How good of an investment is the outdoor and recreation industry on Wall Street? A SNEWS analysis shows the sector has outpaced broader market indices such as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average with healthy gains during the past five years, albeit still lagging behind ...read more
For many, Pittsburgh doesn’t conjure up the image of an outdoor town. But after Christine Iksic and Chris Kaminski moved back to the ‘Burgh after separately spending several years of living elsewhere, the two business partners saw an opportunity for an independent gear hub that ...read more
In 2015, Kevin Fedarko and Peter McBride set out to thru-hike more than 700 miles across the entire length of the Grand Canyon to raise awareness about the threats facing one of the nation’s most iconic national parks. The expedition resulted in a feature for National Geographic ...read more
What’s more important to today’s consumer—the product, or the story behind it? In a crowded outdoor market, the determining factor has increasingly come down to the brand’s background and what it stands for, says Sue Harvey-Brown. She has seen firsthand the power of brand ...read more
Talk to Tae Kim for a few minutes, and we guarantee you’ll be inspired to get outdoors more. Kim, part of a growing group of urban outdoor gear designers — many of whom can be found in Outdoor Retailer’s Venture Out section — says living in a city “is a lame excuse for being ...read more
There’s plenty to admire about Mike Pfotenhauer. For 41 years, the founder, owner and chief designer of Osprey Packs had led the way for one of the industry’s top pack sellers. While many of his outdoor-equipment brethren branched out and diluted their brands with the siren songs ...read more
The most cheerful person in outdoor public relations ... that award could easily go to Jess Clayton. The former Patagonia PR manager — now leading her own public relations business, Wilder PR — always keeps her spirits high while delivering the information journalists need on ...read more
It’s been a rollercoaster ride for Black Diamond Inc. (NYSE:BDE) and its public stockholders. Three years ago, the business purchased Poc Sports for nearly $45 million with visions of an outdoor multi-brand company (including Black Diamond Equipment, a BD apparel launch, Pieps ...read more
Has your brand innovated its product packaging lately? Packaging isn’t just about creating “pop” in the aisle, David Lemley, president of brand strategy firm Retail Voodoo says. It also tells a story when the consumer unwraps it at home. Big and bulky packaging is out — as it ...read more
In 2000, when free-trade agreements and cheap labor were sending U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas in droves, Harry Kazazian went the other way. He and Armen Kouleyan bought a manufacturing factory in Alabama and moved much of his company’s production to the United States. It was ...read more
Having spent eight years leading the outdoor design group at L.L.Bean and doing what she loved, Kat Schoewe never thought she’d leave. But in 2009, when the challenge came from Under Armour to “build a design team that could innovate in the outdoor space,” she tells us she ...read more
If you’ve ever been to a fabric or textile education session at Outdoor Retailer, there’s a good chance you’ve heard from Kathy Swantko. For more than 25 years she’s been a professional textile, apparel and fashion consultant, coordinating events at trade shows and providing ...read more
How can specialty retailers keep up with today’s fast-changing outdoor trends, products and consumer attention spans? For Bill Bartee, owner of Jesse Brown’s Outdoors in Charlotte, N.C., the answer comes as a natural habit — keeping in close communication with customers. The ...read more
Nicole Chabot tells us she has one of the best jobs in the industry. It also might be one of the toughest. It’s challenging enough to compete in the U.S. outdoor market for sales … Chabot has to focus on the rest of the world as head of international sales at Timbuk2. It’s a ...read more
Throughout the next month, SNEWS will recap its coverage of Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2015 with select stories from the O.R. Daily we published at the show Aug. 5 – 8. Outdoor introverts and extroverts are snapping up tents. On one end, going camping has become a highly ...read more
Throughout the next month, SNEWS will recap its coverage of Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2015 with select stories from the O.R. Daily we published at the show Aug. 5 – 8. Sleeping bags continue to break out of their mummy mold. As more consumers chase comfort in camp, they ...read more
Earlier this year, REI launched its new in-house brand Evrgrn — a collection of lifestyle/urban outdoor products in the realm of what showgoers see at Outdoor Retailer’s Venture Out section. Leading the charge as well as REI’s merchandising efforts, is Susan Viscon, an 18-year ...read more
