Nielsen Exhibitions sold 349,950-square feet of space to exhibitors at last week's Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2011 in Salt Lake City – a record for the winter show. Preliminary attendance numbers suggest that the Winter Market show will be up 11% and 16% for buyer and overall attendance, respectively. That is consistent with growth seen last August during the summer edition of the biennial show.
The hum of busy aisles was music to the ears of the manufacturers who made the investment to have a presence at the show.
“It's [OR] been an interesting phenomenon because people know adidas, but they want to know why they should be looking at adidas Outdoor,” said Greg Thomsen, managing director, adidas Outdoor. “We've had an overwhelming response and we couldn't be happier. This is the only show we're doing and we'll be here forever.”
“This was our first non-pet trade show, and we've met so many people who want to purchase large numbers of supercollars that we wouldn't have thought of and wouldn't have approached on our own,” said Jane Angelich, supercollar CEO. “Our original budget only included exhibiting at Winter Market, but we've revised it and now our other show will be OR Summer Market.”
More than 1,300 buyers hit the slopes for a day of winter sport product previews, hands-on gear testing and outdoor events on nearly a foot of fresh powder at the All Mountain Demo in its new location, Solitude Mountain Resort.
During the week of OR, industry influencers broadcasted an insider's view of the show through 493 new likes, 85,000 page views and 160 post feedbacks to the Outdoor Retailer facebook page. There were also more than 3,000 searchable blog posts, approximately 10,000 downloads of the Outdoor Retailer mobile app and 1,500 tweets tagged with the hashtag #ORshow.**
Outdoor Retailer also launched its new OR Online HUB, a website that will allow exhibiting brands to interact with qualified retailers before, during and after the show through a branded online exhibit experience. Retailers will have access to search updated exhibitor information, including comprehensive directories, catalogs and preseason/at-once ordering tools.
“During the critical buying season, we work hard to provide show features that cut through tradeshow busy work and help attendees focus on strengthening partnerships, developing future strategies and gathering intelligence that they might not see at regional events or through their reps,” said Kenji Haroutunian, Outdoor Retailer show director. “From the Grand Ballroom to the back of the hall, we are hearing really positive things about the show meeting those needs.”
Outdoor Retailer Winter Market will return to the Salt Palace Convention Center, in Salt Lake City, January 20-23, 2012.
