Snow Trends
Warmer winter weather dampened sales of ski and snow equipment, pulling it down 3 percent to $1.46 billion for the August-through-December period of 2006 compared with the $1.5 billion reported last year, according to the SnowSports Industries of America Retail Audit. However, specialty apparel sales, including tops, bottoms, suits and snowboard apparel, remained 8 percent ahead in dollar value compared to the same period last year. By the end of December 2006, apparel sales in this category had reached $403.6 million, outselling equipment sales by $29 million.
