an Invigorating Platform for Retailer Meetings, Media Presentations,
Order Writing and Relationship Building
The success of the industry’s specialty retailers was the focus of this year’s event
Salt Lake City – January 10, 2016 – Outdoor Retailer, the premier outdoor product tradeshow, welcomed specialty retailers, brands and media for four days of order taking, media presentations, networking and industry celebrations. As market confidence builds, and the outdoor industry economy continues to strengthen, exhibiting brands previewed countless numbers of new products, leading the industry in innovation and fashion trends.
New tools and resources designed to support the needs of specialty retailers helped them better navigate the show floor, identify new products and sharpen their skills. And while business was the focus, no one failed to mention that Winter Market is the perfect event to connect with colleagues, business associates and friends.
The outdoor industry community made the annual pilgrimage to Salt Lake City, with an estimated 22,000 overall attendees, and more than 1,060 exhibiting brands. Attendance remained on par to Winter Market 2015 and the fact that 19% of exhibitors were new shows the strength and growth of the industry.
The All Mountain Demo kicked things off, giving retailers and media the first opportunity of the year to test gear in the environment for which it was made. Hosted at Solitude Mountain Resort, Wednesday, January 6, from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., the All Mountain Demo focused on backcountry and avalanche safety, but also featured an array of wintersports products, events and activities. Click here for recap video.
“Outdoor Retailer is the gathering place for specialty retailers and industry brands. This event is the epicenter of our industry, where the entire community can come together to not only conduct business but to celebrate the people and the accomplishments, and to collaborate and engage in a more personal, face-to-face way,” said Marisa Nicholson, VP and Outdoor Retailer Show Director. “The outdoor industry is connected by its passion, and Outdoor Retailer is the heart.”
The Winter Market 2016 lineup included something for everyone:
RISE: Retail Inspired Specialty Excellence, NEW—RISE, for specialty retailers, a collaboration between Outdoor Retailer, Grassroots Outdoor Alliance and Outdoor Industry Association, was designed to ensure that specialty retailers received tailored education and exceptional experiences that will help them succeed in an ever-changing, competitive landscape. RISE featured an afternoon of roundtables, breakouts and keynotes focused on topics that will help specialty retailers shape, refine and grow their businesses. Sessions included How to Compete as a Specialty Retailer in an Omni-Channel World, Specialty Retail’s Top HR Imperatives, Targeting with ConsumerVue Customer Identification Tool and more. RISE took place on January 6, at The Leonardo Museum.
Specialty Retailer Orientation—Retailers were invited to join an orientation to help get the lay of the land with Joe Bustos, Outdoor Retailer’s Retail Relations Manager, the morning of Day One. This helped to orient retailers to ensure they had a productive show experience.
Media Preview—The Outdoor Retailer Media Preview was designed to give attending media a sneak peek at new, innovative products being released and shown at Outdoor Retailer. Brands had a unique platform to meet one-on-one with the media. Journalists had exclusive access to preview some of the latest products and newest exhibitors in the outdoor industry before the show opened.
Fashion Show—Outdoor Retailer partnered with PROMOSTYL to show the latest technical and lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories the outdoor industry has to offer, based on the trends for Fall, Winter 16/17. The fashion show’s mix of merchandise and trend forecasting served to help specialty retailers identify looks for their stores.
Industry Party—The start of the show was celebrated with this annual party, which helped kick off the winter season. This premier event brought the industry together to network and have a bit of fun at the close of a long business day. Special thanks to sponsors Slackline Industries, Mountain Khakis and Sierra Nevada.
Outdoor Inspiration Awards— The sixth annual Outdoor Inspiration Awards invited the community to celebrate those who inspire and encourage others in their communities to enjoy, participate in and support outdoor activities and the outdoor industry. Special thanks to sponsors adidas Outdoor, Boy Scouts of America, DreamJobbing, SNEWS and the OR Daily. Click here for a complete list of winners, and the recap video.
Trend + Design Center —From trend forecasting with the preeminent trend houses in the business, to discussions on industrial design and materials innovation, the Trend + Design Center, presented by Bemis, anchored the supplier story at Outdoor Retailer and served the design audience with compelling education and networking events. With more than 200 raw materials suppliers, Outdoor Retailer is the largest collection of suppliers, co-located with the largest 0ion of outdoor products. Outdoor Retailer partnered with PROMOSTYL to develop and curate the Fall/Winter 17/18 fabric trends.
Forums at The Camp — Designed with outdoor specialty retailers in mind, the Forums at The Camp (formally the New Product Zone) featured panels of brand leaders, retailers, designers and influencers who came together to discuss and share best practices around the challenges of selling “outdoor” for today’s consumer.
Venture Out – Venture Out was home to brands that represent the growing urban and lifestyle trend that has influenced and invigorated the modern outdoor movement. Venture Out helps brands validate the fact that outdoor function does exist in a fashionable solution, while expanding their brand reach to new market segments.
Outdoor University—Outdoor Retailer partnered with the Outdoor Industry Association to bring free educational sessions via Outdoor University. This education platform provided invaluable educational and leadership training to all attendees.
Heard around the show:
"Our store in Fayetteville wouldn’t be the same without Outdoor Retailer. All the brands we’ve had in there we’ve met and built personal relationships with due to Outdoor Retailer and grown them throughout the years.” Said Devin O’Dea, Partner/CMO – Fayettechill. “It’s been absolutely crucial to our success.”
"Like-minded people. Everyone is in it together. Everyone is here for the same reason: the love of the outdoors. In the outdoor industry, no one wins if someone loses,” remarked Jen Singley, Director of Retail, United By Blue.
"The benefit of the Winter show is making connections. I don’t have any other opportunities where I can see everybody in one space. Even regional shows will have some of that, but don’t come close to this scope,” commented Mike Ruschman, Buying Department Manager - Midwest Mountaineering. “For me, it’s not so much seeing new products at the Winter show, but really establishing those connections. We’re talking about things like marketing initiatives. As a specialty retailer I think that’s imperative."
“This is my first Outdoor Retailer, and it’s been fun to see all the new products and brands that I haven’t seen before and it’s great to see the brands that we already carry and see the new products they have coming out,” commented, Mike Kelly with GardenSwartz Outdoors, Durango Colorado. “Overall the show has been a great experience.”
“The great thing about Outdoor Retailer is the varied crowd,” mentioned Rebecca Carew, Scott Sports. “It’s not just people solely interested in the alpine sport. We get people across the board. For Scott Sports that’s a great opportunity since we are in many divisions. We can show our running and trail goods here. We can show our trail bikes and integrate that with our skis and really get a good message to our dealers and consumers.”
about Outdoor Retailer
Outdoor Retailer (OR) brings together retailers, manufacturers, industry advocates and media to conduct the business of outdoor recreation through tradeshows, product demo events and web-based business solutions. Produced by Emerald Expositions and based in San Juan Capistrano, California, Outdoor Retailer also provides and promotes retailer education, advocacy, responsibility and critical face-to-face business initiatives within the outdoor industry.
Consistently named among Trade Show News Network’s 25 fastest-growing tradeshows by attendance, Outdoor Retailer (outdoorretailer.com) connects approximately 50,000 attendees on a semi-annual basis for its Summer and Winter Market shows, and thousands more through its year-round online resources and platforms.
