Outdoor Retailer has a new home: Denver.
The twice-annual showcase for all-things outdoor, which provides a look at upcoming footwear styles from the industry’s top brands, announced today that its new venue will be the Denver Convention Center, departing from its longtime Salt Palace Convention Center home in Salt Lake City.
The move from its past stamping grounds in Utah to Colorado will begin with the first exhibition in January 2018, the Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show.
In a statement, Outdoor Retailer said the roughly six-month process to find a location was “exhaustive,” but stated Denver was the “industry’s undeniable choice.”
The move to Denver was also desirable, according to Outdoor Retailer, because it met the show’s logistical criteria, as well as Colorado’s passion for outdoor recreation and preserving public lands.
After the Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show, which takes place Jan. 25 to Jan. 28, Denver will host the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market from July 23 to July 26, 2018, and the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market from Nov. 8 to Nov. 11.
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Outdoor Retailer also confirmed in a statement that it is working to secure the co-location for Grassroots Outdoor Alliance Connect.
“Denver is a wonderful choice for hosting a co-located Outdoor Retailer and Grassroots Connect,” Rich Hill, president of Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, said in a statement. “These combined events in Denver will deliver the most effective and efficient nine days of our specialty-retail buying cycle. We look forward to continue working closely with Outdoor Retailer and OIA to achieve this and other shared industry goals.”
Outdoor Retailer thanked Utah and the Salt Lake City community in a statement today for hosting the expo for 22 years. But the decision to move out-of-state, which was announced in February, largely stemmed from a disagreement over public land protection.
Utah politicians revealed in February that they were looking to rescind the national monument status of the Bears Ears National Monument.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed a resolution in February sent by the state’s Senate that challenges Bears Ears’ monument status. The politician also made it public that he planned to ask President Donald Trump to either repeal its national monument status or reduce its size, which spans 1.35 million acres in southeastern Utah.
“We’ve been listening to the concerns from the industry and agree that it’s time to explore our options,” Marisa Nicholson, show director for Outdoor Retailer, said in a February statement. “Salt Lake City has been an incredible home to Outdoor Retailer and the outdoor community for the past 20 years, and we aren’t opposed to staying, but we need to do what’s best for the industry and for the business of outdoor retail.”
