One industrywide trend to keep an eye on during upcoming selling seasons revolves around the max cushioning designs prevalent in footwear. Some see runners showing some inclination to steer away from being maxed out, while others are not so sure.

“The core runner is starting to say, ‘I don’t know if I want all this ‘cush,’” asserts John Notary, the footwear buyer for Aardvark Sports in Bethlehem, PA “I’m personally waiting for when the pendulum swings back from max cushioning,” he added, pointing out that he’s seen more targeted designs for barefoot but not to the degree of Vibram’s Five Fingers minimalist concept.

Brittany Katz, the owner and operator of Terra Running in Cleveland, TN, however, contends that her store’s core run customers are “generally pleased with the max-cushion trend of everyday trainers.” With Terra generating most of its footwear sales from training, crossover and everyday styles, she believes the max cushion look and feel “will last longer” for many of her customers because it fits the activities that they use the shoes for.

Tom Mansfield, president of the eight-door Charm City Run in Maryland, hasn’t witnessed any significant shifts away from maximum cushioning by his customers.

The economy and the average price of footwear are also topics to watch.

While there have been some whispers nationally about the potential for a U.S. recession to commence over the final months of 2024, Mansfield said his core $140 to $160 footwear business has been fine. He adds that push back on pricing “is minimal if you create the in store experience.”

On the pricing front, Terra’s Katz was pleased with the boost to business her store received during Tennessee’s recent tax-free weekend that allowed customers to avoid the Volunteer State’s steep sales tax of 9.75 percent, albeit for only two days. “We always look forward to the weekend when get that break… and we try to bundle sales on top of it as well.”

Nearly all run specialty retailers we spoke to gave high marks to the running shoe industry as whole for “raising the bar” with performance product innovation and working hard to maintain MAP pricing in what has been a promotional retail environment.

Here, we break down some key brand developments ahead of the fall running season, with information the brands have reported, along with some input from specialty retailers:

Asics: The Japanese company recently reported a strong first half and raised its full-year guidance, citing double-digit sales growth in all global regions. The brand’s North American sales rose 21 percent year-over-year. Retailers laud the brand’s new product and the brand’s people on the ground. Aardvark’s Notary says the brand is “on fire,” citing the NovaBlast and SuperBlast as highly sought after models.

Nike: The brand is promising to re-ignite its innovation pipeline in the months ahead beginning in December. Nike generated double-digit order book growth for the Holiday ’24 and Spring ’25 seasons with its North American run specialty partners, it reported recently. Mansfield notes that the Pegasus 41 has been a hit at Charm City. On the flipside, Aardvark buyer Notary says the Swoosh has been “kind of absent” from his store as brand support from the company has continued to erode.

Hoka: The new Skyflow is being distributed in run specialty and DTC channels only with the Rincon moving to big box store availability only. There is keen interest in which channels the updated Clifton and Bondi styles in 2025 will end up. Brand sales are forecast to rise by 20 percent in 2024, and Hoka’s Q1 revenues grew by 30 percent to $545.2 million. Hoka is the top-selling brand at Fleet Feet stores. It also continues to be the second-strongest footwear brand at Aardvark, behind Brooks, Notary tells us.

Brooks: Reported 19 percent Q2 revenue growth in North America, driven by its Glycerin 21 super franchise, Ghost Max, and a strong Ghost 16 introduction. The brand continues to hold the top spot in U.S. specialty footwear retail. Mansfield lauds the Seattle firm’s “fantastic people” on the ground, and said the brand’s new styles, including the Glycerin and Hyperion series look faster and fresher.

On: The Swiss brand, which recently embarked on expanding its brand and product message beyond running, continues to perform well from a sales perspective. But there is some mounting frustration within the run specialty channel with distribution given the brand’s third-party center in Atlanta that is delivering orders 10 to 30 days late. One retailer suggested the company figure out 3 to 4 models it wants to “churn” in the run specialty space.

Saucony: The Wolverine Worldwide-brand is starting to get more focused and see more life in the channel thanks to great new styles such as the new Hurricane and Endorphin. The Ride and Guide have been solid performers.

Altra: Some positive vibes here for the VF Corp.-owned brand that recently tapped 20-year Nike veteran Kylee Barton as its new product chief under brand president Jennifer McLaren.

Puma: While still largely visible on a small scale in the U.S. specialty run channel, some think the iconic global brand can be a bigger player with the right mix of product and market support. Puma could get a big run bump from its exposure in the Paris Games.

Adidas: While the 75-year-old brand is not a major player in retail run specialty in the U.S. right now, it is putting investments into the category. CEO Bjorn Gulden calls the brand’s new high-end EVO racing shoe “the most innovative running shoe on the market today.” The company, which recently released the Ultraboost 5, is promising to be very wide and deep in running in the future. That effort includes 5 to 6 projects in lifestyle running that will debut before year-end before being scaled up for the Spring/Summer 2025 season.