News that Outdoor Retailer moving its upcoming winter market show two weeks earlier has led to elation from some in the outdoor specialty community but some trepidation and annoyance as well.
January is already a hectic time with ORWM, Surf Expo, SHOT Show, ispo, multiple buying group shows and two major holidays. Changing the dates of a major show such as ORWM holds repercussions for all parties involved with some helped and some hurt by the change.
In interviews with B.O.S.S. Report, players in the industry seemed to agree that the new dates helps the show fit better with the buying cycle for apparel and footwear vendors. Some of the major soft goods brands already work with many retailers to complete the bulk of their forward winter buys in November and even October.
Other benefits include avoiding conflicts with other shows later in the month and the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, as well as hopefully freeing up some lodging in Salt Lake City. Some saw the earlier time as a way to better way to launch product for the industry and complement later shows.
ORWM will shift to Jan. 7-10, 2016, with a Thursday-to-Sunday schedule, while the All Mountain Demo moves to Wednesday, Jan. 6. Future shows will follow a similar pattern and are slated for Jan. 7-10, 2017, and Jan. 6-9, 2018. The show has been held on the third week of January in recent years.
The tradeoffs appear to be that the show now bumps up against a few regional buying shows and comes during a much-busier sales week for stores than in late January. Some believe getting a read on how the current winter season performed will be more difficult in the first week of January, possibly clouding future buying stances.
The new dates falling closer to the holiday mean vendors will have to work much earlier in December getting samples and doing other prep-work for the show. It will also moves up the deadlines for trade writers looking to get issues to the show.
In an interview, Marisa Nicholson, VP and show director, said the OR team has heard some of the challenges adjusting to the new date and some of the tradeoffs the move will cause. But the “overwhelming feedback we received within the research and now the response, has proven that this was the correct move to make.”
She adds, “We do not make decisions like this lightly, and realize that this move impacts the entire industry. We recognize the importance of all of the events within the outdoor industry and are working to ensure that everyone is included.”
The move to an earlier winter date pattern was supported by research OR conducted and sent to over 6,000 specialty retailers and exhibitors earlier this year. Importantly, “An overwhelming majority of all retailers in all categories supported the earlier date pattern,” she stated.
ALIGNING TO THE INDUSTRY’S SALES CYCLE
Nicholson said results from surveys over the past two years have indicated a need for the dates to be earlier not just for buying at the show but also to provide stores with a competitive advantage when it comes to discovering emerging trends, gaining merchandising ideas, finding new products or networking with peers. Added Nicholson, “At the end of the week retailers will walk away more informed and prepared for their next selling season having attended the show.”
In other areas, shifting further away from the MLK Holiday, which lands on Jan. 18 next year, as well as avoiding back-to-back situations with other major shows, including SIA Snow Show, SHOT Show and ispo, also played a role in the decision. Said Nicholson, “The move has put us in the position of not overlapping or being adjacent to other shows that, in the past, have proved to be a time and resources conflict for both brands and specialty retailers.”
Although the benefit is less certain, the move means the ORWM will no longer have to compete with Sundance and the thousands of people the film festival brings, for hotel accommodations and other crossover services such as venues for events, transportation, restaurants etc. in both Salt Lack City and neighboring Park City. Added Nicholson, “It was not the only factor to consider in the decision making process and we cannot specifically predict yet the total number of additional rooms, but there will be a significant ease of overall congestion and an overall positive benefits, as a result.”
Chris Miller, Vasque’s director of sales, was a fan of the move.
“I feel this is a necessary evolution of the Outdoor Retailer show,” said Miller. “To be more specific, I think the move is imperative for the Outdoor Retailer show in maintaining relevance in the selling cycle of North American markets.”
Moving the show schedule ties in better with key selling dates and corresponding selling windows that exist in the Vasque go-to-market strategy.
“Typically most outdoor brands have been forced to move manufacturing dates earlier and earlier, thus order deadlines and key account presentations are also moved proportionally earlier,” said Miller. “The opportunity to have the OR event inside this key selling window presents greater opportunities to work within our selling windows and maximizes the importance of the show.”
He added that the show still works to tell the Vasque story to the trade press but being able to work more efficiently with retailers helps validate the expense. Added Miller, “Without the earlier dates, the OR show, although tremendously important to Vasque, becomes a very expensive way to have beers with our friends!”
Vasque will move its product development cycle slightly earlier to insure samples are finalized and prepared for the show. Attendance of both its internal corporate team as well as its independent reps will also likely increase.
The potential hurdle is that the shift involves a mindset change that will be required for both buyers and vendors to maximize the selling opportunity. Said Miller, “In the place of spending this time finalizing assortments and attempting to fill meetings with forward focused conversations about upcoming seasons and plans, everyone now needs to be more prepared to establish assortments and close loops around the current season.”
AVOIDING CONFLICTS WITH OTHER TRADE SHOWS
Rob Coughlin, co-owner and VP of sales of Granite Gear, said one positive development was that the OR Show will no longer conflict with SHOT Show, enabling the backpack specialist to have a larger staff and rep presence at both shows.
