Ibex Outdoor Clothing, a designer of premium Merino wool outdoor clothing and cycling apparel, will attend Outdoor Retailer in 2017, but will limit the size of its Outdoor Retailer presence in direct response to Utah Governor Herbert’s continued attack on public lands.
“Outdoor Retailer cannot stay in Utah,” stated Ted Manning, CEO of Ibex Outdoor Clothing. “And until it moves out of the state, we as a company are taking decisive action to stand up for our public lands and conservation. There is no longer space for a business like Ibex to sit on the sidelines. Our goal has been, and will always be, to bring to bear all that this brand can muster in defense and amplification of our values.”
Ibex, which is headquartered in White River Junction, VT, will travel to Salt Lake City with a smaller team and a reduced trade show budget and take measured to cut spending while at the show. Ibex also has made the decision as a company not to recreate in Utah during the show. The company will instead focus its recreation dollars and energy in defending this initiative.
Ibex will donate the $10,000 in anticipated savings to The Conservation Alliance Public Lands Defense Fund. In addition, Ibex will close its trade show booth early at 1:30 p.m. on the second day of every show held in Utah, and use this time to collectively protest the threats to public lands.
“We are confident that we will be joined and supported by many of the like-minded brands, retailers, non-profits and supporting businesses that make up our incredible industry,” said Keith Anderson, vice president of marketing for Ibex.
“Outdoor Retailer provides the opportunity and venue for us to engage relationships with our partners and the networks that we have in place, and together, affect change,” Manning said.
“We have a commitment to our customers to defend our core values,” said Scott Parr, vice president of sales for Ibex. “And we have to sacrifice to achieve our goals. One of those sacrifices will be less time to meet with our retail partners. We have always been a company that takes relationships seriously and we invite our dealers, suppliers, non-profit partners and other industry friends to join us in our actions. Together we are a powerful force.”
Photo courtesy Ibex
