Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, the premier trade event and community gathering featuring the best of the outdoor industry’s manufacturers and top retail buyers, marked its 35th anniversary, the last in Salt Lake City, with industry unity and an energetic public lands celebration. The industry looks forward to its new home in Denver for the January 2018 Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show, beginning January 24 for the SIA Industry + Intelligence Day, followed by Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show January 25-28, and finally the SIA On-Snow Demo January 29-30 at Copper Mountain, Colo.

New attendees as well as show veterans launched next-generation products, participated in industry networking and education, and showed up in force to celebrate public lands, with an estimated 3,000 attendees joining in the “This Land is Our Land” march to the state’s capitol building.

“This show was bittersweet as we celebrated our partners and hosts in Salt Lake, while beginning to build our future in Denver,” said Marisa Nicholson, vice president and Outdoor Retailer show director. “The economic strength of the outdoor industry continues to grow and we look forward to carrying that momentum to our new home in Colorado.”

While it was the last Salt Lake show, Outdoor Retailer organizers offered retailers more opportunities to buy, connect and learn. Whether through the expanded Demo Experience at Jordanelle State Park, an enhanced paddlesports showcase, increased networking and educational seminars and, or, for the first time, the opportunity to engage in public lands advocacy right on the show floor, retailers were the focus.

“We have to come here as retailers so we are informed, so we can be trusted, so we have the technical knowledge that is gained here, but also the friendships and relationships that are formed here are very enduring,” said Guy Trombley, Mountain Shop, Portland, OR.

“Outdoor Retailer is a great place to connect with upper-level vendor management that we don’t see on a regular basis,” said John Benedict, co-owner, Playmakers, Okemos, MI. “I also get the chance to see new products and give feedback on future product direction. I always feel like it was a good decision to attend Outdoor Retailer.”

“I’m here from Anchorage, Alaska; we have five outdoor stores in Alaska,” said Deanna Miller, with Big Ray’s. “The biggest value for me in marketing is meeting with the brands directly and figuring out which direction they are going to help guide my marketing tools and campaigns at a local level.”

Lindsey Elliott, co-founder of Wylder Goods, said: “Outdoor Retailer is where we come together twice a year to meet with our friends and peers, and our ambassadors. It is the essential gathering for our business.”

Attendees, as well as those who missed last week’s Summer Market, can relive the week with photos and video at Outdoor Retailer. Registration for the Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show opens September 2017. To exhibit, contact Krista Dill, Director of Sales, at krista.dill@outdoorretailer.com.

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About Outdoor Retailer:
Outdoor Retailer brings together retailers, manufacturers, industry advocates and media to conduct the business of outdoor recreation through tradeshows, Outdoor Retailer Magazine, product demo events, media events and web-based business solutions. The Outdoor Retailer tradeshows are the premier outdoor industry events for North America, providing platforms for critical face-to-face business initiatives, line previews, innovations, launches, networking and retailer education. Visit outdoorretailer.com for more information.

Outdoor Retailer is owned by Emerald Expositions, the largest operator of business-to-business trade shows in the United States, with most of our shows dating back several decades. We currently operate more than 50 trade shows, including 31 of the top 250 trade shows in the country as ranked by TSNN, as well as numerous other events. Our events connect over 500,000 global attendees and exhibitors and occupy more than 6.5 million NSF of exhibition space. We have been recognized with many awards and accolades that reflect our industry leadership as well as the importance of our shows to the exhibitors and attendees we serve.