Grassroots Connect, the twice-annual buying show of Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, returns to Knoxville next month with a sold-out roster of exhibitors, a full slate of education sessions and more than 9,300 pre-scheduled appointments.
Scheduled for June 6-9, at the Knoxville Convention Center, Grassroots Connect will draw retailers from throughout the Alliance’s network of 206 doors nationwide to meet, engage and plan the coming sales season with their top brands by sales volume, top brands by growth, and other preferred vendors and vendor partners.
“The energy and enthusiasm has been building around Grassroots Connect since our fall show. Retailers are excited about the brands coming, brands are clearly pleased about the retailers in attendance, and the result is pre-pandemic level attendance figures,” said Dana Howe, Grassroots director of membership and education.
New member retailers at Grassroots Connect will include Active Endeavors (Des Moines, Iowa); Bighorn Outdoor Specialists (Great Falls, Mont.); Neptune Mountaineering (Boulder, Colo.); Great Outdoor Shop (Pinedale, Wyo.); 3 Rivers Outdoor Co. (Pittsburgh, Pa.); and Little River Trading Co. (Maryville, Tenn.).
On the show floor, the 122 exhibitors will include cornerstone apparel brands such as Patagonia, The North Face, Vuori, Smartwool and Toad&Co; leading footwear brands including On, Keen, Hoka, Oboz, Lowa and Altra; and outdoor equipment makers such as Nemo, Big Agnes, and Petzl. An enhanced paddlesports focus will include brands on the main floor such as NRS and Astral, as well as a new boat area on the registration level including Jackson Kayaks, Hobie and Pyranha.
New Grassroots vendor partners at the show will include C.A.M.P. (camp-usa.com/outdoor), Purnell (purnellgear.com), and Rumpl (rumpl.com).
On June 5, Grassroots Outdoor Alliance will host its traditional education day for Grassroots member retailers. The education lineup is scheduled to include a keynote by Earl B. Hunter Jr., founder of Black Folks Camp, Too; a retailer-specific session on attracting and retaining workers, led by Jenna Celmer and Ali Carr of Basecamp Outdoor; a panel discussion on the impacts of national chains moving into the markets of independent specialty retailers; and additional learning sessions on buying tactics and tools, pandemic shopping trends, modern retail solutions, and Grassroots member benefits and resources.
Additional lunch and learn sessions – open to all attendees – will be offered throughout the week and are slated to include the annual women’s luncheon, a paddlesports industry roundtable, buyer’s meeting follow ups, a NuORDER session on updates and feedback, and a Grassroots vendor partner meeting.
Evening social events include the night one Super Happy Hour (6 to 8 p.m., June 6) and the night two NuORDER Happy Hour (6 to 7 p.m., June 7 – both on the Park Terrace at the Knoxville Convention Center. Night three will feature a local service project (6 p..m., June 8) sponsored by Catalyst Sports, Keen and Rivers Sports Outfitters.
For the latest Grassroots Connect details for exhibitors or retailers, visit show.grassrootsoutdoors.com.
