New Balance: Shoe Fits - ' Life in a Thousand '
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Life in a Thousand Styles
Today, every one of New Balance's 160 sales reps in North America uses the system
Holland willed into existence to forecast the business for all their accounts
a full 18 months into the future. The forecasts cover nearly 1,000 styles of
shoes and, in some cases, colors within a style. They estimate apparel sales
as well. In all, they're predicting the performance of more than 100,000 different
pieces of merchandise, with monthly updates.
New Balance has concentrated on improving its planning. But that doesn't mean
that demand for its shoes automatically increases. First, New Balance establishes
how its shoes will distinguish themselves from rivals—and then it must
figure out how many of those shoes its retailers want.
New Balance shoes, for instance, are not about style. "You have to understand
that there are two distinct camps when it comes to selling athletic shoes,"
says Wells Fargo Securities analyst John Shanley. "Nike and Reebok are fascinated
with capturing [the] fashion-oriented market. New Balance sticks to
reliability and performance in their running shoes. It's that simple."
The company's strategy means it puts more shoes in its product lineup that serve
the average, aging athlete. In technical terms: it supplies shoes in many more
widths, so that Baby Boomers with flattening feet are more comfortable as they
jog or drive to the hoop.
The result is a loyal following among runners. At the Chicago Marathon last
month, about 500 runners lined up at New Balance's mobile marketing van to try
on the company's 991 running shoe. The van carried every available size and
width of the men's and women's 991; all told, 140 pairs of shoes.
Greg Thompson, a 43-year-old from South Bend, Ind., has run in 14 marathons.
"New Balance is all I ever wear," he says. "Everything else hurts my feet. If
I don't wear these shoes, that"—he points to a bunion on the inside of
his left foot near the big toe—"would rip out [the material]."
Projects: Management 
