As Outdoor Retailer and SIA jockey for position of their respective events in the winter months, the summer show calendar also grows more complicated. Just days after OR announced that starting in 2018 it would be moving its Summer Market Expo to mid-June (11 – 14), Formula4Media announced its inaugural Sportstyle Show, set to take place also in mid-June. The 2017 event will be June 14-16, in Orlando, Fla.
According to Formula4 Media, the Long Island-based company that also produces The Running Event, the Sportstyle Show will focus on “the seamless merger of performance sports and style.” Along with performance active wear and athleisure wear brands, the hundreds of expected exhibitors also will include footwear, equipment, wearable technology and accessory brands, “all products at the core of a healthy lifestyle,” said event organizers.
“Some pundits are saying the athleisure business is already saturated, but they are way off base,” said Mark Sullivan, president of Formula4 Media, the producers of the show. “We’re still at the beginning of a major change in the way women and men dress to suit their active lifestyles.”
Sportstyle keynote speakers and conference sessions will focus on business topics of interest to retail attendees, including executives from sports specialty retailers, independent shoe stores, department stores, apparel boutiques, studios and health clubs, online retailers, and athletic footwear and apparel stores. And on the last day of the event, the Convention Center Sportstyle Consumer Expo opens its doors to targeted active sports enthusiasts for a consumer expo.
It should also be noted, that with OR moving its Winter Market dates to mid-November in 2018, Winter OR in the coming years could fall within days or weeks of the annual Running Event, which starts on November 29 this year.
No word yet on the expected 2018 dates for the Sportstyle Show. Stay tuned.
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