Snowsports Merchandising Corporation (SMC) and Sports Specialists Ltd (SSL) merged to form Winter Sports Retailers, Inc. (WSR), creating the largest network of U.S. specialty retailers.

With 118 retailers and over 300 locations in 33 states, the combined entities will “open new avenues for collaboration, reach and resources shared among retailers and brands.”

As a member-based organization, WSR said it focuses on “fostering a mutually beneficial partnership between supplier and retailer. Facilitating better communication and sharing collective information, WSR is committed to providing both localized and national perspectives to help both parties navigate an ever-evolving industry. It aims to develop a brand and experience that meets the evolving needs of consumers and provides superior winter sports experiences throughout the U.S., said WSR in a release.

“Since the 1970s, both SSL and SMC have played pivotal roles in shaping the industry landscape,” said Gary Fleming, president of WSR. “By merging the two forces to form WSR, we are beyond excited to leverage the extensive network of specialty ski shops to benefit consumers and the snow sports industry as a whole.”

Fleming took the reins at SMC in 2021 after a long career on the brand side of the winter sports business, most recently as president and CEO of Elan Skis. He also held key positions at Asolo USA, Head USA, TRAK, Inc., Salomon North America and an 11-year stint at Salomon Canada where he started as a customer service rep in 1986 and concluded as director of marketing.

WSR’s headquarters is in Springfield, MA, with a secondary office in Golden, CO. In addition to its retail endeavors, WSR will continue to operate WSM, the winter sports specialty retail trade show in Salt Lake City, UT.

“We are thrilled to continue the success of WSM and build upon its success,” said Fleming. “The show this year, despite the slower winter season, was incredibly positive and set the tone for what’s to come.”

The Winter Sports Market began in 1998, making it the longest continuously running trade show for specialty wintersports retailers in the U.S. WSM had traditionally aligned the show dates with the former Snowsports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show, usually preceding the annual event, and more recently with the Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show after OR parent Emerald Expositions acquired the Snow Show from SIA in 2017.

But as OR struggled to find common ground with wintersports retailers on show timing and structure it became evident that the meeting room component of the Snow Show and OR would not suffice.

With the OR + Snow Show moving to early January in 2019, WSM said it believed at the time that it was in the best interest of its retailers to hold the show later in January, allowing specialty shops to provide more accurate orders to suppliers. SSL and SMC then made the decision to move the WSM show to Salt Lake City starting in 2019.

Now Outdoor Retailer, which has since made the move back to SLC, finds itself still trying to connect with winter sports retailers and brands via a scaled down side show to the WSM show in January while still trying to push a November OR Winter that has no winter sports equipment companies exhibiting.

For those that worked in the wintersports market in the 90s, brands would have been setting up their booths this week for the seven-day (yea, seven days!) SIA show when the show ran in early March. SIA, which is comprised of vendor members, moved the show dates to late January in 2002 and then moved the show to the Denver Convention Center in 2010. That ill-fated move for both OR and SIA resulted in OR buying the SIA show as attendance waned amid scheduling issues.

Now the market comes full circle and the winter sports retailers are running the only wintersports show of note.

Image courtesy WSR