Outdoor Foundation

Industry headlines: Intriguing reads from around the web #OptOutside continues: Even in this tumultuous year, REI will once again close its stores on Black Friday and pay its employees to spend time outside with friends and family as part of its annual #OptOutside campaign. A ...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

Lise Aangeenbrug’s first day as executive director of Outdoor Industry Association was March 4, 2020. Less than one week later, our country was in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic. It wasn’t exactly what she signed up for. Just over one month into her new gig as the leader ...read more

After a six-month search, Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) has announced its next executive director. Aangeenbrug currently serves as executive director of the Outdoor Foundation, OIA’s philanthropic arm that focuses on getting kids and families outside. OIA vetted almost 400 ...read more

Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) is more than one month into its search for a new executive director to replace Amy Roberts, who started at The North Face in the last week. In the meantime, Eagle Creek Co-Founder Steve Barker will serve as the interim executive director. He ...read more

In Montana, Todd Frank just opened The Trail Head River Sports. In Colorado, Hala GearSpace is selling more whitewater accessories than high-end rafts. And in Oklahoma, more than 200 stores showed up to explore 120 exhibits at Paddlesports Retailer last month. These are the ...read more

A new study shows that more women and Hispanics are fishing than ever before, highlighting record-breaking diversity for America's anglers. The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) tracked participation, days out fishing, and interest in the sport in the 2019 Special ...read more

Mountain Hardwear has fully launched its high-fidelity Augmented Reality shopping app, featuring its completely redesigned equipment line. The app is meant to limit time needed to visit retail stores, decrease difficulty of in-store setup, and limit the guesswork of online ...read more

We work in a passion-based industry, and most of us love what we do, but that doesn’t mean we should get punished for it by making less. Talking about money can be uncomfortable. In fact, it’s kind of a taboo. So how do you know if your salary is fair? The goal of this survey is ...read more

Just when the outdoor recreation industry seemed to be making serious progress on the complex issues of racial diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the best efforts of a leading advocacy organization were stopped dead in their tracks. Despite its good intentions the initiative ...read more

Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at [email protected] Can you imagine outdoor brands setting fires to unsold inventory? Here's some news we hope we never have to report on. Reports surfaced last week (and in some ...read more

Those days at college are some of the most formative in a person’s life. So in-between all the studying and socializing, industry stakeholders see it crucial that there also be some collegiate time carved out for the outdoors. That’s the goal for college students across the ...read more