Last Wednesday, the state of California loosened its “Made in the USA” law, which had stipulated that 100 percent of a product had to be sourced and manufactured in the United States to carry the label. The new law, to go into effect Jan. 1, 2016, will more closely align the ...read more
After 44 years as the staple of specialty outdoor retail in the Washington, D.C. metro area, Hudson Trail Outfitters will be shuttering its business, closing four locations. Store officials announced the decision to customers in an online post this past weekend: “The retail ...read more
W.L. Gore & Associates, best known for its waterproof-breathable Gore-Tex fabrics and technologies, announced it will spend more than $15 million over the next five years to explore alternative solutions for today’s durable water repellent (DWR) treatments. While today’s DWR is ...read more
Welcome to the new global economy. When Asian markets crashed nearly 20 years ago, U.S. companies were mostly indifferent, if not upbeat. Their overseas manufacturing costs would fall and while that meant greater price competition, it was good news for the economic health for ...read more
Outdoor Retailer is staying in Salt Lake City through 2018, albeit with some date changes. Show and city officials announced the decision Monday that will keep Summer and Winter Market where it has been for the past 19 years. As previously announced, Winter Market 2016 moves up ...read more
Amy Roberts has a diverse professional background that includes time as a journalist, a governor’s communications director, a semiconductor firm’s government relations manager and vice president for the Outdoor Industry Association government affairs. And for the past three ...read more
Patagonia said Monday it would cease purchasing wool from its main supplier, Argentina-based Ovis 21, after PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) released disturbing video last week showing the mistreatment of sheep on the supplier's farms. Patagonia confirmed that the ...read more
Is Black Diamond struggling to find buyers for all its brands? Or maybe, it’s ready to go back to its core. Black Diamond Inc. (Nasdaq:BDE), parent to its namesake brand and Poc Sports, reported its second-quarter 2015 results on Aug. 10, including higher revenue but a wider net ...read more
Compass Diversified Holdings has sold its CamelBak brand to Vista Outdoor for $412.5 million, officials announced early Monday. Vista Outdoor (NYSE: VSTO) will add the iconic hydration bottle, pack and filter company to a collection of more than 30 outdoor and sporting goods ...read more
Leading up to Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2015, SNEWS is previewing some of the top trends and new products you’ll see at the trade show and Open Air Demo in Salt Lake City, Aug. 4-8. You can access all these articles and more in our O.R. Daily Day 0 edition. Tents are ...read more
SnowSports Industries America announced Thursday that Nick Sargent, a former Burton Snowboards exec will be its new president, replacing David Ingemie, who will step down from the position following the 2016 SIA Snow Show. Sargent, 45, who headed up Burton’s strategic ...read more
Outdoor Retailer Summer Market is a big marketing show. For a week in August, we’re inundated with brand messaging and products, more products … and more products. Every brand has their happy hour, their athlete signing, their event that you must attend. Some brands find that ...read more
Black Diamond, Pieps and Poc have issued a recall of all their first-generation JetForce avalanche packs due to some technical issues, where in some cases, the airbag will fail to deploy or the system will shut down. There have been no reported accidents or injuries resulting ...read more
Outdoor Retailer is moving its dates up two weeks earlier in the winter trade show season as show organizers try to catch ever-earlier final ordering deadlines. Starting with the 2016 Winter Market, the event in Salt Lake City will begin with the All Mountain Demo on Wednesday, ...read more
Mountain Hardwear President Topher Gaylord has resigned after a rough recent patch for the brand’s sales. Officials with parent company Columbia Sportswear (Nasdaq: COLM) announced the news just before the Fourth of July holiday weekend, a classic move by businesses wanting to ...read more
The Outdoor Industry Association is welcoming back one of its own as its new executive director as it restructures its leadership with a smaller number of board of directors. Amy Roberts, who helped lead OIA's sustainability efforts from 2005 to 2011 and most recently served as ...read more