But overall he wasn’t overjoyed with the move.
“This shift will move planning and logistics into the holiday season, which isn’t really ideal for anyone.,” said Coughlin. “We won't have the days off that we usually do the week between Christmas and New Year’s.”
“Overall, we think it's a good thing,” said Samantha Killgore, marketing manager for Scarpa North America. “This timing separates the OR show from SIA, and it gives us more time to place forecasts and address order deadlines. Simply put, it allows us more time to talk to our retailers before forecasts are due. If there was a downside, it was only in the way it was communicated. We were disappointed we didn't get more warning. It would have been nice to have a year of notice to plan for a change like this.“
Scarpa plans to make some changes internally for the new dates. Said Killgore, “For instance, it'll make us look more closely at people taking time off around the holidays, with the show following so quickly afterward, and it'll cause some changes to our inventory schedule, but nothing that we can't work around.”
Nicholas Brayton, president of Woolrich, said, “Woolrich is pleased to see the dates move up to early January but we would be very supportive of moving them until December as we still feel early January is very late into the fall selling season.”
Added Jeff Mechura, VP of global marketing at K2 Sports, “From a manufacturers standpoint, the show dates moving has some logistical issues to deal with but they’re manageable.”
Mike Massey, owner of Massey's Outfitters, which operates five stores in the New Orleans, agreed that the move helps align his chain’s ordering cycle but he didn't think the shift was significant. He adds, “We’ve already bought most of our majors by then. It might allow some buyers that outright skip OR to attend because it is now more relevant to our buying cycle.”
The biggest drawback, according to Massey, was less sell-through data to help guide order decisions. Added Massey, “And, for January, if the show is too early, our buyers will skip it all together. We’ve mostly finished writing orders in December anyway.”
Massey’s not sure if it will change the nature of the OR show. He remarked, “Hopefully we get less people there who aren’t there to buy or sell.”
Greg Thomsen, managing director, Adidas Outdoor USA, said the earlier show dates clearly work better for Adidas Outdoor’s product planning and factory order deadlines although cut-off dates for orders tend to be arbitrary.
“Factory loading requirements and technical material lead times are best managed as early as possible to ensure target delivery performances so earlier order cut off dates are very helpful,” said Thomsen.
SHOW-PREPPING DURING THE HOLIDAYS
On the other hand, Thomsen described the dates as “crazy early!” and wished the show was pulled forward only one week instead of two. He also added, “Just because the show dates are earlier does not mean that the orders from many accounts will actually be finished any earlier.”
From a planning-the-show perspective, the new show dates will leave Adidas Outdoor with only one day to finish preparing for the show after coming back from the holiday break. The timing will also make it challenging for Adidas’ European colleagues, similarly challenged by the holidays, to attend.
Adidas Outdoor will basically work to have everything ready for the show before the holiday shut down.
“To be safe with the holiday shipping traffic we will probably have to ship samples out by Dec. 15 (which will also involve additional storage cost) and move our planning dates up a month from normal because we will have very little time for last minute fine turning,” said Thomsen. “Samples are always a problem with timing and generally some of the revised samples are just coming in the week prior to the show. Getting these shipments during the holidays will be pretty difficult, plus it really doesn’t leave any room for errors or shipping delays.”
Robert Yturri, SVP global sales, product and brand management at Obermeyer, believes the earlier date will be a challenge for ski and snowsports retailers in particular. Said Yturri, “Our retail partners typically do a major chunk of their sales in December and if it's a warmish December, then January becomes make-or-break. So it will be tough booking orders that far ahead in early January if they don't have much sell through data or know how the season will end up.”
On the positive side, Yturri said an earlier show will help position ORWM as a stronger vehicle to launch product to retailers and out to the media. “From the B2B side, it's a great move. They'll be the able to properly showcase all the new stuff and get those stories out in the media earlier than ever before, ahead of both ISPO and SIA.”
Josh Pombar, director of marketing at Turtle Fur, likewise saw some logistical and downtime benefits being further away from the SIA show but he was largely indifferent to the move. Said Pombar, “It’s show season at that time of the year so I just keep in that zone and ride the show circuit. You just have to kind of roll with it all.”
John Mead, president at Adventure 16 in San Diego, said the move up a couple weeks made sense.
“Although I think the biggest and perhaps the only tangible benefit to specialty retailers is the possible freeing up of lodging,” Mead added. “If I had it my way, the shows would be in March, but that ain't gonna happen. I suspect that as the show moves up, eventually so will the vendors preseason deadlines.”
“The possible downside for us smaller independents,” Mead added, “is that in early January we're all still trying to catch our wind after a very busy couple of months filled with line previews, amplified sales levels and family obligation – not to mention too much sugar and spiked eggnog, if you know what I mean.”
Mead said planning for a productive show “requires proper planning and extra effort on many levels and from teams of people that don't leave the ranch to attend OR,” and that process may get rushed.
“I fear a bit that the show will suffer from that lack of preparation on every one's part,” said Mead. “I suppose in time, and provided all the other shows don't move up as well, we'll all get adjusted to the new timing.”
