The NPD Group Inc leading provider of consumer and retail information, released 2007 sales results for the U.S. Footwear Market. The dollar volume sales for the total U.S. footwear market (combined fashion and athletic footwear) totaled 44.4 billion dollars.

"Some may see this 2 percent as minor growth but considering it comes on the heels of 10 percent growth in 2005 and 5 percent in 2006, it's encouraging that the industry continues to find more business," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst, The NPD Group Inc, adding, "This past year has had more challenges than most, yet the industry fared well overall. Not all fashion categories can say that."

Once again this year we are seeing fashion focused footwear driving the biggest growth margins. Low performance athletic footwear, the category of athletic footwear designed to emphasize fashion and comfort, and skateboard shoes are posting the highest growth rates.

In the total market, growth for leisure/low performance was 11% for 2007, while skateboard shoes posted a 34% growth rate.

"Skateboard shoes are still a small share of the overall athletic footwear market, just under 8%, but from what consumers tell me, the crossover application of street and skate continue to drive the youth trends in footwear, and that will likely continue for most of 2008," said Cohen.

On the purely fashion side of the U.S. footwear market, one bright spot worth noting is in the sales of boots, particularly the all-weather category. "The real winner in boots were the all-weather styles," said Cohen.

"Brands like UGG continued to make wish lists for holiday as many of the copy cat products failed to show up this year. UGG and others made an impact by staying the course. These brands leveraged diverse styling as well as the classics to keep the consumer engaged."

The Annual 2007 data continues to show that there are some shifting dynamics in the places consumers are shopping for shoes. While brick-and-mortar stores saw minimal to no growth overall, online sales for athletic footwear categories saw double-digit growth.

"Online has become an important destination for consumers to make shoe purchases. Free overnight shipping and free return shipping plus all your favorite brands in one convenient place," said Cohen.

When asked about the outlook for 2008, Cohen said, "2008 will not be an easy year for growth anywhere. Footwear will have to work very hard to drive impulse.

They will have to find ways to get consumers away from thinking only about replacement of their worn out footwear to desiring new footwear. Impulse most always outweighs budget constraints. Footwear has to be passionate again, just like it was in 2005."