Outdoor Industry Trade Show in Denver
Saturday, January 27th, 2018 -- 9:24 AM
(AP) -The outdoor gear industry brought its biggest winter marketplace to Denver this week as it faces slipping sales and shifting U.S. consumer habits.About 1,000 manufacturers are showing new products to 11,000 retail buyers at the Outdoor Retailer and Snow Show, which opened Thursday and runs through Sunday. Industry retail sales totaled $18.9 billion from December 2016 through November 2017, down 6 percent from the previous 12 months, according to NPD Group, a market research company that tracks trends in two dozen industries. One factor in the decline is changing consumer preferences, driven by millennials, said Matt Powell, NPD's senior adviser for the sports industry.
Millennials - sometimes defined as people born between 1982 and 2004 - are less likely than the previous generation to demand outdoor gear that stands up to extreme conditions, Powell said. He used boots as an example. He said, Millennials want outdoor products that are less specialized and have more uses.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.