Outdoor Retailer, the resident Hercules in the world of outdoor recreation trade shows, sent out a press release yesterday that it would seek relocation bids starting in 2018. Talk of a potential move from Salt Lake City by show officials shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given that Patagonia announced its intention to boycott seemingly hours after OR’s release. The move was a follow-up to Black Diamond’s threat to boycott the show over Utah’s environmental policies, which are deplorable: Governor Gary Herbert officially asked Trump to reverse the Bears Ears National Monument designation this week.
But, quick reality check here, this relocation talk seemingly comes up on a bi-annual basis and isn’t just about “environomics.”
“Outdoor Retailer has always been about ‘Right time, right place, right stuff,’” Marisa Nicholson, the show’s director said in the release. “We’ve been listening to the concerns from the industry and agree that it’s time to explore our options. Salt Lake City has been an incredible home to Outdoor Retailer and the outdoor community for the past 20 years, and we aren’t opposed to staying, but we need to do what’s best for the industry and for the business of outdoor retail.”
The move would be an obvious hit to the Utah economy, especially Salt Lake City, with the show bringing in an estimated 25-50 million annually. But from my perspective, and many other’s within the industry I’ve spoken with, OR finding a new, greener home, is about much more than simply bad environmental policy.
Many municipalities have long hoped to entice the economic windfall that is OR, with cities like Boise, Portland, Denver, and Minneapolis all being mentioned as possible sites in the past. Idaho even moved to introduce legislation aimed at luring the show in 2015. But Boise is in a state as notoriously Red as Utah, so that puts the City of Trees behind the 8-ball to start. Portland, Oregon might be a progressive-enough location, but it’s as far west as one could get.
As mentioned, a move by OR from Salt Lake is about much more than the wishes of the show’s green clientele, which is pretty much a majority of attendees. And given the shoddy environmental record of Utah representatives like Orrin Hatch, whose career could literally be defined as an environmental catastrophe, it’s a group I completely support.
But the entire narrative might read something closer to this for OR’s potential move: it’s still about numbers. For years, retailers from the East Coast have complained about the show’s regional problem, being that it’s somewhat out of the way, and until relatively recently, SLC wasn’t a major airport and shipping center. The cost for retailers to display at the show is already exorbitant, add in travel costs and the price of moving display merchandise all over the country, and it becomes downright unaffordable. Which in my mind, would make Minneapolis and Denver cities with major advantages as we stand now: both could be considered “middle of the country,” both are major shipping centers, and both are in states that an environmentally-concerned industry might find common ground in.
Another truth that must be addressed with OR is the splintering of genres within the building. Way back in 2009, several paddlesports manufacturers and industry leaders proposed moving the paddlesports portion of the show to Minneapolis to satisfy some of the points addressed above, like timing and location. Which might not have been as big a deal way back in the dark ages, before SUP took over as an economic mover and shaker. But this year, it’s actually happening. Madison, Wisc. will host a new paddlesports retailer show September 12-17. So the walls are cracking a bit.
A question posed to OR’s Marketing Director Jennifer Holcomb and Show Director Marisa Nicholson in an email, asking show officials to prioritize the reasons for moving wasn’t immediately answered (is it the environment, regionality, splintering industries or all of the above?).
Regardless, the show is in a tough spot: One of its biggest, and arguably most influential clients has pulled out. Others are threatening. The show is dealing with retailers that aren’t thrilled with the timing, especially paddlesports brands who have to entice buyers to leave shops and businesses during the peak summer selling season. And it’s possibly a similar story on the snow side. Then there’s the economics of location, from making the host city more convenient to retailers, to seeking out a host market that provides enough benefits (see perks) to Outdoor Retailer to make it economically feasible to move.
Saving the environment would make a great story for OR, a narrative we would all applaud. But reality probably still lies in the secrets of the spreadsheet: how does a move like this pencil out for one of the world’s largest outdoor tradeshows?
