The Big Snow Show 2022 Roundup
Published on Feb. 15th, 2022
A renewed focus on interpersonal connection defined an Outdoor Retailer Snow Show that overcame global challenges.Walking in to the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver the night before the Snow Show officially kicked off on Wednesday, January 24, you would have expected it to be pretty quiet. But what I didn’t expect was to find virtually no lines at badge pick up the next morning—something I hadn’t seen in more than 20 years of coming to and covering these shows.
Ultimately, Omicron put the hurt on the trade show environment, where Convention Center officials did their best to fill out the main level of the exhibit hall with every possible booth and use of space they could muster. The surprsingly good news was the smaller floorplan created an extremely manageable and intimate show for those who were willing to wear face coverings and mitigate contagions. Attendees who made it happen had nothing but positive things to say, reporting the same amount of traffic and business as last Summer’s show, albiet that show was also a scaled back version of the norm.
“The summer show was for the brave. This show was for those who really wanted—and needed—to be here,” said Patrick Meehan, sales manager for Phunkshun Wear, Denver, Colorado. “They had work to do and they wanted to get back out and have this forum for housekeeping and other parts of their businesses. It’s cool that despite all the challenges, we may have turned a corner of not just having to be at trade shows—but wanting to be at trade shows.”
There were plenty of silver linings: Deep conversations took place about regenerative agriculture, bio-derived alternatives to oil-based materials, adaptive and connected apparel, and an increasingly diverse outdoor community. Attendees at Snow Show were blessed with time and space for these discussions to take place.
I sat down with Marisa Nicholson, Outdoor Retailer senior vice president and show director, to better understand and dissect the vibe of this show and where we are headed.
“There was great momentum leading into the Snow Show,” she said, “but, between travel restrictions and COVID-19 impacts, many brands and retailers were unable to attend, including a lot of last-minute changes. A lot of those brands are committed to the summer show in June, however, and we hope the conditions continue to improve.”
“We always want to be moving forward, finding ways to do things better, to be better, and to build a more inclusive community,” Nicholson said. “We want to create more ways for the industry to participate and access the knowledge and power of this community. We’re continuing to have conversations around ways brands and organizations can use the time at Outdoor Retailer to engage with the industry. There’s no fixed formula. Our team is here to work with each company to understand their needs and learn how they want to access this community.”
Industry veteran Eric Henderson, founder of Meteorite PR, which typically has up to seven or more clients to manage at the shows (and this time had two) agreed. “Community is based on participation in the snow and outdoor world,” he said. “I hope as we move past the pandemic era the community joins together to grow participation and encourage the next generation of brands, managers, and sales teams. Meteorite PR will continue to participate and foster the community that is so vital to the Outdoor landscape.”
“Even if they were unable to attend this time, people want this national convening where all facets of the greater outdoor and winter sports community can come together and share ideas, build relationships, and reach goals,” said Nicholson. “Everyone who attended Show Show was committed. We talked to brands who had very successful days. Our matchmaking program for brands, reps, buyers, media and importer/distributors was incredibly valuable for those who participated. And The Resource Center made a strong debut. We encourage everyone to take advantage of these resources we’re providing at no cost to improve engagement and help develop new relationships.”
DEEPER, MORE MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS
Out on the Show floor, most booths were far from dead. In fact, I overheard Mark Cohen, longtime The North Face sales rep who now independently reps a number of brands, saying, “any booth that’s here has been busy.”
“I’ve been coming to Outdoor Retailer shows for decades and this one was great,” said Jim Moss, co-founder of the National Outdoor Book Awards and a long-time industry persona and legal advisor, at the Falcon Guides booth. “I was able to spend quality time with authors, retailers, and buyers every day—something that has not been that easy to do in past shows due to the crowds.”
