Outdoor Retailer here I come

• Posted on August 5, 2008 at 6:44 PM
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Friday marks the beginning of the biggest event in the outdoor retailer calendar - the annual Summer Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, Utah. (There's a winter one as well, but it's not as big.) It's where manufacturers show off their latest and greatest in gear for Spring-Summer 09. I go down to check it all out, get a handle on what's new and cool for next year and look for trends.

I basically spend four days meeting with reps from each company to see what's new. I walk around a show space that's equivalent to five football fields all day long going from 30-minute meeting to 30-minute meeting, sucking in air conditioned air. It would be awful if it wasn't so much fun. Each company puts up a booth that ranges in size from a large closet to a large house with all their cool gear laid out. Draft beer is ironically plentiful despite Utah's strict liquor laws. Everyone treats you well. To a gear junkie such as myself it's the world's biggest candy store.

Media, like me, are a small part of the show. Mostly it's about showing retailers the goods so they'll order lots for their store and then you, the consumer, buys all the stock. it's interesting to sit back and watch the cogs click together: marketing says they need X product, designers make it, marketing brands it, workers build samples, the samples come to the retailer show, retailers check them out as do media, orders are taken, product is made, shipped, unloaded and then displayed, employees sell it and people buy it. Being at the retailer show you see a section of the process you don't see otherwise.

I'll try and blog every day from the show to give you the inside scoop on what goes on right from the floor.