Outdoor Retailer Winter Market (Salt Lake City) 

While walking the aisles of the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City, we noticed the following:

• Columbia Sportswear’s presence at the show is growing (literally) with its ever broadening licensing program. Columbia has its own booth containing its core products along with a separate booth containing its licensed merchandise; making its core products and licensed products appear seamless.
  

• A number of companies are offering different versions of miniature heat packs. The miniature heat packs are to be put in your gloves/mittens in order to keep your hands warm while braving the cold weather.

• Other companies are offering individual drinking water bottles with built-in filters. This allows you to have safe drinking water anywhere your sport may take you.

• With behemoths like Coleman, Columbia, Nike, etc. doing so well with their licensing programs, one has to ask what are the others waiting for? Even Patagonia is getting its “feet” wet by entering into a licensing deal with Wolverine World Wide’s Merrell footwear brand for enviro-friendly footwear set to launch Spring 2007.

• Retailers such as Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas are making a name for themselves. As the sporting good retail giants, they are promoting their own store brands by selling private label products.  This presents a challenge for outdoor brands to expand into other categories within these retail channels. Does this confirm the growing importance of developing retail direct licensing programs? 

Other Comments

• The Winter Market’s Green Steps Program, which was created for those exhibitors that want to highlight themselves as taking steps toward greener business practices, is growing more popular each year. Green Steps hopes to raise awareness on sustainability and showcase companies within the outdoor industry that support and encourage a healthy environment. Retailers are increasingly interested in doing business with exhibitors that are performing “green.”