don't panic!

Did you know that women make up 55 percent of all volleyball players, 41 percent of all soccer players and 50 percent of all inline skaters? Are you aware that running, camping and basketball are among the fastest growing sports for women? Does it surprise you to hear that in 1995, women spent $6 billion on athletic footwear—while men spent only $5.6 billion?



The 1996 Olympic Games did a great deal to popularize women's competitive sports. As a result, women's participation in sports grew more than ever before. Female athletes have been encouraged further by the formation of women's professional basketball, hockey and baseball teams, while at the local level, Title 9 legislation has allowed girls to spread their athletic wings.

As women's participation in sports has grown, they've demanded their own athletic clothing. Catalogs like Title Nine Sports and Athleta cater to active women, as do a handful of female-specific sports stores. To support the stores and catalogs, manufacturers such as Moving Comfort specialize in women's active apparel.

Location Is Everything. Active women cite athletic shoes and sport bras as their two must-have aerobic-wear purchases. Shoes—whether for running, trail running, walking or various other sports—hold no mystery for shop employees or store merchandisers. These items fit nicely into the footwear department where they can be shown and tried on easily. Sport bras and briefs, however, are another story. Where do they belong in the store, and what's the best way to sell them?

Alissa Mahoney, manager of Title Nine Sports, a retail store in Berkeley, Calif., devotes an entire wall to the sport bra assortment. Bras are hung on transparent plastic hangers face-out in two easily accessed rows. The bras are grouped on the wall by type. Print bras are grouped together, as are underwire, zip-front, clasp-back, basics and over-the-head styles. Next to each bra style hangs a laminated sign that provides information about the bra construction, sizing information and recommendations for use.

Ellen Wessel, president of Moving Comfort, recommends that retailers give sport bras their own section in the store, even if space is tight. Besides making it easier for women to find and shop the bra assortment, it establishes the credibility of the store as a serious women's sports-apparel supplier. "One line can't satisfy the range of women's shapes and sizes," she says. "A retailer needs at least three different lines."

"Merchandising doesn't work all on its own," says Missy Park, owner of Title Nine Sports catalog and retail divisions. "It needs to fit in the store."

In his book, Why We Buy, Paco Underhill writes that women prefer to shop within view of the main flow of traffic, while remaining sheltered in sectioned-off areas. The sport bra and brief department lends itself to being positioned in one of those sheltered areas. However, Underhill states that women don't like to shop in crowded areas. The more narrow the quarters, the less time a woman will spend there. And time spent in a store has a direct relationship to the dollar amount of the final purchase.

So, to merchandise sport bras effectively, remember these 10 tips:



1. Group them by style.

2. Always color-block them—hang all white bras of a style together, all black, all gray.

3. With bras of the same color, arrange by size, front to back, with the smallest sizes in front.

4. Use hangers with built-in shoulder hooks or indentations to hold straps in place.

5. Keep the bras on the wall at eye level, or no more than 20-percent below eye level.

6. Find a spot out of the traffic flow.

7. Use signs to explain the different bra types.

8. Hang briefs by style on the wall below the bras or on an adjacent four-way fixture.

9. If briefs are packaged, merchandise them in wire baskets attached to slatwall.

10.Cross-merchandise bras and briefs with shorts by hanging shorts with the bras on the wall or on fixtures next to the wall.



Selling Techniques. Once the bra section is established, the real work begins. The first step, according to Lisa Voorhies, owner of The Sporting Woman in Denver, Colo., is to remove the myth and treat a bra like a piece of equipment. "The staff must know the differences in the bra styles," says Voorhies. "It makes it hard for male staff to sell sport bras, because they're not something men have experience with." But men overcome this disadvantage through education and the desire to learn. "Women know what they want," adds Park. "The salesperson needs to get an idea of the customer's expectations."

Mahoney encourages her salespeople to help customers narrow their selection. She likes to send customers into the dressing room with three or four different styles. "Once they have them on," she says, "they ask our opinion on fit. Because we're a women-specific store, they feel comfortable asking."

Wessel says that compared to other women's apparel, there is more common sizing with bras and briefs, so most women know their size. This gives the salesperson a good idea where to start the fit process.

Overcoming the discomfort of selling sport bras may be the most difficult step for most salespeople. But the opportunity to satisfy customers by giving them the right bra for the right activity in the right size is what sales is all about. Sport bras, if merchandised and stocked correctly, can easily grow to be a significant slice of your business.