February 11, 2000

High-tech ideas pop up in retail lines

This year’s Outdoor Retailer (OR) winter show offered plenty of excitement for Boulder County sporting goods companies — even without a repeat of the tornado that struck last summer’s show. The highlights of this winter’s OR show in Salt Lake City were product and politics.On the product side, two full days of demos on the slopes at Park City Mountain Resort kicked off the activities before the show began on Sunday, Jan 30. These demo days gave manufacturers a chance to introduce their latest gear. Boulder County companies such as Outlast Technologies Inc., Pearl Izumi, Mountain Smith, Icelandic Design, Lowe Alpine, Kelty Packs and Salomon Designs are just a few of the local manufacturers represented at this year’s show.
Outlast Technologies Inc., makers of high-tech temperature regulation fibers, fabrics and insulation for a wide variety of outdoor products, introduced a new line of sweaters at OR. Outlast’s patented products absorb heat, store it and then release the heat in a cyclical process.
Outlast’s technology is used by more than 150 manufacturers in products from alpine ski boots to socks, ski parkas to thermal underwear. The sweaters are the latest application of the company’s innovative approach to keeping people warm and cozy without overheating.
The idea behind this new garment is that it allows people to stay comfortable indoors or out because the Outlast fabric releases heat when you get too hot. “I tend to run really warm,” says Jonathan J. Erb, president and chief executive of Outlast. “This is the first time I’ve been able to wear a sweater around the office all day and feel comfortable.”
Another sweater manufacturer, Icelandic Design of Longmont, displayed an expanded line of sweaters for women made out of chenille, mercerized cotton, a linen/cotton blend and a hemp/cotton blend. Icelandic also showed an expanded line of boiled-wool sweaters for men.
“One of the biggest goals for the show is to develop our southern market,” says Icelandic’s Director of Sales and Marketing Doc Porter. “We’ve done well in the northern tier and with sweaters being such a strong market for the last three or fours years, we are looking to expand our southern casual and career markets.”
Cycling clothing manufacturer Pearl Izumi expanded its horizons at OR with three non-cycling specific products: a technically advanced winter sports gloves called Glacier gloves, a new windproof and water-resistant line of outerwear and an anti-microbial base layer named X-static. According to Pearl’s Marketing Manager Keith Reis, the silver impregnated X-static fiber kills staff infection and athlete’s foot fungus in lab tests. This new base layer technology is designed to keeps athletes from becoming walking “apply deodorant here” ads.
Mountain Smith backpacks unveiled its new branding image with the tag line: “Goes where you go.”
According to Kristine Carey, Mountain Smith’s director of marketing, one of the goals for this year’s winter show was to build grassroots retail support for their new line of packs designed with comfort in mind. “We’ve got a new look, and we want to generate the kind of word-of-mouth advertising that brings people into stores asking for our packs,” says Carey. In September 1998, Mountain Smith was purchased by 105 Meridian, an Estes Park company that specializes in luggage and packs.
Despite all the hype about new products and innovations, talk about the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) dominated after-hours conversations.
On Nov. 10, 1999, the House Resources Committee approved this legislation that would provide $2.8 billion for conservation programs through the year 2015. These funds would be used to purchase state and federal parks and open space and provide $200 million in federal land restoration projects. U.S. Rep. George Miller of California, a member of the House Resources Committee, spoke to industry members about the importance of the bill to the industry and how to best support it. The outdoor industry has a vested interest in this landmark conservation bill.
In addition to the usual number of book signings, sales seminars, slide shows, keynote speakers, panel discussions on the future of e-tailing and the ever-popular happy hours, one of the most popular hang outs at the winter OR show was a four-sided climbing wall. The climbing wall was a great place to demo new products and watch some of the world’s best climbers in action. One side of the wall is a simulated ice climbing surface that gives climbers a chance to practice their pick and ice skills without getting cold.
According to Outdoor Sports Group Editorial Director Joan Alvarez, the Outdoor Retailer show is the largest specialty outdoor trade show in the world. The Outdoor Sports Group (a division of Miller-Freeman) publishes a dozen trade magazines for the sports industry.

This year’s Outdoor Retailer (OR) winter show offered plenty of excitement for Boulder County sporting goods companies — even without a repeat of the tornado that struck last summer’s show. The highlights of this winter’s OR show in Salt Lake City were product and politics.On the product side, two full days of demos on the slopes at Park City Mountain Resort kicked off the activities before the show began on Sunday, Jan 30. These demo days gave manufacturers a chance to introduce their latest gear. Boulder County companies such as Outlast Technologies Inc., Pearl Izumi, Mountain Smith, Icelandic Design, Lowe…

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