Park City & Deer Valley

January's Big National Trade Shows Both Saw Good Attendance

Both the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and the SnowSports Industries of America (SIA) wrapped up trade shows in Salt Lake City and Denver at the end of January and released statements calling them a huge success.

The OIA said attendance at its OutdoorRetailer Winter Market was up 16 percent for overall attendance. It was the highest net-sold square feet for the Winter Market ever, the release said.

Both associations said the success of shows reflects the strength of the outdoor retail industry.

During these tough economic times people are rethinking the purchase of new cars, boats, recreational vehicles and other big-ticket items. But it doesn't cost much to buy a new pair of shoes and go for a hike, said Jans general manager Jack Walzer.

His industry was definitely affected by the economic troubles in 2008 and 2009, but not as badly as other travel and leisure-related industries. Even in the bad times, business has been "OK," he said.

Locally, Walzer said good business is tied to good weather.

Gary Cole, founder of Colesport, agreed, adding, "When it snows, we're geniuses, when it doesn't we struggle. It's been a stellar year so far for snowfall."

Early snowfall in November got people buying earlier, and they bought more than in recent autumns, Walzer said.

Coming out of two tough years is a struggle as well, he added, because manufacturers have been making less, so there's a scarcity in the most popular products. Ordering must be spot-on or shops run out and miss potential sales.

This trend is forcing people to order early and that's hard, Cole said, because it takes time to analyze what the best-selling items were the previous season. Ordering early is like guessing blind, he explained.

But outdoor retailers are optimistic about 2011, both said.

"There are more visitors in town, and people are spending more," Walzer said.

Cole said business has been up every single week since mid-October some weeks up "substantially."

There are a few concerns the OIA said are on the minds of retailers this year. One that locals agreed with is product flow from China.

"Inflation in China is now hitting every major product area," an OIA newsletter reported late last month. "China's growth will spur more intense competition for resources. This has squeezed margins throughout the supply chain and will make it difficult for smaller, younger brands to bring innovation to the market."

Walzer said his trouble with China has been products arriving late. The selling season is short for snow sports and mountain biking equipment. If inventory doesn't arrive on time, sales opportunities are missed. As a result, he's been trying to diversify what manufacturers he orders from so they're not all in China.

Cole said he's been told that when the recession started and factories closed, Chinese workers went home to the rural areas. Now that things are picking up, factories aren't seeing the workers return and there's a labor shortage.

Doug Levasseur, manager of Wolf Summit Golf, a specialty outdoor retailer, said there's also a problem with counterfeit items from China sold online as name-brand products. If Wolf Summit has a driver on sale for $300 or $400 and a customer has seen what appears to be the same one online for $100, the local shop won't make the sale. But Levasseur knows that manufacturer, and knows it would never allow that item to sell for so little.

Online shopping is part of another challenge for 2011 the OIA highlighted.

"Rapidly shifting consumer expectations, accelerated most recently by smartphones and 24-hour fulfillment, are challenging existing supply and distribution channels," the newsletter said.

Specialty outdoor retailer Chad Jaques, owner of Trout Bum 2, said competing with online retailers is always a struggle, but when so many companies, both brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers, have gone out of business in the recession, many "liquidation" sales can be found on the Internet.

"It reduces our opportunity to sell especially high-end merchandise it's hard on us," he said.

Walzer and Cole said they benefit from being in a resort town. Once people are already here they'll buy what they need. No one is going to arrive for a vacation and then have something they need or forgot shipped to them here.

Plus people trust the expertise of local experts, Walzer said. And Colesport carries many items not available online, Cole said.

Another challenge in 2011 is credit. Many banks are still being stingy with business loans, the OIA newsletter said.

That makes it hard to stock inventory, Jaques said.

Product must be purchased months before it can be sold. Borrowing is the only way for small or new businesses to do that. When loans are hard to get or reduced, you can't buy what you need to have a big year, he said.

The last point of concern, according to the OIA, is reduced hours or even closures at state parks. Most states legislatures, including Utah's, are looking at cutting the budgets of state parks to save money. This could reduce the number of places people use the items they buy from outdoor retailers.

Jaques said that isn't a concern because the two state parks in Midway are so well used it is unlikely the state would cut their hours. Additionally, the Provo River's fishing areas are some of the best maintained spots the Department of Natural Resources oversees.

by Andrew Kirk OF THE RECORD STAFF : The Park Record

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