Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2018

“I’m so glad you could meet me in my jail,” Sarah Uhl says, leaning in for a hug. The one-room brick building she welcomes me into has been her art studio for the past year. But, once upon a time, it was the place Carbondale, Colorado, locked up its public troublemakers. Leaning ...read more

Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? Email us at [email protected] Last month at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, new exhibitor VOLTAGE gave away 190 Force for Good patches and more than 60 hours of service beautifying Boulder ...read more

Ever since Hawaii banned sunscreens with coral reef-damaging chemicals earlier this summer, there’s been a new focus on all-natural alternatives. At Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2018, there were quite a few brands with “reef-safe,” “reef-friendly,” and “oxybenzone-free” ...read more

The Outdoor Industry Association is taking its political work to a deeper level. At Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2018, OIA announced a new campaign called Vote the Outdoors, marking a shift for the organization. The group has long devoted itself to lobbying efforts in ...read more

Imagine being propositioned by your boss, catcalled and harassed on official work overnight trips, or groped and forcibly kissed by a climbing partner who’s tied into a rope with you. Women in the outdoor industry have endured all that and worse. And as much as we might like to ...read more

For the first time in Outdoor Retailer Show history, the industry will rally together in November for a chance to discover new products before committing dollars. And Show Director Marisa Nicholson is excited. “Retailers will be able to see product in the way that the industry ...read more

“Purpose-led” was the term of the day at the Camber Outdoor Thought Leader Keynote during Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, when the VF Corporation's CEO Steve Rendle detailed the company’s plans to redefine the conglomerate’s internal mission. “What’s that common thread that’s ...read more

No added sugars, artificial ingredients, or fake proteins, “just straight-up real foods,” Feucht said when describing her online paleo foods purveyor, Barefoot Provisions. “We’re a small, sort of a mom-and-pop ecommerce company competing against the big retailers.” Selling ...read more

As the title sponsor and education provider of the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2018 trade show, Outdoor Industry Association offered lunch-and-learn panels each day of the show. The topics varied, but were all informed by OIA’s three pillar focus areas: policy, participation, ...read more

Only a year old, 56° North is an outdoor retailer partnered with a wilderness adventure tour company, offering jet boat tours of the neighboring Tongass National Forest. The locally owned store in Wrangell, Alaska, features Alaskan essential adventurewear and gear. “It’s like a ...read more

"Do you have a boat?” Eric “Hende” Henderson asks me. He’s the owner and founder of Meteorite PR, and the mastermind behind what seems at first blush like a hare-brained idea: packraft to OR. I shake my head. He reaches inside the doorway of evo, a Denver retail shop providing ...read more

Forget idyllic reservoirs and hour-long drives. This year's Demo Experience took the pre-show trials to Confluence Park in the heart of the city to highlight all the ways that outdoor and urban get together. The overwhelming message? The outdoors are bigger and more inclusive ...read more

Established in 1963, Campers Village is an independently owned outdoor retailer focused on camping, hiking, and paddling. Its three locations across Edmonton and Calgary, Canada, strive to provide expert advice and quality products that promote and enable memory-making outside. ...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

Right now, coolers are more customizable and personal than ever before. Most recently, in January 2018, OtterBox launched a wheel set that snaps into place below the brand’s 45-quart and 65-quart coolers. “Customers can customize their cooler. Some people don’t want wheels at ...read more

This edition, it's all about innovation. Read stories about brands' reactions to Hawaii's ban on sunblock ingredients that damage coral reefs, one retailer's favorite picks from the show, a recap of Outdoor Industry Association's daily learning lunches, gear trends, and how to ...read more

If the outdoor industry had a constitution, the Confluence Accords would be it. After seven months of collective effort, representatives from the eight states with formal offices of outdoor recreation gathered on the roof of a downtown Denver hotel yesterday to sign the accords, ...read more

The outdoors and beer are a perfect pair, as we’ve seen with the success of outdoor shops with taps and the abundance of stellar gear made for taking beer along on adventures. It’s not just the outdoor industry that adores beer. The feeling is so very mutual, and breweries are ...read more

On Day 2 of the show, we posed a serious question on our cover. Many of our conversations—and we know yours too—have centered around diversity. We want to know what you've been hearing and feeling. And we want you to know that we're listening. ...read more

In this edition, you'll find stories about: Show-goers learned how to fight sexual harassment and assault with #SafeOutside Standout products from the show from Black Diamond, Sea to Summit, Garmin, and Big Agnes And interviews with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Kate Paine ...read more

1. Camber Outdoors Thought-Leader Keynote 7 to 9 a.m. at the McNichols Civic Center Building, 144 W. Colfax Ave.: Speakers Steve Rendle, chairman and CEO of VF Corporation, and Rue Mapp, CEO and founder of Outdoor Afro, will lead a talk about diversity and being purpose-led ...read more

When Kyle Parsons was walking the streets of Bali in 2004, one of his flip flops fell apart. Barefoot, Parsons went looking for a pair that really represented Bali. What he found was a pair with uppers made of grass and soles made of motorbike tires. "I was really intrigued by ...read more

Whether you're asking for it or not, somebody is going to hand you something for free in the hopes that you'll remember their brand's name. ...read more

Stories in this edition include: A cover story about where we are with diversity: how everybody wants to achieve it, but nobody knows exactly how to pull it off How researchers have discovered just how far microplastic pollution has spread across the globe's waterways and what ...read more