“Middle‑class sports shoes” have gained a new member. Over the past few years, HOKA, On, and Salomon have dominated almost all the conversation around the “three treasures of the middle class.” But this year, a previously low‑key brand has suddenly surged into the spotlight.
In April of this year, according to media statistics, the running shoe brand Saucony surpassed HOKA in total online brand mentions for the first time. Its growth has been equally impressive. In the first quarter of 2026, Saucony’s retail sales grew more than 20% year‑on‑year, outperforming the sales performance of Anta and Li Ning (excluding Li Ning YOUNG), which recorded “high‑single‑digit growth” and “mid‑single‑digit growth” respectively over the same period.
This popularity has also been reflected in financial results. According to Xtep’s earnings reports, from 2023 to 2025, the professional sports segment, which includes Saucony and Merrell, saw revenue growth of 98.9%, 57.2%, and 30.8% respectively. In 2025, this segment generated revenue of RMB 1.636 billion and an operating profit of RMB 114 million, making it Xtep’s most important second growth curve.
This has come as something of a surprise. Whereas On is frequently spotted in office buildings and boutique coffee shops, and Salomon is tagged as “mountain‑style outdoor,” Saucony has always been much quieter. On social platforms, opinions about it are even somewhat divided. Some complain that its designs are too ugly and its colorways bizarre, joking that “the designers should go study Nike.” Others say that although they see it mentioned often, they have never actually seen a friend wear it, and “the first time I heard the name, I thought Sony had started making shoes.”
Why has a professional brand long confined to the running circle suddenly squeezed onto the list of “middle‑class shoes”? And who has pushed Saucony to where it is today?
1. “A Rolls‑Royce within the circle, unknown outside it”
“Saucony has finally got its act together.” That was the first reaction of many running enthusiasts when they saw the brand explode in popularity. Although the name inevitably reminds people of a camera brand, Saucony is actually nearly 130 years old. In 1898, the year after the first Boston Marathon was held, Saucony was born in the United States. For more than a century since, it has devoted almost all its energy to running, launching the world’s first professional spike shoes and long being regarded, along with ASICS, Brooks, and New Balance, as one of the “world’s four major running shoe brands.”
At the 1983 New York Marathon, Rod Dixon completed a classic comeback in the final 200 meters to win the race. After crossing the finish line, his image of cheering wildly in Saucony shoes became one of the most iconic moments in the brand’s history. In professional running, Saucony has never lacked for reputation.
In China, however, the story did not follow those illustrious chapters. While brands like ASICS and New Balance gradually established themselves in the domestic market, Saucony suffered two failed “retreats.” In 2004, Saucony entered the Chinese market for the first time under the name “Sheng Kang Ni.” At that time, domestic running culture had not yet taken shape; basketball and street culture were the focus of young people. Nike’s Air Force 1 was a sensation, the AJ series was hard to come by, and Adidas’s Superstar was a symbol of campus trendsetters. Saucony, however, stuck to its professional running‑shoe positioning and maintained its premium overseas pricing, with most shoes selling for over RMB 1,000. According to the China Statistical Yearbook, the average monthly salary of employed workers nationwide in 2004 was about RMB 1,335. Few were willing to spend nearly a month’s salary on a pair of running shoes that were neither fashionable nor brand‑recognized. After only two years in China, Saucony withdrew from the market.
In 2015, riding the wave of the domestic marathon boom, Saucony returned. But this time, the market environment had changed. Social media, self‑media, and e‑commerce platforms had gradually become the core channels for brand communication and consumer decision‑making, yet Saucony still followed its old playbook—relying on professional media reviews, event exposure, and limited‑edition products. As a result, it missed the market once again.
The real turning point came in 2019. The Xtep Group formed a joint venture with Saucony’s parent company, Wolverine, with Xtep responsible for the brand’s development, marketing, and distribution in China. In a sense, Saucony’s third entry into China—this time “by the back door”—finally gave it a local operations team. Even so, its commercialization still did not move quickly. In 2022, the professional sports segment, which includes Saucony and Merrell, generated only RMB 400 million in revenue, accounting for just 3.1% of Xtep Group’s total income. Yet in the same year, at events such as the Beijing Marathon and Shanghai Marathon, Saucony’s on‑foot rate had already surpassed ASICS and also exceeded that of HOKA and On.
The stark contrast between commercialization and word‑of‑mouth led to a running‑circle joke: “Everyone inside the circle calls it the Rolls‑Royce of running shoes, but outside the circle, people don’t even recognize the logo.” Even public figures from different fields—Jack Ma, former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, Taylor Swift, and Tony Leung—had been seen wearing Saucony in public, but none of them managed to take the brand beyond the running community.
