It seems Heelys had a very good Christmas season. From my store visit to Journeys and Sports Authority, each account for 11.6% and 11% domestic sales in the fist 9 months in year 2006, the sales are doing well. I did notice one week before Xmas, SA offered some discount, and Journeys started discount after Xmas, both of which are normal business practice to clear out some inventories. The eBay sales number is here:
Heelys Faked
20Dec06 877 68
21Dec06 796 52
26Dec06 529 21
27Dec06 602 22
28Dec06 815 27
29Dec06 719 27
I am seeing more kids wearing Heelys, from Sports Authority (store), to Plaza Frontenac (mall), to my favorite place Panera (St. Louis) Bread Co. The momentum is there.
I do understand the doubt of the future growth of the company: can this thing continue to grow? When will it run out of steam? This is a one million dollar question. I think we are still at the early innings of this thing, because I just started to see kids wearing this. Maybe I did not pay attention before its IPO, but if anyone recall seeing many kids wearing this before this Decemeber, I would be interested to learn where and when (you saw it).