AmmoLand.com

Brands plan to ‘wow’ retailers with expanded product categories, new technology and a better brand experience.

Outdoor Industry Association

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. --(Ammoland.com)- Although still six weeks away, Outdoor Retailer Winter Market’s more than 100 new exhibitors and nearly 900 returning exhibitors, are preparing for the industry’s leading business-to-business wintersports event bringing more extensive product categories, new technology and a better attendee experience.

Building on back-to-back record breaking show footprint*, the footprint for Winter Market has already eclipsed last year’s total by more than 25,000 net-sold square feet. The expanded show floor will be busy with an expected 7,000 retail attendees.
OR Winter Market

“While retailers are in the throes of early season sales and a very busy holiday season, outdoor brands are pulling together their newest technology, best products and most compelling sales programs to introduce at Outdoor Retailer,” said Kenji Haroutunian, Outdoor Retailer show director. “Kicking off the New Year at Outdoor Retailer is a great opportunity to absorb ‘big picture’ product trends, gain industry intelligence and recharge professional connections. We’re looking forward to another awesome show.”

Retailers looking to get their hands on the latest wintersports gear at the All Mountain Demo will be thrilled by the world class conditions at Solitude Mountain Resort and the latest gear from more than 40 elite wintersports brands.

Salomon will be making the most of its time with dealers, outfitting demo attendees with a new backcountry binding mounted on a updated version of its most popular all mountain ski.

“Historically OR is not an alpine hardgoods show for us, rather, for unveiling our newest innovation in backcountry skiing products. This year, however, OR is that perfect place,” said Salomon Alpine Brand Manager Jenny Naftulin. “In addition to what we will show at the on-snow demo, we’ve significantly added on to our booth indoors to include a showcase area for the new bindings, alpine boots, helmet line and a new women’s powder ski.”

Ongoing advances in eco-minded technology means retailers will see a wider range of product offerings from distributor, Liberty Mountain. Four hundred square feet of the company’s recently expanded booth will be dedicated to representing new eco-minded sleeping bags, backpacks and more from Vaude .

Additional space also proves valuable for brands interested in providing a very specific brand experience and merchandising ideas for retailers. The expanded Smartwool booth will include a new lounge area, a wall made from Colorado beetle-kill trees with green glass embedded throughout, a “tufted” fabric wall made from Merino wool and a gallery-style garment display to help colors and patterns stand out from the crowd.

“At the heart of our brand is this joyfulness that can be found when friends gather together outside and create memories. The additional space helps bring the brand personality to life and lets each of our product categories shine,” said Jennifer Wilkinson, Smartwool global visual marketing specialist.

These exhibiting brands join a long line of core outdoor manufacturers who are exhibiting at the All Mountain Demo and Outdoor Retailer Winter Market. The extensive list of exhibiting brands is available here.

For more information on how to participate as an exhibitor, contact Outdoor Retailer Sales Manager Marisa Nicholson at marisa.nicholson@nielsen.com or 949-226-5760. Retailers and trade members of the outdoor industry interested in registering for Winter Market can review registration requirements here.

* Net-sold square feet for Winter Market 2011 was 351,251. This number represents the highest net-sold, square feet for Winter Market since its inception in 1989.

About Outdoor Retailer
Outdoor Retailer (OR), produced by Nielsen Expositions of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., is a full-service trade show company that creates, markets and produces high-quality expos and educational conferences. OR is the leading outdoor industry business-to-business event management company, bringing together manufacturers, retailers, industry advocates and media to conduct the business of outdoor recreation. Now celebrating more than 25 years of successful events, Outdoor Retailer gathers approximately 40,000 attendees on a semi-annual basis for its Winter and Summer Market shows.

Preview the future of the outdoor industry at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, which will bring the best of winter product offerings to Salt Lake City at the All Mountain Demo from January 18, 2012 and the trade show from January 19-22, 2012.

Filed under: Shooting Industry News by Ammoland No Comments »

October Outdoor Product Sales Outperform the Broader Retail Market
October Outdoor Product Sales Up 7.0 Percent.

