This is part four of a multi-part series. The next installments will be published in the coming weeks. You can read the entire series here. We've reached the point in our analysis of the 2020 Retailer Survey results when we start digging into individual product categories to ...read more
[This is part three of a three-part series on 2020 gear trends. Read part one here and part two here.] Holly Phillips grew up in Ona, West Virginia, exploring the outdoors on fishing trips with her dad. The two would set out on a Friday evening, camp near a river, and start ...read more
Just a few short years ago, 34-year-old Isaiah Price had no idea he would end up making his living in the outdoor industry, much less owning his own business. As recently as 2015, Price was working as a full-time pilot with no experience selling outdoor gear. He was also, he ...read more
After all but losing spring 2020 to the pandemic, retailers and consumers alike are looking for gear to get excited about in 2021. So excited, in fact, that we decided to add their votes to our ranking of next season’s top products. Together, we’ve pored over, narrowed down, and ...read more
This story originally ran in the Summer 2020 issue of The Voice. To read the free digital issue, access it here. A few years ago, as the trade war with China heated up, Mark Wolf decided he had had enough. Already frustrated with theft of his company's intellectual property in ...read more
Combing through the season’s new gear can be like bushwhacking through a jungle: slow going. Consider us your personal guide. We spent weeks poring over press releases and product shots, watching embargoed videos, and asking questions about materials, features, and design. Then ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com. Joe Prebich, formerly of Native, Fjällräven, and most recently, Mammut, is planning "exponential growth" for Eyebobs, a Minneapolis-based designer eyewear maker. ...read more
Maybe you've traveled there multiple times or maybe you've always wanted to take a tour. In this edition of Outdoor Industry IQ, select the outdoor brand's home base. And if you score at least an 8/10, don't miss the giveaway at the end. This Outdoor Industry IQ quiz is part of ...read more
You may recognize the gear without its brand's logo, you may know the current CEO, but do you know its founder? In this edition of Outdoor Industry IQ, select the mastermind behind the outdoor brand. And if you score a 15/15, don't miss the giveaway at the end. This Outdoor ...read more
Maybe you've lost count of the number of Outdoor Retailer shows you've attended. Or maybe you're new to the industry, but have been a gearhead for years. To ace this quiz, you have to know which big outdoor conglomerates own which brands. Think you can score a perfect 10? This ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com We broke down the Vista Outdoor boycott, with an inside look at the year-long feud and what we can learn from it. HBO and Teton Gravity Research just announced ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com Big Agnes recently announced an expansion of its international sales and distribution in Europe. Those actions include hiring new sales personnel in Europe and ...read more
For only a few ounces, your night could get a whole lot better. A compact, compressible pillow ups the plush and snooze factor when you're sleeping on the ground. Which brand makes your favorite? Vote for more: Who makes the best sleeping bags? ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com. On Cotopaxi's fifth birthday, the brand is launching the Cotopaxi Foundation to help educate and support underprivileged and underrepresented communities. ...read more
For roughly four decades, the ski industry has grappled with getting more people out on the hill. Conventional wisdom says that Baby Boomers are retiring; young people aren’t picking up the slack; there’s not enough diversity; skiing is too expensive or inaccessible; and ...read more
There was a time in Tayson Whittaker’s life when $200 was a lot of money. In 2014, when Whittaker was a 23-year-old finance student at Southern Utah University, he struggled to come up with enough cash to buy ultralight backpacking gear. He already had a closet full of hunting ...read more
If it’s not a big-box store and it’s not an independent specialty retailer, then what exactly is it? REI Co-op defies easy definition. It’s a builder of brands and a risk to them. It competes with smaller shops around the country while throwing its weight around to protect ...read more
“Just a little snow.” That’s the phrase that kept playing in my head as we wound our way through Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park in Catalonia, Spain. Everything—the granite peaks towering above us; the shores of an alpine lake; my boots—was ...read more
Unless gear stays stowed away in the back of a closet, chances are, it's going to rip at some point—whether it's your puffy coat scraping on rock as you reach for a hold, your ski jacket snagging on trees as you shred through glades, or your sleeping bag catching in your ...read more
Ever since 36-year-old Tommy Danger left behind the flatlands of Indiana—and his past as a poor, overweight kid nicknamed Fat Tom who liked to catch frogs and snakes just for fun—he's been obsessed with adventuring and pushing the limits in running, biking, high altitude ...read more
As a wildfire chased people from the town of Paradise, California, the traffic flooded right past Klean Kanteen’s headquarters in Chico. All four lanes of the highway were routed so traffic flowed only out of town. For difficult hours, some Klean Kanteen employees stood by that ...read more
This show marks the first time that Outdoor Retailer Winter Market has been held in November, a change that was made to help retailers and brands sync up during the seasonal buying cycle. We talked to people on the show floor to see how that translated in real time. Naturally, ...read more
To put it bluntly, Supreme is the cool kid on the block. The one whose lack of effort seems unattainably chill, whose attention you’re dying to grab but can’t ever seem to figure out how to get. Even if you think you don’t know them, you’ve almost certainly seen riffs on their ...read more
If you visit the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club on any given snowy day after school, the entire place is full of kids munching on Honey Stinger snacks. “It feels great, but our backyard is pretty small compared to some of our competitors,” President Bill Gamber said. His ...read more