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Opportunity, the proverb states, only knocks once. For retailers, though, it sometimes knocks twice.

However, mass merchants who pass on the opportunity to merchandise activewear and sports apparel to women in a meaningful, powerful way are clearly missing a shot at incremental sales and franchise building.

The evidence -- empirical, observational and sociological -- is abundant.

Women's participation in sports has never been higher. What's more, some of the sports that have seen the greatest growth rate of "frequent" participation are clearly linked to fashion. Women's in-line skating, for instance, grew in popularity by more than 300 percent from 1992 through 1995, according to a study by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. Tennis participation doubled during that period. Other sports in which women's particles shows a significant growth curve include working out (in home gyms, with free weights and on resistance machines), stair-climbing, utilizing treadmills, step aerobics, camping with tents and stationary biking.

Purchases of women's activewear and sports clothing are also increasing significantly. Unit sales of women's sports apparel has grown 38 percent since 1990, outpacing men's apparel by 30 percent and children's sports apparel by 20 percent.

As evidenced by the high retails on some sport specialty items, industry observers might argue that a disproportionate amount of sports apparel is purchased by consumers with higher-than-average incomes. However, that is a misconception. More than 60 percent of sports apparel is purchased by consumers with household incomes of less than $50,000. About 50 percent is bought by shoppers with family incomes below $40,000, according to the SGMA.

But why should discounters allocate a portion of precious floor space to women's sports at this particular juncture? After all, women's association with sports and fitness has been on a growth curve for more than a decade.

Call it momentum. The hottest designer lines -- from Donna Karan to Calvin Klein -- have heavy activewear influences. Nike, without a doubt the country's most influential activewear and athletic shoe company, is targeting women. And the rub off of last summer's Olympic Games is still fresh in the consumer mindset. Couple these factors with the increase in women's interest in sports as spectators and the opportunity to maximize women's activewear appears obvious.

Few mass market retailers have organized a women's sports section on the selling floor that in any way approaches the scope of the areas they've created for men. But some merchants have plans to remedy the situation.

"We see women's sports as a huge trend over the next three to four years," says ShopKo senior vice president Skip Chustz, who plans to roll out impact areas on his selling floors by next spring. "We already developed it in men's and kids'. Women's will be next."

The area will include branded merchandise as well as goods ticketed with ShopKo's proprietary Energy Zone label on which the company is attempting to build a branded franchise. In addition, the Green Bay, Wis.-based company is building up women's activewear this year as a precursor to next year's call-out area.

By concentrating on several categories including nylon separates and polyester fleece -- fabrics that serve as bridges between workout wear and street-oriented activewear -- ShopKo has achieved year-to-date women's active sportswear increases of more than 20 percent. In addition, this fall Chustz will bring in the NFL's women's Game Day merchandise, a line of clothing produced by Moretz Sport that is casual in orientation and tied to football through licensed team insignias.

But significant growth will come through functional athletic wear as well. J.J.'s Mae/Rainbeau, a bodywear-based activewear manufacturer, is attempting to import the marketing and technological savvy of companies that cater to sports specialty stores to the mass market with its line of gear made from Moisture Management fabrics.

These fabrics in the form of bike shorts and other silhouettes are designed to manage body heat and moisture during workouts. Garments constructed from the fabrics also carry hang tags detailing the garment's high-tech features with graphics reminiscent of those found on products from Nike or Adidas, but prices are in line with discount store customer expectations, ranging at retail from $9.99 to $11.99. The line, according to Rainbeau vice president of sales Richard Waxman, is being tested in 40 Caldor stores later this year.

Caldor itself is in a state of activewear transition. Unlike stores such as Kmart, Caldor still merchandises bodywear with hosiery rather than activewear, a state of affairs that could change.

"We are in the process of styling out what we can merchandise together. We're trying to figure out whether activewear is a big opportunity, small opportunity or no opportunity," says Mark Minsky, senior vice president.

Retailing is never risk-free, but considering the position of sports in American culture, exposure in women's activewear should be minimal. There are times when retailers should just do it.