Attendees stressed the importance of personal connection, despite the masks. “At trade shows like Outdoor Retailer, there’s an interpersonal connection that you just can’t get over a Teams or Zoom call,” said Justin Roach, co-president and co-founder of QuietKat. “And you never know who’s going to walk into your booth. For example, at a previous show, we ran into a prospect who turned into a big client. That never would have happened if we hadn’t seen them in person and sat down with them for an hour and a half to go through our product line. Those people are here.”
“I’ve only been to the last couple of shows but I have been very impressed with what I have seen,” said Michael Hunter, owner of Hunter Fitness. “By coming to the shows I have been able to connect with many companies about products that work well with my business like ebikes, backpacks, camping vans, and outdoor gear. It has helped me expand my footprint in ways I would have never thought of before.”
That’s the kind of glass-half-full attitude I heard more and more as I scoured the aisles for three days. “They’re committed to the industry, committed to meeting us in person, committed to this channel. Those are the benefits of Outdoor Retailer,” said Roach. “However, times have certainly changed for trade shows—and COVID-19 sped up that change. Since trade shows are so key for outdoor business, the question now is how can we make sure they’re still relevant for manufacturers, for buyers, for all stakeholders. Maybe these shows need a consumer-centric element to make it them win-win-win that we all need them to be. As for the location of OR, I’d like the shows to stay here. Denver and Colorado are important to the outdoor industry because so many brands are based here or nearby. Geographically, Denver is the prime spot in terms of reaching as many people as you can. I don’t see any benefits for the Show going elsewhere.”
“We’re proud to be here. OR means something. It means something to retailers and it means something to brands,” said Jon Frederick, U.S. country manager for Rab. “Regional shows are about maintaning exhisting B2B relationships, but buyers want a show like this so they can find new things.”
Additionally, said Frederick, there is still a majority of people who have never heard of his brand, which is headquartered in the UK with U.S. operations in Colorado. “You have an industry that wants this show. The challenge is that it just doesn’t come out of nowhere. We are the industry. Rab is not a draw brand, and that’s where I’m a little exasperated, where I want industry leadership to come in that can pull this back together.”
“We are privileged in that we are privately owned and we get to make decisions without a corporate entity telling us we can’t go to shows this year,” he said. “We’ve shown up for two shows in a row now and all the regionals and GOA and WSM this year. There’s no doubt in my mind that this show needs to exist. Outdoor Retailer is for everybody. It’s not restricted like the other regional shows. That’s what Outdoor Retailer is for. We don’t want it to be a global boys club. We need innovation. We need excitement.”
I asked Frederick about the fact that some brands consider the Show a marketing vehicle nowadays as opposed to the buying show it once was. “It’s a good thing that it’s become a marketing show,” he said. “If you have innovation without marketing, the product will never exist.”
“Yes it would be awesome if it followed the buying cycles, but I’ll show up in January every year if people are here. The bonus is on the brands to make it awesome. For example one of our retailers was at GOA but came to Outdoor Retailer anyway to review colors. But if it’s only Rab here, that’s not gonna work. At the end of the day, every aspect of the industry —media, retail, brand—wants this show, and I think we’re getting buried in the semantics of where should it be, when should it be.”
VENTURE OUT CONTINUES TO DRIVE ENERGY (AND SUPPLY BURRITOS) AT THE SHOW
As you wandered in and out of the Venture Out zone on the show floor—even if you were just lost—the upbeat energy and enthusiasm was palpable. And there were free burritos. Jeanine Pesce, founder and creative director of This Is Range, who has been leading and pioneering The Ranger Station and Venture Out area of Outdoor Retailer since 2018 in Salt Lake City, believes that the Show is the campfire the industry gathers around.
“We show up for each other—even when times are tough—and it’s a beautiful reminder of our commitment to the collective. Whether you’re an activist, storyteller, designer, rep, or retailer, you are the heartbeat of this show. And we all have a responsibility to keep the spirit and the stoke alive,” she said.
As she was designing The Ranger Station this season, she wanted to find a way to generate innovation through connection. “We’re all burnt out on video meetings and virtual summits, so I decided to turn the space into a living, immersive trend studio. My hope was that people would come into the booth to meet with other creatives, touch and feel products, color palettes, and mood boards IRL. And–who knows?—maybe even find that spark of inspiration we’ve all been so desperately seeking.”