REI is diving deeper into the content world. The nation’s largest outdoor retailer has acquired the Adventure Projects, a network of crowd-sourced websites providing free climbing, hiking, skiing and running trail information and user forums. The Boulder-Colo.-based business, ...read more
Former Outdoor Industry Association President and CEO Frank Hugelmeyer, who resigned from the position last October, has a new job in the recreation industry. Hugelmeyer will succeed Richard Coon as the new president of the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RIVA). Coon ...read more
Black Diamond Inc. President Zeena Freeman has resigned from the company, officials announced late Thursday. Freeman, a former Sony and Gap executive, who was named Black Diamond Inc. president less than a year ago (August 2014), had been slated to succeed current CEO Peter ...read more
Patagonia isn't mincing words when it comes to admitting this past mistake. “In 2011, we quite frankly discovered modern slavery in our supply chain,” said Adam Fetcher, the company’s director of global communications. “The results startled us.” Among other things, Patagonia ...read more
Vibram, best known for providing its exterior soles to many outdoor footwear brands, announced that it has acquired Quabaug Corp., its U.S. manufacturing and distribution partner since 1965. The announcement comes after several leadership changes at the Italian-based brand. The ...read more
You don’t need to tell most people tuned to the outdoor industry — the performance merino wool apparel market has become a crowded field. This week, Super.natural CEO Andy Vecchione announced that the merino wool brand will cease its wholesale distribution in North America ...read more
Black Diamond Inc. (NYSE:BDE) CEO Peter Metcalf recently told investors that the company continues to work with financial advisory firms Rothschild Inc. and Robert W. Baird and Co. to explore “a full range of strategic alternatives, including the sale of the company's Black ...read more
This story is 100-percent editorially independent. But what about the next one you read in a magazine or blog … or that cool video on social media you just watched? As more outdoor brands get into the content production game, the industry’s PR and media outlets are taking note, ...read more
That strengthening dollar you’ve been hearing about — giving Americans more buying power of foreign goods, from cheaper oil to electronics — it has a flip side to it. The strong dollar effectively weakens foreign currencies, meaning when U.S. businesses sell more overseas, they ...read more
Columbia Sportswear (Nasdaq: COLM), parent to its namesake brand, Mountain Hardwear, Prana, Montrail and Sorel, reported another record quarter thanks to its Prana acquisition, strong North American sales and a recovering European market. First-quarter 2015 sales rose 13 percent ...read more
Warren B. Kanders, the executive chairman of Black Diamond Inc. has acquired “substantially all of the assets and business of Mountain Khakis LLC,” from previous majority owner Remington Arms Company, officials announced Thursday morning. Financial terms of the deal were not ...read more
Jarden Corp. (NYSE:JAH), parent to Marmot, K2 and Coleman, reported its first-quarter sales down 8.7 percent as its fishing products got caught up by the Western Port delays, while its wintersports sales growth was subdued on the heels of a stronger fourth quarter. First-quarter ...read more
A few months ago we told you about the up-and-coming business of Shoefitr, a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based tech brand that 3-D scans footwear to convey better fit advice to online shoe shoppers. The concept was compelling enough for the outdoor industry’s largest retailer REI to sign up ...read more
Think Outdoor Retailer needs a new venue? Want to see the Summer Market in late June? How valuable are the regional shows to your business? Emerald Expositions, the folks that run Outdoor Retailer, are gathering opinions of the industry’s trade show scene via a survey, but only ...read more
Think back to your earliest outdoor memories — those images that have stuck with you and encouraged you to keep heading out in the rain, snow or shine. They likely involve parents, grandparents, siblings or cousins. They introduced you to nature, educated you about the land and ...read more
You don’t have to tell us that the publishing industry is a whole new ballgame these days. This past summer, one of the outdoor industry’s leading guidebook names, Falcon Guides, gained a new owner and leadership, after its parent company Globe Pequot Press was sold to Rowman & ...read more
Throughout the next month, SNEWS will recap its coverage of Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2015 with select stories from the O.R. Daily we published at the show Jan. 20 – 24. It’s an opportunity for you to catch up on stories you might have missed in O.R.D., and for us to update ...read more