Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is a cohesive community of independent outdoor specialty retailers (65 of them) and brands that drives evolution within the outdoor industry.
The group's mission: We act as a catalyst for the success of Grassroots retailers and brands. We advocate for specialty, independent retail within our industry. We foster education and community, and influence the outdoor industry to maximize the opportunities for outdoor specialty businesses.
Twice a year, Grassroots hosts its Connect trade show, which is a streamlined, invitation-only, buying show for the specialty outdoor industry.
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
Walmart was going to disrupt the outdoors. It was late August, 2018, a year and a half after the retail leviathan purchased the online outdoor retailer Moosejaw for a reported $51 million. Walmart was ready to put its investment to work. Walmart, as everyone knows, is the ...read more
This year, SNEWS is celebrating 35 years of covering the outdoor industry, from in-depth dives into important trends and issues to its daily happenings. We're also launching a brand new, radically different trade journal, and it drops on Jan. 30, 2019. The talented filmmakers at ...read more
Like dogs salivating at the sound of a bell—the classic Pavlovian conditioning example—customers have been trained to expect discounts around the holidays. Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Cyber Tuesday. Cyber Week. What's next? New data from The NPD Group shows that 2018 was the most ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com. Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke is out after less than two years on the job. A consortium led by China’s Anta Sports is looking to purchase Amer Sports ...read more
If you're attending Grassroots Outdoor Alliance's Connect Show and Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in June, you now have one extra day of breathing room in between the two shows. GOA has bumped up its June buying show by one day. The new dates for Grassroots Connect will be June 9 ...read more
Rich Hill, president of Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is fired up. Anonymous 3P sellers on marketplaces – especially Amazon – are the single-biggest threat to the health of the specialty outdoor industry ecosystem in 2019, he told his members at the Grassroots Connect Show in ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com Hear renowned photographer and filmmaker Jimmy Chin talk to Outdoor Industry Association's Deborah Williams about filming "Free Solo." He's candid, eloquent, and ...read more
Farm to Feet, KAVU, Rab, and Sierra Designs have joined Grassroots Outdoor Alliance's national vendor network, the group announced today. “Within Rab, we talk about surrounding ourselves with kindred spirits – those who relish the experience of a gritty and memorable mountain ...read more
YETI Coolers is taking to Wall Street for the second time. The Texas-based maker of luxury coolers filed an IPO last week, just seven months after it withdrew its first filing with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). Despite facing a number of challenges this ...read more
Once again, Grassroots Outdoor Alliance has expanded. This week, the group welcomes five new members to its retailer network: J.L. Waters & Company in Bloomington, Indiana; Outdoor Sports Center in Wilton, Connecticut; Ozark Outdoor Supply in Little Rock, Arkansas; Up & Running ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com In honor of the climber who died last year in an avalanche on Imp Peak, Mystery Ranch established the Inge Perkins Scholarship to celebrate the life and ...read more
As owners of local independent outdoor businesses and members of the national outdoor community, Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is committed to achieving the health and growth of the specialty outdoor industry by pursuing the high road of retail excellence. For more than 30 years, ...read more
It’s safe to say American shoppers don’t go to Walmart looking for top-of-the line backpacks, winter expedition apparel, and mountaineering gear. But the big box discounter challenged that assumption with the launch of a premium outdoor store last week. “When’s the last time you ...read more
The black-curtained maze at Grassroots Connect is swarming with like-minded independent specialty retailers placing orders, talking shop, sharing ideas and, yes, commiserating about the challenges they face every day in their businesses. This group of retailers, all members of ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? We've created a new form where you can submit tips and story ideas. Want to know what's cookin' at the Grassroots Connect Show? Our editor-in-chief, Kristin Hostetter, is reporting live from her ...read more
Hundreds of representatives from outdoor brands and retailers gathered last night for the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance annual awards, which pay tribute to the vendors and retailers that are leading the outdoor industry in excellence. The presentation happened in Knoxville, ...read more
Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) elected six new board members, who will officially take their seats at the meeting preceding Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. "The OIA Board plays a significant role in helping to guide and shape our focused work in policy, sustainable business ...read more
(KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE) – Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, the national organization dedicated to the health and growth of specialty outdoor retail, returns to the Knoxville Convention Center with their four-day Connect spring buying show, June 14-17, 2018. In addition to strong ...read more
The newest store associate at Boulder, Colorado’s Go Far posts up near the wall of shoes on the store’s far end. Her job description at the running and active lifestyle specialty retailer is fairly specific: She’ll measure and analyze your foot, track your stride and gait, and ...read more
Don't go a day without reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? We've created a new form where you can submit tips and story ideas. We'll be checking it often to ensure we don't miss anything. First Mt. Everest update: A Russian climber has died on ...read more
A Grassroots Outdoor Alliance award is a very big deal. The group, which is a consortium of 64 independent outdoor specialty retailers and 68 vendor partners, represents the best of specialty retail. The awards, which will be given out on June 13, 2018 on night one of the ...read more
Successfully producing outdoor gear used to be such a simple endeavor: Make great product, then sell it through retail partners, or directly through a catalog or your own store. These days, the formula has become a lot more complicated. With the option to distribute through a ...read more
Successfully producing outdoor gear used to be such a simple endeavor: Make great product, then sell it through retail partners, or directly through a catalog or your own store. These days, the formula has become a lot more complicated. With the option to distribute through a ...read more