In footwear, the big name today is Crocs (CROX). With over $825 million dollars in sales, and a growth of 35% to 40% expected next year, according to the company’s estitmates for 2008, Crocs seems to be here to stay.

What is that has made Crocs so popular and kept competition at bay? According to analyst James Maher of Thinkequity Partners, part of it is the actual material that the shoes are made of:

“I think the Croslite material that they make the shoes from has an advantage; it is very light. I don’t know if you wear a pair, but these are very light shoes, they clean up easily, they’re antimicrobial, and they’re very durable. “

In addition to the material, Maher points out that the pricepoint for crocs, in addition to numerous licensing agreements, is what really gives Crocs it’s edge:

“I think the biggest edge, especially with the children, is this tie-in with all of the license agreements they’ve got and the fact that the price point is not that high. So we’re not looking at people coming in with a generic model at $10 when you’re trying to retail at $50 or $60. We’ve got a shoe that for children is $25 and for adults $30 and they have agreements with over 100 universities. So if you can get your shoe with your alma mater or your mascot on it or something of that sort, it’s really not a very high price point.”

For the full interview with James Maher, including a complete overview of the apparel and footwear industry, an in depth look at where Crocs is going, and stock picks, click here.
 

This entry was posted on Monday, December 17th, 2007 at 5:47 pm and is filed under Consumer Stocks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.