training grew in the high singles for August. Nike Training improved in the high teens primarily driven by a mid market women’s shoe, the Exceed, which was the top dollar seller in Training for the month. New Balance sales grew more than 20% on pricepoint styles. Under Armour Training dropped nearly 25%.

Lifestyle Fashion Athletic showed some improvement in August but was still negative in the low teens. Skechers saw sales improve to down mid singles, a sign that Toning may finally be helping the rest of the brand. Puma had a positive month in Lifestyle with sales up in the mid singles

Classics still struggled as well, with sales declining in the high singles. New Balance saw a 3 times improvement on 574 and adidas classic grew in the low singles. All other brands had declines

The Skate business declined more than -20%, with only Vans of the major brands showing growth.

Sandals had good growth up high singles on strong result from Crocs, Nike and Teva. adidas Sandals posted a low teens decline.

The Cleated business finally kicked in, and sales grew in the low teens, with Nike +high teens, adidas up low teens and Under Armour posting a low single digit decline.

By brand, Nike brand had a strong month, as they had share growth for the first time this year. Brand Nike sales grew in the high singles and share improved to 38.7%. Jordan finally turned around, with sales up low single and some share shrinkage to 10.8%. Converse sales declined in the high singles

Skechers sales grew more than 30% and share improved 100 basis points to 5.4%. adidas saw sales shrink in the low singles, while Reebok grew more than 50%. New Balance had strong growth again for the month. Asics posted a mid single digit increase.

The Outdoor brands were basically flat on the very warm weather. The Running brands all had very nice growth. Under Armour sales declined in the low teens.

-Matt Powell