| Positive vibes at Outdoor Retailer show |
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Posted: Monday, February 1, 2010 11:41 am
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The early January Outdoor Retailer show held in Las Vegas, showed that there is general optimism going into 2010, after a very difficult year for US retailers, reports Sportslink’s European correspondent, Munich-based Hank Aldrich.
With the winter Olympic Games being held in Vancouver and in the same time zones as the US, retailers are expecting that with good coverage and American success, sales in snow and outdoor categories will be good.
The trend in outdoor footwear seems to be lighter and multi-functional, with consumers looking to purchase just one pair to cover a wide variety of uses.
Our Ugg boots are still impacting design trends, reports Aldrich, with a fashion influence on many boot designers.
Compression clothing is growing substantially in the outdoor market, with the US distributors of the Australian brand 2XU present at the show and also distributing the Bont cycling shoes.
Japanese compression brand called CW-X attracted plenty of attention.
Aldrich reported that another strong growing trend is merino. Icebreaker had a big presence at the show in line with the eco trend, displacing many of the petroleum-based synthetic materials.
The new products dispel many of the old myths about wool being scratchy and heavy when wet, and is much easier to care for. There were many small manufacturers and most big brands including an offering in merino.
It appears that the Crocs trend is over. Their booth was very small and according to an ex-developer, new management is attempting to consolidate the business.
Eco, sustainability and sun protection issues were well to the fore in an interesting and worthwhile show, reports Aldrich.
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