Nearly every major category in all three retail channels recorded double-digit gains for the month. Total online snow sport sales leapt 18 percent, with chains growing 13 percent. Regionally, persistently cold temperatures pushed Southern specialty store sales up 22 percent, while snow helped Western specialty sales increase 16 percent. Helmets, one of this season's hottest product categories, finished the season with a record 1.2 million units sold, a 23 percent increase.
As a whole, specialty store sales increased 11 percent in March and 4 percent for the season. More significantly, specialty retailers cleaned out the back rooms and regained much of their profitability. At the end of March, retailers had 15 percent fewer equipment and 18 percent fewer apparel inventory units in stock. Smaller inventories meant that March carryover or clearance dollar sales plunged 29 percent, retail prices bounced up 10 percent, and retail margins surged a profit-boosting 14 percent.
