Emerald Holding Inc., parent of Outdoor Retailer, on Tuesday, announced an update on the company’s first and second quarter events as a result of the evolving impact of the coronavirus on the global economy, the events industry and Emerald’s business.
- Emerald has made the decision to not stage any events between now and early June, at the earliest. That time frame excludes Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, set for June 23-25, meaning as of Tuesday, the event is still on (SGB Media will have updates if anything changes;
- To date, Emerald has postponed 20 events, originally scheduled to occur between March and June 2020, equating to approximately $45 million of 2019 revenue;
- To date, Emerald has canceled 10 events, including the March editions of ASD Market Week and JA New York, which accounted for approximately $50 million of 2019 revenue;
- As previously disclosed, Emerald maintains event cancellation insurance to protect against losses due to the unavoidable cancellation, postponement, relocation and enforced reduced attendance at events due to certain circumstances, including communicable diseases. The company is in the process of pursuing claims to offset the financial impact of the moves noted above;
- The potential impact on Emerald events that are scheduled to stage later this year is uncertain. The company will continue to actively monitor the situation and manage its upcoming portfolio of events; and
- Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, business trends remained healthy and in line with our pre-COVID-19 expectations.
Brian Field, interim president and CEO, said, “Emerald’s primary focus is on the health and safety of our employees, exhibitors, attendees and the communities that our events are built to serve. Due to the declaration of a federal national emergency by the President of the United States and by various individual states; recommendations and mandates provided by various local, state and federal government agencies and public health authorities regarding social distancing, containment areas, and against large public gatherings; travel restrictions imposed by the U.S. and foreign governments and by companies as applied to their employees; various event venue closures; as well as a variety of other factors, Emerald has updated its calendar of events originally set to stage over the coming weeks and months. As always, the safety and well-being of our employees, customers and communities is our top priority. We look forward to returning to our normal event schedule and continuing to serve the communities of which we are a part.”
Photo courtesy Emerald Holdings, Inc.
