The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) is a membership-driven trade organization for the outdoor industry. OIA was founded in 1989 by a group of 14 visionary outdoor industry pioneers who created the association to be a unified, collaborative, pre-competitive voice to help guide the industry. Today, OIA is the voice of the outdoor recreation industry, both locally and in Washington D.C., serving more than 1,200 manufacturers, retailers distributors, suppliers, sales representatives, nonprofits and outdoorists.
Keep up with all the important outdoor news by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com. ICYMI, we published a story earlier this week that dives into how online direct-to-consumer holiday sales offers impact ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com. LEKI turned 30 this week: VP Greg Wozer sent us this note with a glimpse into the company's humble beginnings: "It was 30 years ago today (January 9, 1990) about ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com. OREC: Minnesota scored an outdoor recreation task force. Poler is back: With the relaunch of the brand and opening of its flagship store in Portland, Oregon, ...read more
Following The Big Gear Show announcement on Monday, the outdoor industry has voiced mixed response to the new hardgoods-only event with a consumer day and reduced footprint in Salt Lake City in July 2020. Some say that another show further splinters an already-fractured industry, ...read more
The outdoor industry is closely watching the Trump administration's trade deals, given the unfurling of several rounds of tariffs over the last two years. Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) recently provided two updates for members. North American Free Trade Agreement After ...read more
Come summer 2020, the outdoor industry will have yet another trade show to choose from. The Big Gear Show, a concept by longtime retailers Sutton Bacon and Darren Bush, the team behind Paddlesports Retailer, is slated for July 22 to 25, 2020, in Salt Lake City. The hardgoods-only ...read more
If you were one of the few people who attended the 2018 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market when it debuted in the November time slot, you know it was pretty grim. “Ghost town” was how many people described it. What happened? Industry members didn’t find it relevant, so they didn’t ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com. Outdoor Industry Association departures: Matt Kaplan, who served as OIA's vice president of membership and business development, was named vice president of ...read more
Outdoor businesses are running out of wiggle room for tariffs on all types of products, as duty after duty gets added to the cost of doing business with China. Some brands are turning to their last resort—raising prices. “The China tariffs are looking more and more like a giant ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com New trade developments with Thailand and China: Outdoor Industry Association's Rich Harper provided an update this week, with news of the U.S. preserving ...read more
Grassroots Outdoor Alliance Connect show went down as planned over the weekend, despite the cancellation of Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, which was to be held in the days following Connect. Connect is a critical microcosm and bellwether of the outdoor industry, and SNEWS was ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com Brick and mortar: Coalition Snow is opening a retail location called the "Clubhouse" in Truckee, California. "Not only will you be able to see, touch, and feel ...read more
Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) sent an urgent policy alert on Tuesday, urging members to write to lawmakers in Congress using its letter generator. The U.S. House of Representatives is slated to vote on three key pieces of public lands legislation, the Grand Canyon ...read more
Should negotiations between China and the U.S. stay on track, outdoor businesses could be spared from multiple tariff hikes over the next two months. On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that he had reached "phase one" of a trade deal with China, one that includes a halt ...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
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com The world premiere of Teton Gravity Research's Winterland was last night in Boulder, Colorado. The theater was full and fans lined up for autographs from some of ...read more
Amy Roberts served her last day as executive director of Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) yesterday. Roberts, who been with the organization for the last decade and in the ED role for the last four, turns her focus this week to her new gig at The North Face, serving as the ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com Tomorrow is National Public Lands Day, which means admission to all National Parks is free. More than 100,000 volunteers are expected to help the National ...read more
Once again, the government considered the outdoor recreation economy a significant part of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, this time breaking out statistics in each by state. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) put outdoor recreation at 2.2 percent, or $427.2 billion in 2017, ...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
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at snewsedit@aimmedia.com Now open: Embark, Ruffwear's coworking space in Bend, Oregon, opened last week. SNEWS in November 2017 talked to Ruffwear President Will Blount when the idea was ...read more
Despite pleading by numerous outdoor businesses, the Trump administration has imposed even more tariff increases with some starting as early as Sunday. It's "the worst possible time," according to a group of 160 trade associations who sent a letter to the president on Wednesday. ...read more
Columbia Sportswear Company's great hope is that consumers never have to think about a tariff, Chief Administrative Office Peter Bragdon said. But the trade war with China doesn't seem to be cooling anytime soon and tariffs are top of mind for many outdoor businesses. "Enough ...read more
New data from Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) shows that gear brands have paid more than $1.5 billion more in tariffs since September compared to the previous year due to the ongoing trade war with China. That number is expected to multiply once an additional 10 percent tax is ...read more
