News & Features - Editorials


Article Thumbnail Guest editorial: What’s next for the specialty fitness retail industry?
Mar 3, 2010
Sanford Stein, president of the 29-year-old STEIN LLC retail planning and design firm, points out where the specialty fitness retail industry has stumbled and offers perspective on its future in this guest editorial.
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Article Thumbnail The SNEWS® View: Photos, espionage and more at our industry trade shows
Feb 12, 2010
For goodness sakes, folks, in both the comparatively small outdoor and fitness industries, forms of industrial espionage at trade shows is getting out of hand. People are on edge, and unless we collectively focus on this challenge, things could go from bad to worse in a hurry…to the point of someone even getting physically hurt.
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Article Thumbnail Guest Editorial: SHOT Show presents opportunity for those retailers with open minds
Feb 3, 2010
Few segments of the broader outdoor industry seem to be as recession-proof as the tribe that attends the SHOT Show, held Jan. 19-22, 2010, in Las Vegas. Even while other markets are lagging, it is still outperforming. Find out how you can tap into this market.
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Article Thumbnail SNEWS® View: Why is Crowther upset at OIA for perceived censorship of news release
Dec 21, 2009
Why is one company so eager to bash another if their company is so good – are they that afraid of the competition? The question comes to mind as we address a dust up over a Climbing magazine news release being removed from the OIA website.
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Article Thumbnail SNEWS® View: Hotel-room exhibiting doesn’t count as supporting the trade show
Dec 9, 2009
On Dec. 4, we received an email invitation with the subject line “Going to Winter OR?” Naturally, with trade show season approaching, we opened the email, finding a cheery greeting. But after reading the message, we found more to jeer than cheer.
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Article Thumbnail SNEWS View: South Butt drags North Face into PR quagmire
Oct 9, 2009
Jimmy Winklemann, 18, and his company, South Butt, have managed to drag The North Face into a public relations quagmire as a result of TNF defending its trademark. Is Winklemann just an innocent teenager being bullied by TNF, as he's trying to portray, or is he much smarter than people are giving him credit for?
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Article Thumbnail Reader Vibe: You Are My Tribe
Jul 22, 2009
I looked around this morning at the Industry Breakfast and I saw you, and I smiled and felt at home. Despite the fact you are an unruly bunch of lunatics, dreamers, eccentrics, artists, adventurers and renegades, I felt a surge of pride and protectiveness, honored to be one of you, happy to be among you, my tribe.
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Article Thumbnail SNEWS View: Drowning in catalogs and press kits -- what a waste
Jul 15, 2009
An alert reader sent us the photo below, showing three stacks of promotional materials for the upcoming Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, all containing invites to come by a booth and check out the new wares. This is a specialty retailer who, like many, would honestly prefer to receive just one catalog or press kit for the store prior to any trade show. And, to make it worse...
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Article Thumbnail Guest Editorial: The audacity of adventure
Jul 13, 2009
“Climbing a mountain is a bad investment; any financial consultant will tell you that.” Jonny Copp wrote that in an article reflecting on his life that appeared in 2003 in the now-defunct "Hooked on the Outdoors" magazine. In an industry that in recent years has tried to contain and trademark the concept of “adventure,” Copp's words are an enduring reminder of the soul of why we do what we do.
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Article Thumbnail SNEWS View: Is the fitness industry killing its own show?
Jul 1, 2009
Rumors and questions about the potential demise of the Health & Fitness Business show started filtering into the SNEWS® offices as early as last fall, but the ol' rumor mill ramped up into high gear in the last few weeks. It began to feel like a junior high school dance. Sorry, not even mature enough for a high school analogy. Everybody is buzzing about whether the other person was going, then nixing attendance for fear they'd be the "only" ones there. Like a speeding swirl of water rushing down a toilet bowl, so the industry has started to flush its own show into oblivion. Is that a cold slap in the face? You bet it is.
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