Vans (NASDAQ:VANS), which vaulted 22% in one day last week after raising expectations for its first quarter, delivered yesterday after the market close. It was indeed a solid back-to-school period for the 37-year-old shoe and apparel company, with earnings rising substantially and same-store sales increasing 13.7%.
As disclosed last week, a lower tax rate helped boost results, but it wasn't the whole story. Vans' products and brand have found their stride again, and with the company rapidly exiting its skate-park mistakes, this is one turnaround story that has played out quicker than many anticipated.
One key to Vans' recent success, and a factor that will undoubtedly help it perform better in the future, is a new focus on female customers. Chief executive officer Gary Schoenfeld said at a recent B. Riley & Co. investor conference, ".... For us going back probably four, five, or six years ago, we were happy to have girls wear Vans products, but from an advertising and brand-positioning standpoint, we were very much focused on the guys' market. We felt like you had to make a choice."
Well, no more. Girls are out there grinding it up and catching waves just like the boys are, and they're a prime market. More than the athletes, though, are the many more girls who like the lifestyle and look of surf and skate apparel and shoes. Retailers like Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ:PSUN) and brands like Quiksilver's (NYSE:ZQK) Roxy have been riding the wave of success from girl shoppers for some time.
Vans is hardly alone in this new focus; pop culture has also seen the value in appealing to young female surfers and skateboarders. Last summer's "Blue Crush," a movie all about young, tough (yet very lovely) female surfers, did well at the box office. MTV followed up this past spring with a reality series called "Surf Girls."
Lest we leave out the skateboarding contingency, teenage pseudo-punk princess Avril Lavigne's disturbingly catchy "Sk8er Boi" got monster radio play when it was released. And Ozzy offspring Kelly Osbourne could be seen cavorting about in a pair of classic slip-on checkered Vans this spring during "The Osbournes" most recent run. (As a personal aside, they reminded me of my own mid-eighties pair of red-and-black checkered Vans high-tops. Sigh.)
Vans is still mostly a boy's paradise, with 70% of its sales coming from young males. But count on that proportion to change as the company keeps focusing on females. Teenage girls spend more on clothes and shoes than their male counterparts do, so for Vans, this new attention is a smart move.
