Is Athletic Footwear Imploding or Exploding? Plus: Youer's Turnaround Playbook

On this episode of Outdoor Unfiltered, host Eoin Comerford breaks down Circana's latest outdoor industry sales data, showing flat dollar sales but a 4% drop in units, and puts it side by side with Grassroots Outdoor Alliance's much stronger mid-year numbers.

Eoin unpacks why athletic footwear headlines from JD Sports, Nike, Adidas, Foot Locker, and Academy sound alarming while ASICS, Merrell, Saucony, On, HOKA, and Birkenstock are all posting strong running and performance growth, and explains the lifestyle-versus-performance and D2C-versus-wholesale splits driving the divide. He also covers two unfiltered upsides: S&P raising VF Corp's outlook from stable to positive, and Locally's new partnership with DoorDash that lets independent specialty retailers offer same-day delivery.

Later, Eoin sits down with Mallory Ottariano, founder and CEO of Youer, to talk about the brand's rocky path through manufacturing failures, a self-built factory in Missoula, Montana, tariff headaches on Polartec and Chinese fabrics, and the pivot to paid media on Meta, authentic email marketing, and a drop model that has the brand tripling revenue this year. This episode is sponsored by ISPO and Crux Retail.

Show Notes

Timestamps

• 0:00 – Circana's latest outdoor industry sales data from OR Minneapolis and what it means for the category.
• 0:51 – Comparing Circana's flat/down data to Grassroots Outdoor Alliance's stronger mid-year comps and what explains the gap.
• 4:55 – A word from sponsor ISPO on its relaunch in Amsterdam.
• 6:02 – Is athletic footwear imploding or exploding: sorting out the conflicting headlines from JD Sports, Nike, Adidas, Foot Locker, Academy, and UBS.
• 12:39 – A word from sponsor Crux Retail.
• 15:03 – Unfiltered upside: S&P raises VF Corp's outlook from stable to positive.
• 16:39 – Unfiltered upside: Locally partners with DoorDash to bring same-day delivery to independent specialty retailers.
• 19:38 – Introducing guest Mallory Ottaviano, founder and CEO of Youer, and the origin of the brand.
• 22:18 – Why Youer built its own manufacturing facility in Missoula, Montana, and what went wrong along the way.
• 27:03 – The real impact of tariffs on domestic manufacturing and imported fabric costs.
• 29:34 – What actually turned Youer's business around over the last two years.
• 32:19 – Behind Youer's raw, unpolished creative process and why it works on Meta.
• 38:56 – How Mallory thinks about MER, cost per purchase, and attribution in paid media.
• 40:33 – Why Youer runs a drop model instead of traditional seasonal collections.
• 44:10 – A closer look at Youer's hero products: the Earned It Short, Commit Crop Top, and Treasure Dress.
• 46:06 – Why Youer walked away from wholesale entirely.
• 48:32 – Youer's growth numbers and what running a lean, eight-figure team actually looks like.

Connect With Us

We would love to hear your thoughts on the show, inside intel, guest ideas, sponsorship inquiries or whatever's on your mind. Reach out to Eoin Comerford on LinkedIn or email outdoorunfilteredpod@gmail.com.

Our Sponsors

ISPO unites the sporting and outdoor goods industry, inspiring global movement, protecting the places we play, and providing a single, streamlined platform for the brands, athletes, buyers, and innovators who shape the future of sport. Visit www.ispo.com.

Crux Retail creates bold retail displays for bold brands. Visit www.crux-retail.com.

Outdoor Unfiltered is a production of Rockfight LLC.