The Cat Heats Up the Sneaker Battle

When Bostonist was a poor college student, we remember splurging on a pair of navy Puma sneakers, which at the time were revamped and retro in comparison to the usual cross trainers at City Sports. Now, non-recreational, retro sneakers in a slew of colors are all over the city, but we like to think that Puma started the trend. Bostonist was surprised to learn today that the North American Puma headquarters are out in Westford; the Herald announced that this German footwear and clothing chain is planning on expanding its line to include golfing and motorcycling shoes and clothes. Puma CEO Jochen Zeitz plans on increasing the company's revenue to the $4.3 billion mark. So what, you ask? Well, the U.S. of A. loves its sneakers and has double the shoe market than Europe, meaning much of Puma's growth is going to be happening on this side of the pond. The Westford base will probably need to hire some more help if they want sales to increase from 4% to 25% like Zeitz plans to.

Bostonist never realized that Massachusetts was such a hot bed of sneakers. New Balance calls Brighton home, with its enticing factory outlet sales announced weekly in the Metro. Canton-based Reebok was just bought by Adidas last week, creating a powerful team in bringing down the house of Nike, which holds 40% of the sneaker market. But of course, Bostonist likes to look at the sneaker companies' celebrity endorsements to see who is in the lead. While Reebok looks to 50 Cent and his controversy to bump sales, Adidas has David Beckham and his soccer ball. Bostonist is partial to Puma's newest celeb endorsement, one of our own idiots, Johnny Damon and his peace sign. How does Nike stack up? They have Lance and his yellow bracelets on their side. You can't beat Lance, in the Tour de France or the promotion aspect.