Outdoor Retailer Summer 2025 Embraces Meaningful Connection and Smarter Solutions
Coulee Coffee
SALT LAKE CITY (July 1, 2025) — Outdoor Retailer 2025 was held at the Salt Palace Convention Center, drawing nearly 1,700 attendees and more than 350 exhibiting brands from over 40 states across the three-day show. The show reflected a growing focus across the industry: building purposeful relationships, spotlighting innovation, and aligning with evolving consumer values around wellness, sustainability, and performance.
“Outdoor Retailer served as a vibrant hub for meaningful commerce and collaboration—bringing together hundreds of brands and buyers on a bustling, full-scale show floor designed to reflect the industry’s evolution,” said Sean Smith, Show Director, Outdoor Retailer.
From national park advocates and adaptive sports organizations to first-time exhibitors and established leaders, this year’s event was driven by quality engagement, real conversations, product discovery, and shared commitment to moving the industry forward. Exhibitors cited strong leads, valuable meetings, and unexpected partnership opportunities.
“The outdoors runs on connections, and last week, we experienced that at Outdoor Retailer,” said Ted Ayliffe, chief executive officer, Coulee Coffee. “From product collabs to potential retail partners and sustainability champions, we’re leaving Salt Lake City energized by what’s ahead.”
“We’ve shown at Outdoor Retailer since the mid-90’s,” said Travis McMaster, general manager at Cocoon. “A brand wants to meet retailers and open doors. We’re here to sell stuff. We want to open new doors and revisit those relationships that we’ve had in the past. Ultimately that’s the goal. This year I wanted to work on things in between the aisles – make connections to help us with our direct-to-consumer business and connect with content creators and social media influencers and this show hit the spot for us for the peripheral stuff beyond showing the brand to retailers.”
Industry Day Sets the Stage with Compelling Conversations on Tariffs, Sustainability and AI
Pictured left to right: Craig Rowley, CMO, Cotopaxi, Evin Catlett, Global Vice President of E-commerce + Growth, Skullcandy; and Roger Hurni, Founder of Off Madison Avenue discuss the power of brand influence, the creator economy and shifting consumer behavior at the inaugural Industry Day Event.
The show launched with Industry Day, a new platform focused on exploring the hard topics today’s business leaders including tariffs, AI, the evolving consumer and the realities of achieving sustainability goals. C-Suite and Senior-Level Executives from Cascale, Christy Sports, Cotopaxi, Google, Orvis, Salomon, and Skullcandy, among other established brands, shared insights and engaged with the audience of retailers, buyers, exhibitors and outdoor enthusiasts.
“Industry Day at Outdoor Retailer was an energizing and impactful experience,” said moderator, Sunny Stroeer, owner, Dreamland Safari Tours & Founder of AWExpeditions. The half-day pre-show conference was designed to inspire collaboration and conversation by bringing together the most thoughtful voices in our space to share ideas, challenge assumptions, and offer actionable strategies that can transform businesses, improve customer interactions and help brands and retailers alike operate more efficiently. Events like this are critical to the health of the outdoor community, because when we come together to learn from each other, we move the entire industry forward.”
In addition to the inaugural Industry Day at Outdoor Retailer half-day conference, the show featured high-end educational content in The Camp on the show floor with 14 session and 37 additional speakers.
The New Product Showcase and Ascent Area, For Next Generation of Brands
The New Product Showcase and the Ascent area, dedicated to emerging outdoor brands, highlighted dozens of companies introducing purposeful solutions and products merging environmental responsibility with elevated performance, all without compromising on style or functionality. These areas sparked meaningful conversations and helped position new and established brands at the forefront of the outdoor market’s next chapter.
Supporting this momentum, the Utah Outdoor Recreation State Pavilion Program highlighted regional innovation, showcasing homegrown brands and reinforcing the critical role of local outdoor recreation economies across the U.S.
A Preview of What’s Ahead for 2026
Standing room only. The Camp, powered by Shopify opened the education sessions at Outdoor Retailer on Wednesday, June 18th with Circana’s Outdoor Trend Session on retail sales and consumer insights in the outdoor marketplace.
As the first major U.S. marketplace previewing next year’s outdoor products, Outdoor Retailer provides a global lens on emerging consumer trends and product innovation. Buyers, media, and industry professionals explored a diverse range of offerings reflecting the evolving demands of today’s outdoor consumer, from sustainable materials to minimalist aesthetics and multifunctional design.”
As the travel industry has changed and grown and gone in different directions, it’s important for all of us to start finding different avenues for business,” said Cynthia Mitchell, senior sales manager at Go Travel, part of the Travel Goods Association (TGA). “I think that the most important thing here today, this week, is to make new contacts in different industries.”
The Travel Goods Association debuted its Travel Gear Pavilion highlighting the growing convergence between travel and outdoor lifestyles. It featured a curated mix of established and emerging brands including Bellroy, Jansport, Matador, Osprey, and Topo Designs, among others showcasing products designed for the modern, adventure-focused traveler. The activation built on TGA’s renewed momentum and positioned travel gear at the center of the broader outdoor conversation.
The Travel Goods Association (TGA) debut a dedicated Travel Gear Pavilion at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Show. With the growing convergence between travel and outdoor lifestyles, the TGA Pavilion showcased a curated collection of innovative travel brands whose products are shaping the travel adventurer.
“Sun Bum has a great partnership with Outdoor Retailer,” said Phil Demangone, senior sales manager at SunBum. “We continue our main mission on just sun education and sun safety, and just educating people on the brand, and then obviously gaining those retail partnerships that are long-lasting and connecting with the right retailers that can help us with that mission. This year, we just met with Zion National Park, which is the second largest national park in the country. Within a few moments, we were all shaking hands and already becoming friends and family. We were welcoming them into our program.”
“There’s been wins from all across the country,” said Dustin Smith, director of global wholesale sales at FAHLO. “It’s definitely been quality over quantity. We’re seeing high end buyers from reputable stores and sources that we want to work with.”
“The outdoor industry is evolving rapidly, shaped by shifting consumer expectations, economic forces, and cultural trends,” said Lindsay Hubley, senior vice president of sports and outdoor group at Emerald X, LLC. “We recognize the need to evolve alongside it. We’re taking a thoughtful look at every aspect of the show to ensure we continue to meet the needs of the industry now and into the future.”
“Our goal remains to foster a dynamic, inclusive space where ideas are exchanged, relationships are built, and the entire outdoor community can thrive. As plans for future shows take shape, we’ll continue to share updates,” added Hubley.
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About Outdoor Retailer
Outdoor Retailer, the leading U.S. business events for the outdoor and winter sports industry, brings together retailers, manufacturers, designers, distributors, industry advocates, journalists, and more to conduct the business of outdoor recreation through commerce, unique product experiences, dedicated media events, content, and web-based business solutions. Outdoor Retailer provides critical platforms for face-to-face commerce, product launches, networking, and focused industry education to enhance business and support the outdoor recreation economy. Visit outdoorretailer.com for more information.
About Emerald
Emerald’s talented and experienced team grows our customers’ businesses 365 days a year through connections, content, and commerce. We expand connections that drive new business opportunities, product discovery, and relationships with over 140 annual events, matchmaking, and lead-gen services. We create content to ensure that our customers are on the cutting edge of their industries and are continually developing their skills. And we power commerce through efficient year-round buying and selling. We do all this by seamlessly integrating in-person and digital platforms and channels. Emerald is immersed in the industries we serve and committed to supporting the communities in which we operate. As true partners, we create experiences that inspire, amaze, and deliver breakthrough results. For more information, please visit www.emeraldx.com