The reason is not complicated. For a long time, Saucony built almost its entire brand narrative around professional performance. From race pacing, long‑distance training, to interval running, different products corresponded to different running scenarios; product descriptions were filled with technical parameters like rebound, midsole cushioning, and temperature tolerance. This logic resonated with professional runners but struggled to appeal to mass consumers. For ordinary people, the biggest selling point of a shoe may not be helping them run a sub‑4‑hour marathon, but rather being comfortable enough to stand all day during commuting and still allowing for a two‑kilometer run after work. More than technical jargon, they care about comfort, versatility, and whether the shoe fits into daily life.
If a brand cannot break out of its niche and reach mass consumers, no sports brand in China can easily escape its growth ceiling. In recent years, brands like Arc’teryx and Salomon have also emphasized professional performance yet successfully reached a broader audience—not because consumers have become increasingly obsessed with “hardcore” attributes, but because these brands packaged their professional capabilities as a lifestyle. What attracts consumers—especially middle‑class consumers—is “showing off your hardcore side while staying relaxed,” not “pure hardcore.”
So how did a brand that was once “well‑regarded inside the circle but unknown outside it” suddenly enter the public eye?
2. “Finally feeling a bit more human”
The first reason Saucony managed to break through is that consumers have changed. In the post‑pandemic era, young people’s consumption values have shifted noticeably. Compared with the past, when they were keen to use brands to signal status, they now place more importance on whether an item is comfortable, durable, and truly fits into their lives. In office buildings, sneakers are gradually replacing leather shoes; shirts with running shoes, and suits with sneakers, have become increasingly common combinations. People still pursue a sense of propriety, but this propriety no longer relies on deliberate polish—instead, it emphasizes a relaxed and natural state. Some call this consumption trend “relaxed pragmatism,” and Saucony happens to have caught this wave.
On Xiaohongshu, one interesting topic about Saucony does not even use the brand name directly; it is called “Founder’s Outfit Formula,” and has attracted nearly 16 million views. Under this topic, whether entrepreneurs, designers, or ordinary office workers, all showcase similar pairings: shirts, trousers or business‑casual wear, paired with Saucony sneakers. Some wear them while moving between meeting rooms and office buildings, and after work go directly for an evening run, to an exhibition, or on a City Walk.
The so‑called “founder style” is not that everyone wants to start a business, but rather a new ideal of elite identity: professional, restrained, efficient, yet without the distance of traditional business attire. For many consumers, what they are buying is not necessarily just a pair of running shoes, but a lifestyle.
At the same time, running itself has also changed. In the past, running was more of a competitive sport; today, it has increasingly become a social activity. In 2025, a total of 594 marathons and related road races were held across the country, averaging more than one per day. Night runs, City Runs, trail runs, relay races, and other forms have continued to emerge, and more and more ordinary people are getting into running. As running enters daily life, running shoes naturally begin to step out of the professional circle.
Of course, trends alone are not enough. A more practical point is that Saucony is not as expensive as On. Among the top‑selling products on its Tmall flagship store, prices are mainly concentrated between RMB 320 and 769, with not many products exceeding RMB 1,000. In contrast, nearly 80% of the best‑selling products from On, HOKA, and Salomon are priced above RMB 1,000. For RMB 500‑600, you can buy a pair of running shoes that combine professional performance and brand cachet—a price point that clearly better fits today’s consumer mindset of pursuing quality while staying rational.
However, if Saucony had only ridden the trend, it might not have achieved today’s growth. The real change is that it finally started to transform itself. In the past, Saucony was more like a tech geek who could only talk to runners. Product descriptions were filled with technical terms like midsole cushioning, rebound rate, and temperature tolerance; different products were subdivided by racing, long‑distance training, interval running, and other scenarios. For ordinary consumers, this content was professional but distant.
In its product messaging, Saucony began to translate obscure jargon into more “human” expressions. For example, whereas it once emphasized “wide‑last design,” it now simply tells consumers: “Even if you have wide feet or swollen feet, they won’t feel cramped.” Complex technical parameters are increasingly being converted into wearing experiences that ordinary people can perceive.
Brand communication has also changed. In 2026, Saucony officially announced Cai Xukun as its brand ambassador, hoping to leverage celebrity influence to further expand public awareness. Previously, it had also collaborated with premium coffee brands like M Stand and MANNER, placing itself in the consumption scenes most familiar to white‑collar workers. Product design has also begun to actively embrace trends. Vintage, ballet, City Walk—elements that previously had little to do with professional running shoes—have started to appear on Saucony with increasing frequency. It has even played with “food‑inspired designs.” Saucony once collaborated with the British boutique End Clothing to launch “Burger Shoes,” with the upper inspired by a hamburger and using different materials to simulate rare beef, lettuce, and onions. In addition, Saucony has also released lobster shoes, avocado shoes, ramen shoes, and more. It has finally started to create buzz, not just debate parameters.
