By 1997, however, Nike's footwear sales began to level off.

The company's chairman, Philip H. Knight, said in a statement that domestic sales of athletic apparel doubled and footwear sales grew 20 percent.

Women's footwear sales have been weak, leaving Nine West with excess inventory that it has had to sell at reduced prices.

While sales of dress shoes have been declining 5 percent a year, casual footwear sales have been growing by the same amount.

Retail footwear sales in the first quarter were flat, compared with the comparable period last year, the company said.

It already leads its rivals in footwear sales to women, but it wants an even bigger market share.

In the company's latest earnings report, which showed a strong overall profit, footwear sales in the United States were down 13 percent.

Nike said that footwear sales outside the United States fell by 10 percent and apparel sales fell by 13 percent.

Forrester Research estimates that despite the dismal economy, online apparel and footwear sales will be $5.2 billion this year, up 21 percent.

Soccer accounted for one percent of Nike's footwear sales of $2.3 billion in the year that ended Feb. 28.