Outdoor Retailer announced yesterday that it will not produce Winter Market, scheduled for November 5-7, 2019. The show will be united with the Snow Show, scheduled for January 29-31, 2020 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
Exhibitors and sponsors already contracted for Winter Market 2019 will have space on hold and available to them for the show in January. Brands can opt for a full refund for contracted exhibit space or can apply any Winter Market payments toward a future show. Registered, paid attendees will receive a full refund of their registration charges. Summer Market in June so far is unaffected by this decision.
According to show organizers, the decision was made, once again, “in partnership with the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and after consultation with key brands and retailers through personal conversations, our advisory boards and surveys.” Of course, we heard something similar when OR original made the decision to schedule a show in November. Despite the “tons of data, surveys and feedback,” that initially suggested retailers wanted a show at the start of the buying season, apparently, “the sentiment has shifted, and the outdoor and snow communities would prefer to gather at a single show in the same timeframe,” said OR.
Perhaps that sentiment was expressed in booth sales. In announcing the cancelled event, OR thanked the “the over 230 brands … who had already committed to the November show.” To put that in perspective, the Summer OR show hosted more than 1,400 exhibiting brands.
At this point, the January 2020 show stays at three days, from January 29-31, 2020. But OR says it “will continue to evaluate the needs of the industry to determine the duration for all shows moving forward.”
Bike brands are welcomed at the upcoming shows, but it seems plans to incorporate bikes into an OR show have been put on hold. Otherwise, Grassroots Connect will stage as planned at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, November 1-5, 2019.
OR also noted in the announcement that the show is contracted in Denver through 2022. Stay tuned.
