27 InsideOutdoor | SPRING 2022 tive now serving as bike show director for the Big Gear Show. “Hence the Big Gear Show neither requires nor encourages that old school thinking.” Taking place August 2-3, 2022, at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, the Big Gear Show is a multi-category trade expo and event for the paddlesports, cycling, climbing and camping markets that also happens to be fully integrated into a two-day outdoor demo. The way the Big Gear Show team views matters, an industry event under the sky and next to mountains and water not only allows buyers to trial and test gear in an experiential environment, it’s also the best way to rekindle stoke among the outdoor community and bring the consumer experience to life. “We aren’t trying to replicate a retail store environment indoors as much as we’re replicating an end consumer experience outdoors,” Haroutunian continued. It should be noted that the Big Gear Show technically is not positioned as an “outdoor industry show” akin to the likes of Outdoor Retailer’s events. Rather than an all-encompassing event that includes chain and big box retail, lifestyle brands and ancillary product categories, the Big Gear Show “is built from the ground up to service the specialty retailer and businesses that prioritize them,” explained Haroutunian. Even more specific, the event’s emphasis is on the hardgoods that sit at the core of outdoor specialty expertise, bringing together a highly curated selection of bike, paddle and outdoor brands and a core group of specialty dealers that are vetted to ensure a professional buyer attendance. The specialty-sized ethos also is apparent in a cost structure that’s in line with the margins typical of specialty retail. The show organizers boast reasonable exhibiting prices and booth sizes – with no unions or dolly fees – subsidized housing for top retailers to keep their expenses down and pricing that honors returning exhibitors. “Shows that have astronomical expenses tied to them are on a deadend road,” said Camisasca. “That is not a sustainable model.” According to Haroutunian, a depth in specialty expertise among the Big Gear Show’s leadership team combined with their ability to avoid big financing will allow the show to maintain its mission of serving the specialty business. “The team owning and producing the event have depth in specialty retail from different sectors of the outdoor industry,” he explained. “We have no private equity owners, no angel investors, no capital from outside that is looking for a payday in Q4. This focus, and the authentic roots we come from, is where a strong new model of gathering can take hold.” Although the inaugural Big Gear Show took place last year, this August will be the event’s first foray out from under the shadow of mandatory COVID-19 mitigation efforts. For 2022, the team expects to double the size of the event, both in terms of attending retail buyers and brands exhibiting. As of press time, with more than 150 specialty brands already signed up to exhibit and more than 1,300 retail doors represented, “we are well on our way,” said Camisasca, “to hitting those goals.” m
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