MBT shoes losing their touch
Â*Â*Â*Â*LOS ANGELES – Fitness shoes that wobbled into major-league popularity last year with names like Shape-ups, EasyTone and TrueBalance are getting a tough workout these days. Â*Â*Â*Â*Heralded as the secret to tightening your buns, thighs and abs, the cheap mbt shoes - equipped with uneven soles designed to put muscles into overdrive – flew off the shelves last year as Americans, by one estimate, scooped up nearly 10 million pairs amid the latest fad in the finicky footwear industry. Â*Â*Â*Â*One year later, mbt shoes for sale have fallen in popularity in a now-flooded market for workout shoes, and companies are focusing more on lighter-weight shoes. Â*Â*Â*Â*Meanwhile, studies and lawsuits have repeatedly questioned whether women mbt shoes may really whip a flabby body into shape. Â*Â*Â*Â*Although women mbt shoesÂ* <a href="http://www.af1shoesworld.com/products_all.html"><strong>Nike Air Force 1</strong></a> have been around for years, most Americans became familiar with them in 2009 and 2010 as companies hawked pairs for around 100. But now with the glut, prices have been cut and sales have dropped. Â*Â*Â*Â*Reebok, New Balance and other brands have played a big role in the mbt shoes for sale popularity, but no one more than Skechers, the Manhattan Beach, Calif., shoe maker that makes Shape-ups and Tone-ups. The company’s sales and stock price soared in 2010, but no more. Â*Â*Â*Â*The company recently said it lost 29.9 million in the second quarter, compared with a profit of 40.2 million during the same period last year. Sales fell 14 percent to 434.4 million. Stock shares have plunged 28 percent year to date. Â*Â*Â*Â*Company officials blamed the loss mostly on a tough market for cheap mbt shoes . Â*Â*Â*Â*”We aggressively reduced our excess toning inventory during the second quarter by selling 2 million pairs of our original Shape-ups for a loss of 21 million,” Chief Operating Officer David Weinberg said. Â*Â*Â*Â*”Every business faces challenges as they grow, and at this time last year we were experiencing <a href="http://www.af1shoesworld.com/mens-air-force-1-classic-high-c-600.html"><strong>Air Force One High</strong></a> record growth and were the leaders in an explosive new category of footwear,” Skechers Chief Executive Robert Greenberg said in a statement. Â*Â*Â*Â*Skechers is rolling out a new line of lighter-weight, athletically styled Shape-ups and Tone-ups with smaller soles; those women mbt shoes were renamed “fitness” rather than “toning.” Â*Â*Â*Â*”We are producing more lighter-weight Shape-ups for people who want a lightweight package and still engage in – let’s call it fitness,” said Leonard Armato, president of Skecher’s fitness unit. “We are evolving Shape-ups, and we are excited about that evolution.” Â*Â*Â*Â*On a recent afternoon, retired salesman Keith Parker, 45, checked out a newly renovated Skechers store in Manhattan Beach. Pop music played while an audio recording urged shoppers to “step into your new body.” Â*Â*Â*Â*Parker wasn’t so excited. His favorite shoe? A dark-brown European-style slip-on. He said he had no interest in exploring the store’s new wing, which held the company’s fitness <a href="http://www.af1shoesworld.com/mensairforce1premiumlow-c-616.html"><strong>air force 1 premium</strong></a> and toning clearance mbt shoes for sale. Â*Â*Â*Â*”That whole marketing pitch doesn’t float my boat,” the retired salesman said. “I’m in good enough shape just walking around.” Â*Â*Â*Â*Others have also expressed <a href="http://www.livingstory.com/thomaj9md4v/blog/33127/"><strong>My First Experience MBT Shoe | Maria Nova</strong></a> similar skepticism since toning footwear took off. Â*Â*Â*Â*Lawsuits have been filed against Skechers, Reebok and New Balance alleging deceptive marketing. Â*Â*Â*Â*Last year, the San Diego-based American Council on Exercise funded a study that found Skechers Shape-ups, Reebok EasyTone and Masai Barefoot Technology toned one’s muscles no more than women mbt shoes . Â*Â*Â*Â*And Consumer Reports, citing the cheap mbt shoes instability, recently said they “could send you to the couch with your foot in a cast.” Â*Â*Â*Â*”Like any other high-heeled shoes, you’ve got to follow directions and instructions,” which for the original Shape-ups is walking, said Skechers’ Armato. Â*Â*Â*Â*Greenberg called the criticism nonsense, citing thousands of unsolicited letters from customers and company-sponsored studies that say his company’s shoes tone the body, relieve back stress and improve posture.
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