Rec-onomic Indicator

Outdoor gear industry points to economic recovery.

by Wina Sturgeon

Buyers and vendors from all over the world come to the biannual Outdoor Retailer show every summer and winter in Salt Lake City. The number of companies that attend and the number of orders they write are always good economic indicators because retail sellers of leisure items are among the first to feel a recession, long before it makes the news.

They are also among the first to feel the recovery. That’s why this summer’s OR show is a good sign that the economy is on its way back.

Two years ago, long before the headlines about mortgage or housing or bank problems, a reporter noticed that business at the OR show seemed unusually lackluster. An informal poll of 30 vendors showed that sales were down 30 to 50 percent. A few months later, trickles of bad financial news began. It soon turned into a torrent.

But this year was not so bad for the OR folks.

“Our sales were very strong this year, very good. I talked to other retailers and chain stores, and business has grown substantially over last year,” says Mike Neary, vice president of sales for Chums and Beyond Coastal — one, a small outdoor accessory brand, the other, a sunscreen brand.

Last winter’s OR show showed the effects of the economic downturn. Some wholesalers missed the show entirely. Others cut their show staff, deciding not to pay for travel, food and lodging for any but the most essential people. It was a thinner show with a grimmer mood.

This summer’s show had an entirely different atmosphere, almost like that of a wobbly patient getting out of bed after a serious illness, with color and energy returning. OR show director Kenji Haroutunian sees the July show as a good sign that things are on the way back to recovery.

“The historical performance of outdoor products has always been better than the overall economic recession. When you start seeing sales rise in outdoors merchandise, it will rise before the general market does, but it’s also a sign that the economy is improving,” he says.

With the financial doldrums affecting finance, credit and employment, it would be expected that many vendors and retailers would have also missed this year’s summer OR show. But of the normal 1,000 exhibitors, there were only 50 fewer than last summer. Haroutunian says, “That’s not much.”

He also believes that there will be a “reset” when the economy does recover. “Americans have been living in a bubble. Our spending habits have been altered by easily available credit and by home properties constantly increasing in value. I don’t think those days will bounce back from recession immediately. But we’re already seeing strength in the outdoor sector,” he says, pointing out that over half of the retailers ordered more than $10,000 in merchandise.

High Tech in Low Places

Roughing it need not be rough

The two campers were dropped off in a remote wilderness that was barely reachable by car. It was cold — about 10 degrees Fahrenheit — but the two were warm in thin jackets that fit close without bulk. They set up their tent by pulling it from a stuff sack in one quick motion. The tent, now firmly erect, needed only to be tied down. Carrying all the gear and food for a week to the campsite took several trips, but the first thing they did was get the food out of the way of bears. They unfolded a large, lightweight pack, sorted the food into the pop-up compartments, then tied a wispy looking rope to a light plastic D-ring. Neither the rope nor the D-ring looked like it would hold much, but with one end thrown over a tree branch, it easily hoisted and firmly held more than 200 pounds, and could have held even more.

The woman unrolled two solar batteries and began charging a laptop and a camera. The man turned on a small GPS system, wrote down the coordinates it showed and gave them to the driver of the car. The car drove off. The couple, who had just been married, were now prepared for the honeymoon they would spend hundreds of miles away from civilization, but with all the comfort and safety of home.

It’s hard to believe that the rustic outdoors industry is in fact one of the highest-tech industries on the planet. Yet, in a way, it’s rustic high tech. Take the simple D-ring made by ITW Military Products of a high-strength polymer plastic. It’s lighter than metal climbing carabiners, doesn’t scratch or get hot like metal and won’t corrode. Widely used by the Marines to attach items to body armor and webbing, it’s also a popular fastening product for outdoors enthusiasts. Though the company advises the locking D-rings should not be used for climbing, some models will hold 300 pounds, yet cost between $1.50 and $6.95.

Solar batteries, flexible and thin as a cracker, can be used to charge everything from televisions to boat motors. They’ve been around a long time, but recently, they’ve become very efficient, according to Andy Church, the sales manager for Kirkham’s Outdoor Products in Salt Lake.

“Used to be, you’d have a small solar panel a foot square. To charge a few AA batteries would take days. Now it takes hours,” Church says. A large, heavy-duty solar charger that can be rolled up and stuffed in a backpack will cost under $200.

One of Utah’s largest annual conventions is the Outdoor Retailer Show, with both a summer and a winter market. New products are unveiled there twice a year. Church says that it’s necessary to keep the outdoors market moving.

“Tents and backpacks don’t wear out, so why would someone go into a store if their gear doesn’t wear out? But every six months, the outdoor industry comes up with all new stuff. Every seasonal industry has to come up with something new every year; it’s the only thing that draws customers to come into your store and look at things,” he explains.

But the new models offer more than just a different kind of camo color or additional strap. The industry itself keeps evolving. Hiking shoes, which once were considered lightweight if they only weighed a pound, now weigh mere ounces. Modern materials like microporous rubber and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), along with hundreds of specializations for different types of hiking and different types of feet, have turned today’s hiking shoes into scientific works of art. Quick-drying fabrics, which once depended on water-resistant coatings, now actually change the shape of the fibers from which the fabric is woven. A book could be written on the recent and continuing changes in outdoor fabrics, including fabrics that get rid of body heat or retain it, adjust to the environment and repel moisture.

One big buyer of outdoor industry items is the military. “They are big shoppers, and they want to know how new fibers react to fire or heat. Those technologies make a huge difference to the military, to search and rescue, to fire departments,” says Kenji Haroutunian, the group show director for Nielsen Business Media, and the director for both the summer and winter OR show. He adds, “You see almost 100 companies at the show that don’t even make finished products, but are raw suppliers that make foam or fabric or buckles. They come because it’s such an innovative, rich environment, there’s a lot of technology being applied.”

Small companies that put technology to creative outdoor uses are also thriving. The J. S. Darling Corporation is doing well with Rite In The Rain. Ryan McDonald, director of marketing, says, “It’s an all-weather writing paper designed to shed water so you can keep writing on it. We coat the paper so that the wood fibers are protected and they don’t turn to mush.”

Martha Van Inwegen invented Action Wipes: The Ultimate Wet Wipes as a substitute for a shower in the outdoors. Made with water and natural essential oils, the cloth is a high-tech fabric that can be washed and reused. Jill Cartwright created the Sherpa Strap, a wide swath of stretch nylon pleated into straps at each end. It can be attached to luggage or any other heavy item to distribute the weight and make it easier to carry.

These and other outdoor products are not just staying outside. People are finding that they work for everyday life as well. Clothing made with technical fabric additives like Gore-Tex and Thinsulate are now common in everyday jackets and gloves. At the same time, backpackers and campers can still get along without high-tech items.

Church says, “You can go out and sleep under the stars and have a great time, but you’ll be a lot more comfortable with these technologies.”