Foot Locker, Nike and Others Cashing In on Casual Clothes

Teens and millennials continue to prefer being comfortable in their clothing while having a sense of style at the same time. And several major retailers are still cashing in on the trend toward wearing fashionable active apparel. One is Foot Locker (FL), which reported a second quarter same-store sales gain of 9.6%. Foot Locker's sales were driven by solid demand for colorful hightop basketball sneakers that make an outfit consisting of comfortable jogger pants and a t-shirt pop. At Foot Locker's Footaction and Champs divisions, sales of jogger pants sold well. ‘The casualization of our customer base is here to stay,' remarked Foot Locker chairman and CEO Dick Johnson on a call with analysts Friday, referring to consumers dressing up in slim-fit jogging pants and sneakers. Johnson may have made quite the understatement on the key style trend fueling Foot Locker' s business. But, Foot Locker is not alone in benefiting from the casual apparel trend. Teen apparel retailer American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) saw its same-store sales surge 11% in the second quarter. Its new flex denim, which is designed to look and feel like regular jeans but is actually stretchy, was mentioned as a star. TheStreet’s Brian Sozzi reports.