This shift has gradually been reflected on the business side. By the end of 2025, Saucony had 175 stores in mainland China, a net increase of 30 from the beginning of the year, and it successively opened concept stores and pop‑up stores in core business districts such as Hangzhou MixC and Guangzhou Taikoo Hui. Looking back today, Saucony’s biggest change is not necessarily that its running shoe performance suddenly improved, but that it has finally learned how to introduce itself to people outside the running circle.
3. Could Saucony become Xtep’s “Fila”?
Saucony’s breakout is perhaps most welcome to Xtep. For Xtep, Saucony has never been just a pair of running shoes—it is the most important piece of the group’s multi‑brand strategy. For a long time, Xtep’s growth relied almost entirely on its main brand. But as sports consumption becomes increasingly segmented, relying solely on the mass‑market running‑shoe segment is no longer sufficient to sustain a sportswear group’s long‑term growth. Covering different price tiers, consumer groups, and sports scenarios has gradually become a common direction for international sports brands. Saucony’s role is precisely to spearhead Xtep’s push into the professional sports market.
In 2023, Xtep spent USD 61 million (approximately RMB 434 million) to acquire full ownership of the Saucony joint venture. In the first half of that year, Saucony turned profitable for the first time, becoming the group’s first new brand to reach profitability. To some extent, this signaled that Xtep’s multi‑brand strategy had entered a phase of payoff. That is why the market has often compared Saucony with Anta’s Fila. Both are new brands nurtured by their respective groups, and both are tasked with becoming the second growth engine.
In 2025, after completing a HKD 1 billion refinancing, Xtep explicitly stated that it would further concentrate resources on developing its main brand and Saucony, and set a target of 20%‑30% year‑on‑year revenue growth for its professional sports segment in 2026. The market naturally expects Saucony to become “the second Fila.” Yet the reality still shows a considerable gap.
From 2023 to 2025, Xtep’s professional sports segment generated revenues of RMB 796 million, RMB 1.25 billion, and RMB 1.636 billion, accounting for 5.5%, 9.2%, and 11.6% of the group’s total revenue respectively. By comparison, in 2025, Fila’s revenue reached RMB 28.47 billion, representing 35.4% of Anta Group’s revenue, and was already very close to the RMB 34.75 billion scale of Anta’s main brand. In terms of revenue size, the difference is more than tenfold. But the biggest gap between the two lies not merely in revenue, but in the breadth of consumption scenarios that each brand can cover.
Today, consumers can wear Fila to work, travel, shop, or for fitness and ball games. Sports is only one of its use cases; what Fila truly enters is the broader daily life of consumers. Saucony is different. Even though it has successfully broken out of its niche, its brand perception remains firmly anchored in professional running. The running market is certainly large, but professional running shoes inherently have stronger category attributes, which also means relatively limited consumption frequency and scenarios. For most consumers, they might buy many pieces of sportswear or casual sneakers in a year, but they are unlikely to keep buying multiple pairs of professional running shoes.
Saucony is clearly aware of this. In 2025, it launched the WOOOLLY wool collection, attempting to extend from running shoes to apparel and lifestyle products, hoping to open up more consumption scenarios. This direction is not wrong—after all, for a sports brand, the richer the scenarios, the more opportunities to reach consumers. However, moving from running shoes to lifestyle consumption is not as easy as it seems. In 2025, as the share of apparel sales (with relatively lower gross margins) increased, the gross margin of Xtep’s professional sports segment actually fell by 1.7 percentage points. This means that while Saucony has taken the first step in expanding its product categories, it still has a long way to go before it can truly gain traction across more consumption scenarios.
At the same time, the competition it faces is intensifying. In the professional running‑shoe arena, ASICS, HOKA, and On continue to vie for users; in the broader mass sports market, Salomon, New Balance, and Skechers are steadily expanding their influence. More critically, almost all these brands have already established clear brand mindsets. When people think of On, they think of premium sports; when they think of Salomon, they recall mountain‑oriented outdoor wear; ASICS, leveraging the retro trend, continues to attract younger consumers. In contrast, although Saucony’s brand awareness has risen rapidly, consumer perception of it still largely centres on “professional running shoes.” That perception can help a brand break through, but it may not be sufficient to sustain long‑term growth. For a sports brand, the first purchase often comes from the product itself; the second and third purchases come more from the brand.
For Saucony, it has already completed the most difficult step. But for Xtep, the more important question is just beginning. Whether Saucony can truly shoulder the second growth curve does not depend on how many more pairs of running shoes it can sell, but on whether it can continually broaden its consumption scenarios so that consumers will choose it even beyond running. For every professional sports brand, moving from the track to the mass market is never easy; and evolving from a professional running shoe into a truly mass‑market brand is an even longer race.