“It was such a joy to see so many familiar faces, to share stories—and sometimes even tears,” she said. “This past week at the show it was crystal clear to me, we need the healing powers of nature, and each other, now more than ever.”
Also spending time in Venture Out, David Gensler, trend forecaster, designer and founder of Vanish media, was at the show launching his new Vanish.TV platform and looking at product innovations and trends. Vanish was one of the first outlets talking about the intersection of streetwear, fashion, art, and outdoor almost a decade ago.
“It was an honor to attend the 2022 Outdoor Retailer Snow Show to come together with friends and colleagues to celebrate the industry and culture we respect and love,” he said. “The global pandemic has caused so many setbacks, both at an the individual and the industry scale—it is so important for the people who make up the industry and culture of outdoor to come together, face to face, and share new ideas and innovations. There is simply no better way to maintain and progress the overall health of the market and the brands we love.”
Gensler said he was most excited to see a combination of global industry leaders like Fjällräven and Oakley share the floor with cutting edge brands like Nanga and Alpha Industries, and many other new and young brands. “The future of outdoor will clearly be the collision of various industries and cultures coming together to make clear a new expanded vision of what defines outdoor,” he said. “We, the industry, have to better understand the consumer and their day-to-day lives, how they evolve and adapt in the post-COVID-19 landscape. People are now, more than ever, willing to try new things and incorporate more technology and new brands into their existing lifestyles,” Gensler continued. “
The market has to not just recognize and respond to this reality, but rather it must be one step ahead and lead the collisions and inclusions of ‘new’ into the traditional spaces that define the outdoor industry. The future ecosystem of the outdoor industry will include everything from gaming and blockchain technologies to overlanding, tiny homes, green energy, and beyond…the days of a market filled with just puffy coats and climbing gear are long gone.”
“The show was pretty spectacular for us,” Case Davis from Got Bag told me as I was perusing the Venture Out booths. “We had our hands full of buyers and interested parties throughout the show. We also went home with an Outdoor Retailer Innovation Award!”
Deservedly so: The brand is reclaiming plastic waste off the coast of Indonesia and upcycling it into fabric which becomes a line of durable, cool bags and backpacks.
“It’s essential for what has been an exclusive ‘core’ mindset to expand to become an all-inclusive mindset, to keep the energy high and rising,”said Gensler. “The larger brands best serve the total industry and culture when they delve deeply into bold new innovations, since they control the larger audiences. Brands that weren’t present at the show like The North Face, Patagonia, Adidas, etc. need to return with a new outlook and vision on what the markets are.”
THE EVER-PRESENT SUPPLY CHAIN DILEMMA
Walking the show floor, a slogan on a camp chair in the corner of Venture Out caught my eye. It read, “I am a Supply Chain Issue,” and I thought it would be a great conversation starter as the weather begins to warm up. The supply chain conversation is certainly not limited to the trade show floor or even intra-industry conversations.
Consumers of all types are having these conversations on a daily basis, from microchips to mufflers. From camp chairs to hiking shoes, the supply side deficit is real and it’s crushing. And according to our research, it’s not going away any time soon. Asian countries that produce goods for our industry have been heavily affected by COVID-19 over the past two years and their ability to keep up with manufacturer (ie. consumer) demand has been stifled. And as we know, this affects everyone. It’s not just tarrifs we are worried about any longer, it’s whether or not we will even be able to place, much less fulfill, orders.
“There are many uncertainties this year that will delay any near future stabilization of pricing,” explained Cindy Novoa, regional director of sales for Savino del Bene, a global logistics and forwarding company that was at the show working with existing clients and prospecting. “We are not seeing an ease in space that will continue to drive prices to be maintained at this higher threshold. The $15,000–$20,000 from Asia into various U.S. ports for one container will still continue to be the norm until at least late summer and likely through the year. This is a far cry from our $1,200 average container price during pre-COVID-19 times.”
