Spending three days at the Outdoor Retailer Show, it’s sure easy to get caught up in the moment!  In fact a buyer could go crazy buying all this fun stuff!  All the latest gear from virtually every top outdoor supplier tempts you at every turn!  Hiking shoes, running shoes, casual shoes, boots, and clogs are all represented.  Dansko, Keen, Merrell, New Balance, and most all our best vendors are there to show us product for Fall 2012.  Even brands like Naot, Wolky, Josef Seibel, and Romika with styles you wouldn’t think of as “Outdoor” come to find new distributors for their shoes.  Layer in all the ski and snowboard companies, snowshoe, climbing and backpacking gear, plus high end outdoor apparel makers and I’m like a kid in a candy store!  I keep warning, “One of these days I going to come home and start trying to sell skis or something!”  On second thought, maybe I should just stick to the comfort shoes, boots, and sandals along with our mix of running shoes, hiking shoes and everything else that goes on a foot.  That’s what we’re best at.

 

The Outdoor Retailer Show, held twice yearly in Salt Lake City, brings suppliers and retailers of all types of gear together under one roof.  This makes planning and buying for our stores a much easier task by allowing us to view offerings from most all suppliers over the span of a few days vs. weeks of sales reps bringing their fare to us.  It also allows a buyer to compare shoes and gear from multiple suppliers and make better decisions about what to carry without over-duplicating categories….at least that is the theory. 

Now I’m starting the job of putting pen to paper ( or type to spreadsheet) and putting together the buy for Fall 2012!  If anyone has any requests or directions you would like to see us move toward, please let me know!

Cheers!

Alan