I think that Under Armour should focus on growing its market share in apparel, accessories, and footwear. 1. Strategic Alternatives and Recommendations for UA Growth: a. Expand the number of outlets offering UA footwear products to reach more customers; especially casual wearers of athletic gear. i. Pros: The company’s struggling footwear products become available to new customers who are casual athletes, or seek the comfort of athletic clothes, but do not shop at specialty stores. ii. Cons: May reduce the impression of UA as an exclusive brand designed for serious athletes in need of increased performance. b. Invest more money in the development of performance enhancing footwear to lean on UA’s reputation as a company who uses technology and innovation to improve athletic performance. i. Pros: This strategy keeps Plank’s vision of the company intact. Existing marketing campaigns still work, and the target market stays the same. ii. Cons: This strategy could potentially be very expensive, and there is no guarantee that research will yield real results, or that those results will translate to sales. c. Expand UA to international markets to reach new customers. i. Pros: Untapped international markets offer literally millions of new customers to sell to. There is no way to take on a global giant like Nike without selling in the international market. ii. Cons: Significant investments will be required in developing and maintaining new relationships with athlete partners overseas and establishing new distribution channels. 2. Recommended Strategy: I think that Under Armour should focus its growth strategy on offering products in an expanded number of retail outlets and on setting up international divisions. 3. Implementation: Implementing the retail outlet strategy requires that the company forge new relationships with retailers in the United States who can carry its products. Their existing distribution channels should be able to handle this expansion. The company may need to hire additional staff to interact with the increased number of stores carrying its products. Implementing the international expansion requires that UA form relationships with teams and athletes internationally and that it set up distribution channels to get its products to market in these new countries. The company will most likely need to hire a new executive or reassign one of its existing employees to oversee and organize this expansion. 4. Evaluation and Control: From an evaluation and control standpoint, the expansion to new United States department stores should not trouble UA too much. Although technology wasn’t discussed much in the study, the company is already capable of selling in multiple outlets across the country, and must have some way to analyze its sales and marketing data domestically.