March 16 Coronavirus Notebook: Closures, Cancellations And Postponements

<span style="color: #a3a3a3;">One after another on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, outdoor and sporting goods brands announced the closing of their owned retail stores. Here is the latest on the companies that have temporarily halted operations in some form.

• Nike Inc. on Sunday said it is closing all stores in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand from Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 27, to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
• REI Co-op is closing its retail stores from Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 27, to “help protect the health and safety of our employees and customers” from the coronavirus, President and CEO Eric Artz said in a statement.
• In response to the global outbreak, VF Corp. announced the temporary closure of all owned retail stores across North America, effective March 16 through April 5.
• Under Armour announced it will close all 188 of its company stores in North America from March 16 through March 28 as a precaution amid the global spread of coronavirus.
• Columbia Sportswear Co. will close its North America brick & mortar retail stores on Monday, March 16, and expects these stores to remain closed through Friday, March 27.
• Patagonia said it is “temporarily shutting down operations” to protect its community from the spread of the coronavirus. The company has closed its stores and its e-commerce operation, meaning it is “unable to accept orders on [its] website.”
• On March 13, Stio temporarily closed all three Stio Mountain Studio retail stores, located in Jackson Hole and Teton Village, WY, and Park City, UT. The retail locations will remain closed until further notice.

Trade Shows And Conferences
The CDC recommended that no events with 50 or more people be held for the next eight weeks, so that will surely lead to more industry events being canceled, but here is a partial list of cancellations and postponements.

• Canoecopia in Madison, WI, was canceled; it will be held next year.
• The SFIA, NFHS and NCAA decided to postpone the annual Team Sports Rules & Management Conference, scheduled to take place in Indianapolis, IN, from April 13 to 14 due to the coronavirus.
• The 2020 Bicycle Leadership Conference (BLC), originally slated for April 14 to 16, has been rescheduled for September 29 to October 1 in Monterey, CA.
• Outdoor Retailer said that while it’s closely monitoring the coronavirus situation, right now the company is “actively planning” to host the annual Outdoor Retailer Summer Market June 23-25 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO. Click here to read OR’s statement.
• Running Industry Association is planning to host its second annual Kick Show in Denver, CO, from May 11-14
• The Sea Otter Classic, the outdoor cycling festival held in Monterey County, CA, has postponed its April event. The event hosts over 1000 exhibitors, 9,600 athletes and 72,500 fans. No new dates have yet been set for the rescheduled event.
• The Sports & Fitness Industry Association canceled last week’s National Health Through Fitness Day in Washington, DC.
• The Arnold Fitness EXPO in Columbus, OH, was postponed due to coronavirus precautions. The strongman and bodybuilding events, as part of the Arnold Sports Festival, took place but no spectators were allowed.
• The North American Handmade Bicycle Show announced it would postpone its event, scheduled for March in Dallas, TX, due to concerns over the coronavirus and reschedule it for August.
• IHRSA last week canceled the IHRSA 2020 Fitness Show that was scheduled to be held March 18 to 21 in San Diego, CA.

Sporting Events

• Right now, the Summer Olympics are a go for July 24 to August 9 in Tokyo,
• In the U.S., however, many events have been canceled, starting with the Masters Tournament, which was postponed until a “later date,” organizers said last week.
• The Boston Marathon was postponed until September 14.
• March Madness, which was set to begin this week, was canceled after the NCAA originally said it would hold games without fans in attendance. In a statement, the NCAA said, “This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.”
• The NBA in a tweet decided to suspend its remaining month of games after learning that a player had tested positive for coronavirus. Over the weekend, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the shutdown would be at least 30 days and could last two months.
• The NHL also suspended play. The league last week said, “following last night’s news that an NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus—and given that our leagues share so many facilities and locker rooms and it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point—it is no longer appropriate to try to continue to play games at this time.”
• MLB said in a statement that Opening Day will be delayed at least two weeks and spring training games are canceled. MLB said in part, “MLB and the Clubs have been preparing a variety of contingency plans regarding the 2020 regular season schedule. MLB will announce the effects on the schedule at an appropriate time and will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible.”
• The 2020 Players Championship was canceled amid concern surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, the PGA Tour announced on Thursday evening following the conclusion of Round 1.
• The LPGA also announced on Thursday that it’s postponing its next three events, including its first major of the season the ANA Inspiration.
• The BNP Paribas Open in Southern California, one of the largest tennis tournaments outside the majors, was canceled.
• The FIS issued a statement announcing that the World Cup Finals in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, have been canceled due to extreme coronavirus outbreak in the region and will not be replaced.