Citigroup: Athletic Apparel, Footwear Should Be 'Clear Winners' This Holiday

Kate McShane of Citigroup spent Thanksgiving weekend visiting specialty athletic, footwear and apparel retailers and concluded that athletic apparel and footwear are likely to emerge as the "clear winner" throughout the Holiday shopping season.

McShane observed that inventories were generally "very clean" while more sneaker releases were released during Black Friday than a year ago. In addition, fleece and outerwear could prove to be big apparel winners due to an overall seasonally cool and dry weather, favoring retail traffic.

McShane also observed that big box stores saw heavy traffic during the 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. timeslot, while specialty retailers saw stronger traffic only later on in the evening and into Black Friday. The analyst adds that athletic footwear retailers were able to "sustain excitement" with "limited" promotions.

McShane singled out Dicks Sporting Goods Inc DKS as a top pick due to a better square foot allocation of strong categories with higher margins. Foot Locker, Inc. FL was also singled out as a top pick, given the company's ongoing innovation and recent attractive basketball shoe releases.