Outdoor Retailer and Outdoor Design + Innovation Summer 2024 Recap
Outdoor Retailer ushered in a new era at Summer 2024 with the launch of the new Outdoor Design + Innovation show and three energetic days of discovery and connections at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. Together the two events attracted exhibitors and attendees from across the U.S. and around the world from June 17-19, 2024.
Outdoor Retailer and Outdoor Design + Innovation rolled out several new features at the Summer shows, including the all-new Hosted Buyer Program, which supported more than 165 attending buyers. Overall, attending buyers represented more than 30,000 retail locations. More than 80% of the brands at Outdoor Retailer were first-time exhibitors, providing critical discovery for retail buyers seeking next generation and relevant products for the new outdoor consumer. And, with both new and heritage brands exhibiting and over 50 educational sessions and events, the shows provided valuable time for the outdoor industry to conduct business and build relationships.
2024 Innovation Awards
The recipients of the 6th annual Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards were unveiled during a ceremony on the second night of Outdoor Retailer Summer, June 18, 2024.
Summer 2024 Registered Lists
The stores, product developers/designers, and media that attended Outdoor Retailer and Outdoor Design + Innovation Summer 2024. Please note, only one entry is listed even if multiple individuals may have attended per store or company.
Exhibitor + Attendee Feedback
“We met retailers that are brand new, and they’re going to buy their first assortment and are looking for smaller, newer brands that everybody else doesn’t have. And that’s something that you don’t find at the other shows we attend – retailers are looking for new brands here. I love seeing people that I only see once or twice a year. When we’re in our little bubble back in Arkansas designing, we’re not out in the world. This is our chance to go out and test the things that we think are great, get feedback, meet people that we haven’t seen in a long time, and really just be a part of the industry.” – Andrew Gibbs-Dabney, founder of LIVSN
“This was the first time for us at OR with Sand Cloud. On the first day of the show, we opened three brand new accounts. So that was really exciting for us and set the pace for the day.” – Brian Sanders, vice president of sales at Sand Cloud
“Since we come from the outdoor industry, we truly believe in selling the industry on our vision and product. OR was the best platform to do that, and the response was magnetic. Other brands in our lane aren’t attending the same trade shows, if any at all. We didn’t fit in with the mix, which absolutely made us stand out.” – Tina Thompson, co-founder of SENIQ
“The vendors at Outdoor Retailer are very intentional – they have great ideas and are looking for small retailers like us to carry their new products in our stores. The new vendors we met with were eager to work with us and were very flexible in working with terms and minimums. The Hosted Buyer program is the sole reason why we were at Outdoor Retailer. June is peak season for our business, and we were trying to decide on whether we come to the Winter or the Summer show. If it wasn’t for this program, I don’t know that we would have made it to Salt Lake City and we would have missed out on a lot of great products.” – Jessica Tok, owner and buyer at Lake and Company in Stillwater, Minn.
“We had such a fantastic time, met a lot of great new vendors, saw lots of fun new products and innovation, and sat in on a fantastic talk about outdoor participation trends that was very thought provoking.” – Courtney Breitenbucher, Aramark senior retail manager & outdoor buyer, Yosemite Hospitality
“We debuted Kangaroo Toss at this show. The biggest thing was the retail buyers here. Getting into contact with folks from Costco, Walmart, Meyer, and some big buyer accounts for us has been huge. We didn’t expect to have all those conversations and had all those on the first day.” – Corey Schrimpl, co-founder of Lost Boy Entertainment
“Attending the ODI trade show was like diving into a pool of innovation, where each booth is a portal to the future of industry.” – Jon Goodman, VP of sourcing and sales for Karman Inc. (Stetson and Roper)
“Our areas focus is production, design, and materials. We did enjoy visiting the booths and meeting with new vendors. We were able to watch a few panels and education sessions – many were very engaging and sparked interest for us. Overall, it was a fun experience and we definitely left with some new brands and products to watch for.” – Shawna Johnson, senior production manager, women’s active apparel, Kohl’s
“From Day 1, the quality of buyers we saw were solid. The people coming to the booth were people I wanted to work with and have conversations with. We used the show app and the matchmaking feature. Within a few days of downloading the app, we booked three quality appointments right away.” – Dustin Smith, Sun Bum international market development and training manager
“We are a relatively new outdoor store, and being based in Hawaii we don’t really get to have a lot of face-to-face time with reps directly, so it’s important to be here at the show to see the products, touch them and talk to people in person. We really enjoyed the Retail Reality Check education session, and it was great to hear directly from other stores on how they are navigating the current issues facing outdoor specialty retail and how they mitigate direct to consumer, online only, and brick and mortar. Their feedback and learning from the shared experiences were invaluable to our business.” – Destiny Detreaux, Buyer for Poipu Surf, Koloa, Hawaii
“I was pleasantly surprised by the caliber of the buyers – especially in the morning. Urban Outfitters stopped by, as did new accounts from Hawaii, Idaho, and other states. It’s made me excited for Winter, we will definitely come back.” – Bryan Wiertzema, director of sales for specialty and majors at Sun Bum
Show Coverage
A look at the highlights and stories from Outdoor Retailer and Outdoor Design + Innovation Summer 2024.