DEI

Industry headlines: Intriguing reads from around the web Columbia struggles: The brands’ share price plummeted 16 percent this week. [The Oregonian] New public land threat: The Trump administration has opened Tongass National Forest to logging. [Adventure Journal] Covid vs. the ...read more

Before Earl B. Hunter Jr. founded his marketing and consulting company Black Folks Camp Too, he was vice president of sales at SylvanSport—a business based in Brevard, North Carolina, known for its ultralight trailers. He was often on the road for his job, traveling all over the ...read more

Stamping out racism The Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge catalyzes business leaders to bust up the all-white club During the summer 2018 Outdoor Retailer show, Teresa Baker roamed the aisles and asked company leaders to sign her just-launched pledge to make outdoor businesses more ...read more

"Anything. Everything. Something." In a recent SNEWS survey circulated around the outdoor industry, that was one participant's answer to the question, "What more would you like to see your company do in response to racial injustice?" It wasn't an isolated plea. Dozens of ...read more

As outdoor leaders begin to speak out against racial injustice in the United States—once again brought to light by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis—SNEWS is collecting their statements in one place. Our list currently includes the following voices: Access Fund, American ...read more

It might seem that now, in the middle of a global crisis forcing layoffs and closures across the outdoor industry, issues unrelated to the pandemic, like DEI, are in danger of being overshadowed in the national conversation. "Fortunately, that hasn't happened," said Teresa ...read more

With growing clout in the outdoor industry and multiple large-scale DEI projects in the works, including a new initiative with Outdoor Gear Exchange in Vermont, it's hard to believe that Massachusetts-based Venture Out Project is only five years old. In half a decade, the ...read more

Last year, a new grove of old-growth Redwoods was discovered just north of San Francisco—a historic discovery that revealed trees as ancient as 1,640 years old. Purchased by Save The Redwoods League, the Harold Richardson Redwoods Reserve quickly attracted the world's attention. ...read more

Eddie Bauer has officially joined the outdoor industry’s Century Club. Like Orvis, L.L.Bean, Helly Hansen, and about three dozen others, the legacy retailer has stuck around long enough to celebrate its 100th birthday. From a tiny shop in Seattle that repaired wooden tennis ...read more

Here are today's top headlines. That’s a wrap: Voting closes today for our 2020 #CoolShop Award, with an announcement of the winner coming this Friday. The shop with the most votes from our list of 15 finalists will win $500 to throw a staff appreciation party, a custom banner ...read more

Last week, the 2020 Outdoor Retailer Snow Show brought thousands of vendors, retail buyers, athletes, journalists, and nonprofit professionals together in Denver to get up close and personal with the newest and most important developments in our industry. Over three days, ...read more

In a photograph posted to Instagram early last March, Judith Kasiama is the absolute picture of alpine joy, posed on a summit with a smile as radiant as the snow frosting the peak beneath her feet. The caption, however, reflected the Vancouverite’s frustration with the outdoor ...read more

A 2016 survey conducted by the National Park Service found that less than 20 percent of park visitors were non-white. For many reasons, including economic and safety issues, the outdoors can be intimidating, particularly for people of color. Chevon Powell, founder of Golden ...read more

Len Necefer has a Ph.D in engineering and public policy. It might not surprise you, then, that his outdoor apparel company is about far more than the gear. Natives Outdoors is a B Corp that shares profits with Native communities, and Necefer is working to take back ...read more

If Outdoor Retailer Summer Market's event lineup was any indication, the outdoor industry is putting diversity issues front and center. From a lack of ethnic diversity in leadership positions and brand marketing to cultural appropriation of native designs and symbols, our ...read more

When I first set foot at the Outdoor Retailer show in 2011, I wore a gold pin-striped suit, a preppy yellow tie, and a slightly oversized overcoat that was passed down from my grandfather. My loneliness was only surpassed by awkwardness, walking around in a sea of plaid, ...read more