Outdoor Retailer, the outdoor industry’s flagship trade show, will not come to Salt Lake City in November, organizers announced Thursday.
The trade show has historically been held twice a year at the Salt Palace Convention Center downtown, save for the five years it spent in Denver. In an interview with The Daily — the show’s newsletter that broke the announcement Thursday — show director Sean Smith said OR will now combine into one, big, “more comprehensive show and enhanced experience” in June.
Smith said organizers “aren’t canceling the November show,” just combining it. But there will be no show in two months, according to The Daily. As recently as this week, OR was advertising a show this fall.
Neither Smith nor a brief press release posted on the Outdoor Retailer website made mention of a November show in 2025.
The summer show has always been the flagship event for OR, and typically draws three to four times the number of exhibitors as the fall show, which this year was scheduled for Nov. 6-8. This year’s fall show was set to run concurrently with Outdoor Design + Innovation, a show under the Outdoor Retailer umbrella that focuses on new technologies, as well as raw materials rather than finished products. That show will return to the June slot, where it made its debut this year.
Brands and buyers asked for the change, Smith said.
“Our decision comes after taking in a ton of feedback from exhibitors and attendees,” Smith said, “along with data on just how important the June sell-in time is for the industry.”
The consolidation comes amid shrinking attendance worldwide at large trade shows like Outdoor Retailer since the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, Emerald Expositions, Outdoor Retailer’s parent company, has experimented with opening its doors to the public and holding off-site demonstration expos to draw more interest. The show’s return to Salt Lake City last year after moving to Denver — in what was seen as a boycott of Utah’s public land policies — has also earned Outdoor Retailer some critics.
When it returned to Salt Lake City, Emerald Expositions took the opportunity to do some shuffling. It moved its Snow Show from January to November and renamed it the Winter Market. Then it reserved the January slot for what it called The Summit, which was to be less show and more of an outdoor-focused conference.
This summer, Outdoor Retailer also parted ways with partner Outdoor Industry Association, ending a 30-year partnership.
It is unclear what the new consolidation means for anyone who planned to attend or exhibit a product at the November show. Smith did not immediately respond to questions from The Salt Lake Tribune.
A Salt Palace spokesperson also did not immediately respond to questions about whether OR had a contract for the November show. A spokesperson for Salt Lake County, the entity that actually owns the Salt Palace, did not immediately comment on OR’s decision.
Splitting the show into two seasons was, historically, a way for brands to debut seasonal gear and retailers to plan and buy accordingly. Consolidating, OR said online, is a way to respond to “the evolving buying patterns in the market.”
Smith said the show wants to sharpen its focus on “new and innovative brands and products.” The expanded show in June will include a new “emerging brands” section called Ascent and new product categories, Smith told The Daily.
Hours ahead of its Thursday announcement, Gov. Spencer Cox said Outdoor Retailer’s return to Salt Lake proved “people will throw more money at you” to host events in their city or state, but Utah wins out in the end.
The governor, who is up for reelection this fall, was comparing the trade show to the Sundance Film Festival, which announced last week that Utah is among the three places still in the running to host the festival starting in 2027. Sundance said it would explore other host options in May. Outdoor Retailer, Cox said Thursday morning, “realized they made a mistake” in leaving — a cautionary tale for Sundance to heed.
Visit Salt Lake, a close partner of Outdoor Retailer, did not immediately have a comment about what the change could mean for Salt Lake visitation. Before it left, Outdoor Retailer’s two shows generated an estimated $40 million in annual economic impact.
Smith told The Daily that OR “absolutely” plans to stay in Salt Lake.
Shannon Sollitt is a Report for America corps member covering business accountability and sustainability for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.