Outdoor Industry Association

Boulder, CO --(Ammoland.com)- Outdoor Industry Association released its October OIA VantagePoint Monthly Trend Report, which reveals that outdoor product sales in October grew 7.0 percent to $735.3 million.

Wintery blasts brought snow and cold to many parts of the country, boosting early season sales of outdoor apparel and hardgoods.

Year‐to‐date outdoor product sales were up 6.3 percent to $7.7 billion for the nine‐month fiscal retail period running February through October.

“While retailers in the broader market may attribute some seasonal sales trends to inclement weather, outdoor product retailers rely on the first real sign of winter to get the seasonal business moving,” said LaRae Marsik, Vice President Business Intelligence at OIA.

“For example, sales of Outdoor Apparel spiked during the last week of October as consumers bought winter outerwear then wore it out the door.”

Independent Outdoor Specialty posted a 10.0 percent increase in sales and Outdoor Chain Specialty posted 13.2 percent growth for the month. The Internet channel also was up 16.4 percent for the October period. The solid increase in sales was in sharp contrast to — and in part a result of — the double‐digit declines posted by the outdoor product market in the 2010 October period.

Outdoor Apparel sales increased 8.4 percent to $298.6 million for the month of October. Apparel started the month with solid mid‐single digit growth but really picked up at the end of the month as winter threatened much of the U.S. Several flash winter storms brought the “buy now, wear now” consumer into stores, which helped reverse the negative results in October 2010 when Outdoor Apparel sales were down 7.0 percent.

Sales of Outdoor Footwear improved 8.4 percent to $150.8 million. The October growth rate, hurt by declines in the Independent Outdoor Specialty, Department Store and Family Footwear channels, fell below the year‐to‐date growth trend for the first time since June 2011.

Outdoor Hardgoods sales posted solid growth in fiscal October, up 4.7 percent to $275.9 million. Early snow in several parts of the country, including in the Rockies, had an expected and desirable effect on Snow Sports product sales within the Hardgoods category. Sales of overall Snow Sports products were up 9.1 percent for the month, and were up more than 32 percent in the combined outdoor specialty channels, the destination of choice for the dedicated winter sports athlete that reacts to the first hint of a seasonal weather shift to pursue their passion for the outdoors. The other chain and volume channels generally see bigger gains when the winter trends are more widespread and tend to affect consumers’ everyday lifestyle.

“Looking ahead to the holidays, outdoor product sales will be influenced by where and when snow and cold weather arrives in earnest for the season,” said Marsik.

“Bargain-hunters will find that most retailers finished the season last year with fairly clean inventories so there is little product for early promotions. With Christmas Eve falling on a Saturday this year, cost-conscious consumers may wait until the very last minute to land a discount on their chosen outdoor product gifts.”

OIA members can access the OIA VantagePoint™ monthly trend report for October 2011 by logging in to outdoorindustry.org/vantagepoint.

OIA VantagePoint is the first and only full market point-of-sale data view built specifically for Outdoor Industry Association members. OIA VantagePoint™ provides comprehensive visibility into the outdoor marketplace by tracking weekly point‐of‐sale data from over 10,000 retail doors and websites carrying outdoor products, including over 350 outdoor specialty locations.

About Outdoor Industry Association
Outdoor Industry Association® is the leading trade association for the outdoor industry and the title sponsor of Outdoor Retailer. OIA supports the growth and success of more than 4,000 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, sales representatives and retailers of outdoor recreation apparel, footwear, equipment and services. For more information about OIA go to outdoorindustry.org or call 303.444.3353.

About The SportsOneSource Group
The SportsOneSource Group is a full service market research company delivering solutions through consumer insight research, retail insight research and retail point‐of‐sale trending and analysis. The company provides the most reliable, timely and comprehensive sports and outdoor industry information available in the market today. SportScanInfo is a SportsOneSource technology platform developed to compile, aggregate and disseminate aggregated retail point‐of‐sale information. SportsOneSource also publishes the Sports Executive Weekly and The B.O.S.S. Report executive newsletters, along with the SGB, SGD TEAM Business and SGB Performance print publications and their related online, e‐mail and digital products. For more information about The SportsOneSource Group call 704.987.3450 or go to SportsOneSource.com.

Filed under: Shooting Industry News by Ammoland No Comments »