SDB has been coming to the show with various brands since 2016, and Novoa says the vibe is still open and exciting.
“With the shipping delays we have experienced, brand owners are eager to find solutions in getting cargo faster as well as distributing into channels efficiently. We were happy to see the Show host many new European brands coming into the U.S. market as well as American companies expanding to export to new countries. Since we can assist with both import and export internationally, the Show was a great way to network together,” Novoa said.
Show director Nicholson sees the supply chain issue hitting retailers hard, too. “In talking to specialty retailers during the Show, it was clear that they’re facing staffing challenges, which made their decision to attend a tough one,” she said. “But an even bigger challenge for retailers is supply chain—they don’t know when product is going to arrive or if it’s going to arrive as they projected. It’s making it difficult for them to plan for their stores. So many came in search of new products and accessories to fill shelves and meet the needs of a growing outdoor consumer base.”
Continued Novoa: “With the zero-COVID-19 policy in China, the trickle-down effect of a closed city or port will continue to pass down to the factories and importers. Moving sourcing to other countries also has its delays as most companies are going in this direction and taking up resources and working conditions for which these countries (Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan) are not prepared.”
“Also the port of Long Beach/Los Angeles could be expecting another strike,” she forewarned, “as 15,000 West Coast dockworkers will once again renegotiate the International Longshore and Warehouse Union contract set to expire in July. Additionally, the equipment demand (containers, chassis) nationally is not improving at a fast enough pace.”
EVENTS INSPIRED ATTENDEES
From the heralded Innovation Awards to the annual Backcountry Film Festival and other off-site gatherings, events still played a crucial part in Outdoor Retailer Snow Show 2022. Even with masks on, the drinks were flowing and connections were happening.
“The Innovation Awards remain a true highlight of the show. It encapsulates every aspect of why we come together,” said Nicholson. “From providing a platform to introduce products and share brand stories, to validating your brand in the outdoor marketplace, to giving more brands and more people the space to feel welcome in this growing community. It’s a special event.”
Todd Walton, Executive Director of Winter Wildlands Alliance, which premiered its annual Backcountry Film Festival (see “Quick Flicks” sidebar) at the show as it has for the past five years, said this Snow Show was hands down the most diverse show he’d ever seen. Walton also regaled the open and “very honest” conversations he had about Outdoor Retailer itself and the willingness to reassess what “the Show” means and is.
“The community gathering and inspiration is so important, but buying cycles have changed and the Show has morphed, so what can we do to build the important aspects of community and business? From what I gathered, that’s the big and positive piece: People are being insightful and creative about what the show means and could be.”
“Does it need to be what it was? I don’t think so,” he said. “Over the past ten years, buying cycles are such that all the business is done over a month and the show is a community event, GOA and WWSRA and other regional shows are the business parts…which is why it’s so important for Outdoor Retailer to recognize this and shake the snow globe to reinvent what the show is. I feel like there was good energy at the Show, but most of it was around what Outdoor Retailer should look like in the future.”
Walton also says that one of the best things people can do to continue to bolster the industry and ensure trade shows’ survival is for people to stop taking advantage of pro deals and understand what it means to walk into a retailer and pay full price for things like skis and ski boots.
“I feel like this show is really important. I mean, let’s face it, Outdoor Retailer helped me jump start my career. Where else would I meet so many amazing brands all in one space. It helped me jumpstart amazing ideas and collaborations,” said Julia Stamps Mallon, founder of Eventus Outdoors and former co-founder of Outessa and other highly successful in-person event brands. She helped put on an incredible Night 0 event that set the stage for the days ahead at the Show.
“For up and coming brands, companies, creatives, it helps ignite ideas; it helps people rally together to talk about initiatives and strategies. The bigger you get, the less it’s needed. If you look strictly at financials, I get it from their vantage point, but it’s still important to see what other brands are doing. Maybe we need those bigger brands to make it work.”