Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.
New Balance is continuing its robust growth trajectory. President and CEO Joe Preston said the company will reach $7.8 billion in sales for 2024. Preston noted that the athletic footwear major experienced this growth on the back of a successful holiday season.
“We had a really strong holiday,” Preston said during his NRF keynote on Monday. This is the fourth consecutive year of more than 20% growth for New Balance, he added.
“That growth is coming here in North America, which was really strong this past year,” Preston said. However, about 60% of New Balance’s business is international. Overseas regions like Western Europe and North Asia are “big markets” for the retailer, Preston added.
Preston also spoke about positioning New Balance as a premium brand with a selective distribution strategy: “That’s the way our brand has evolved, particularly over the last six years in the US.” Its average selling price has risen from just under $60 in 2019 to over $80 today, Preston pointed out, citing Circana data.
“The way we try to manage the marketplace, here in the US or anywhere else, our regional teams are really great at making sure that our brand is going up how we want it to show up,” Preston said. “If it’s stuck in the corner, then the consumer is not going to be able to experience that brand. So we practice selecting the conditions. We’re not everywhere. And retailers that we work with, we work with them to make sure that the brand is how we would like, whether that’s in-store or online.”
Preston said the eight years he spent managing New Balance’s overseas business helped him grow the brand beyond its roots.
“That got me a perspective that I never would have gotten just if I was here,” he said. “I think that whole concept of ‘Think global and act local,’—we really try to espouse it.”