Shortly before BOSS went to press, Outdoor Retailer announced that the “OutdoorPreview” apparel event, which was scheduled before OR Summer Market in Chicago, has been “postponed until further notice.” In an interview in January (See BOSS_0504), Peter Devin, VNU Outdoor Group Director, told BOSS that the event was designed to provide an opportunity for a limited number of interested apparel brands and buyers to meet two months ahead of the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Show.
“The fact of the matter is that people are seeing lines earlier,” he said. “This is going on right now apparel companies are flying their sales managers all over the country in May, June, and July before OR to do line presentations. We thought it would be easier to have all of the retailers and all of the apparel companies together in one place and knock it out in three days.”
Devin also said that if he felt that this event in Chicago could hurt OR Summer Market in any way, then he would pull the plug. The decision to postpone the “OutdoorPreview” was based on “feedback from the outdoor market.”
“Our decision to postpone the OutdoorPreview is based on what we learned through many conversations with the market over the past three months. The fact is there are many differing needs and objectives occurring during this buy/sell cycle and we'd like to do some additional homework to address those needs,” said Devin. “We will continue the dialogue with our customers and interested retailers about future timing, scheduling and operational details for a future OutdoorPreview. However for 2005, the industry has spoken and we want to deliver what is best for the outdoor market,” added Devin.