REGIONAL BUYER SHOWS DATES MAY CHANGE
The move also impacts numerous regional buying group shows, which appear to compete and complement the OR show and may be encouraged to move up further as well. EWSRA (Eastern Winter Sports Reps Association) has a show from Jan. 5 to Jan. 7 in Atlantic City. Western Winter Sports Rep Association(WWSRA) has shows in the same time period in Denver and Portland.
“I think the move is relevant for the market,” said Debbie Motz, executive director at EORA (Eastern Outdoor Reps Association), which runs two winter shows in December. “Everyone is getting pushed with earlier deadlines and for the show to stay competitive in the market place it was bound to happen.”
Even though the show doesn’t directly impact EORA’s show, Motz has made numerous phone calls to members to confirm how the OR show adjustment affects them and how EORA can continue to be supportive to their needs. Changing dates for many regionals can get complicated with its long-term commitment with facilities, she notes.
“EORA is in a delicate situation keeping a diverse membership and retail base happy,” said Motz. “Some in the group will grumble regardless of what we do or do not chose to do.”
Kerry O'Flaherty, EWSRA president, said the organization reach out to members and retailers and decided to not move its Atlantic City show.
“The January Calendar is jam packed with trade shows. There was simply no other time frame for EWSRA to move to, and not conflict with other existing shows,” said O'Flaherty. “Compounded with the lack of facility availability and affordability in the territory to host our show, and exorbitant costs involved in adjusting the dates at our current location, made for a very difficult decision. We looked at this from every angle, and given the last minute notice by OR we feel our board of directors has made the right choice.”
Dave Nacke, VP of merchandising, NBS, said that NBS Winter Market wasn’t directly impacted, the organization is currently attempting to revise its timelines to minimize the impact and make sure its Market remains relevant to its members.
“We also believe that a critical part of the winter sports industry will be impacted by the Outdoor Retailer move, primarily to sales representatives and the regional shows that WWSRA, MSRA and EWSRA conduct,” said Nacke. “When SIA was discussing making a similar change last year, there was some strong pushback from the retail side of the industry that the earlier timing wasn’t helpful to either getting apparel or hardgoods orders completed. Apparel deadlines continue to be mid-December for many brands while ski hardgoods are typically in mid-February.”
Nacke adds, “As members of OIA, we hope the impact is minimal to our buyers as January is already a very hectic month for trade events while still running successful retail businesses with the challenges they have.”
Sam Cook, president of Blizzard/Tecnica at Tecnica Group USA, believes time will tell if moving the OR Winter Show two weeks earlier is the right decision.
“Frankly, I was more surprised at the insufficient lead time that OR provided to suppliers, retailers and sales representatives,” said Cook. “What drove such a hasty announcement? Many exhibitors and rep groups had already fixed their business calendar and travel commitments based on the former dates. Given the size and scope of OR, I would have expected at minimum a 12 month notification of a date change.”
Cook agreed on the benefits of earlier deadlines for soft goods vendors but noted that the earlier dates work against his buying cycle as a hard goods supplier. Said Cook, “With consumer purchasing behavior (“just in time”) continuing to extend later in the winter season and winter conditions starting and ending later than year’s past, an earlier show reduces an already shortened sell through period on the current winter season.”
Other benefits Cook saw was enabling retailers to focus on sales over the busy Martin Luther King weekend. Without the back-to-back timing, retailers may also be more open to attending both OR and SIA.
Still, he’s concerned that stories about next season’s big launches spreading via social media two weeks earlier in January may apply downward price pressure on the current winter season’s products in the critical January month. Cook also believes sales reps and retailers who have historically attended both OR and SIA may not be able to given the earlier date change and/or the increased travel costs.
Ben Rockis, owner of Backcountry Experience in Durango, CO, believes the move favors soft goods manufacturers and big-box retailers, but works against independent stores with sparser staffs.
“As an independent retailer in the Rocky Mountain region, early January is the height of our busiest season,” said Rockis. “The move pulls our key staff away from the floor when their presence is most critical as well as allowing retailers less time to evaluate their needs before ordering.”
Rockis argues that if vendors need earlier deadlines to secure production, the show should be moved to November when sales traffic is light for stores.
SUMMER SHOW DATES UNCHANGED
The next debate will be around whether the ORSM, the summer show, likewise gets moved forward from the first week of August. With many apparel and footwear vendors appearing to wish ORWM had moved into December, the earlier date would similar support soft goods deadlines.
Not surprisingly, Backcountry Experience’s Rockis wishes ORSM could be moved up to end of April or first part of May. He added, “Basically, it appears to me that there are forces within the industry muscling their way to secure open to buy dollars from key retailers. Smaller independent shops and rep agencies are forced to adapt to these rules as they change repeatedly and are not considered in the decision making process.”
OR’s Nicholson said 2016 Summer Market dates are confirmed and wont’ be changed. She adds, “Beyond 2016 we are still reviewing the feedback and working with the industry to determine the best course for dates and location forward.”
