Thursday, August 26, 2010

Toning Footwear - the next great fad?

You may have noticed ads lately for toning footwear. For years companies such as MTB, Sketchers, New Balance, Champion, Avia, Reebok, and Dr. Scholl’s have been developing their unique versions. Originally targeted at major sporting goods stores there are a few specialty stores that are considering how to incorporate them into their merchandise. One thing that seems to be holding them back is that there is no compelling research that supports the theory that these shoes are more effective at weight loss and toning like they claim. Until this happens some of the smaller specialty stores may wait it out a bit longer before putting them on their shelves. It sounds like we will just have to wait and see if these shoes can go the distance.

Articles in the SIRC Collection about toning footwear include:
  • Lefton, T. (2010). Toning craze helping shape up shoe market. Street & Smith's Sportsbusiness Journal, 13(10), 6.
  • Ryan, Thomas J. (2010) All hands on deck. SGB. 43(4), 48-49.Ryan, T. (2010). Toning Footwear Trend or Fad?. SGB, 43(2), 12.

1 comment:

Thomas said...

It's just more snake-oil designed to separate needy people from their hard-earned money.

Marketing, in concert with consumers' desire to get something for nothing, can make a hit of the most unlikely products.