Expo Highlights at Outdoor Retailer June 2025
The Outdoor Retailer June 2025 expo took place June 18–20 at Salt Lake City’s Salt Palace Convention Center. As North America’s largest outdoor trade show, it merged summer and winter markets into one powerhouse event (outdoorretailer.com). Over 720 brands showcased the latest gear to thousands of retailers, media, and industry pros .
This year’s Outdoor Retailer June 2025 program featured a packed schedule of over 50 educational sessions, plus a new “Outdoor Design + Innovation” sourcing expo. It also spotlighted a Hosted Buyer Program, dedicated buyer hours, and capped booth sizes to maximize connection building (boardsportsource.com).
Exhibitors and Retailers at Outdoor Retailer June 2025
More than 80% of exhibitors were new to the show, including brands like Westfield Outdoors, TETON Sports, Sand Cloud, and SENIQ (boardsportsource.com). Major retailers attended, such as L.L.Bean, Backcountry.com, Target, Costco, Academy Sports & Outdoors, and niche outfitters like Poipu Surf and Garage Grown Gear (shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com).
Show director Sean Smith remarked, “Our exhibitors and buyers are intentional—driving discovery and innovation” (boardsportsource.com).
Keynote Speakers & Industry Sessions
Industry experts led insightful talks during pre-show Industry Day on June 17. Featured speakers included Cotopaxi’s CEO Lindsay Shumlas and Salomon’s VP of Supply Chain, Jenni Staudacher, who addressed AI, consumer trends, and supply challenges (outdoorretailer.com).
On the main floor, sessions tackled retail analytics (Circana), AI strategy (Google’s Joe Bush), retail engagement (ENDVR’s Steve Gendron), plus sustainability topics from Cascale (outdoorretailer.com).
New Features and Trends
- Dedicated sourcing expo: Outdoor Design + Innovation (ODI) debuted to streamline supply chain connections (boardsportsource.com).
- Hosted Buyer Program: This year’s event offered subsidized attendance to key retailers from over 49 states (shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com).
- Booth size caps & buyer hours: These changes improved networking efficiency (boardsportsource.com).
Looking Ahead
Organizers confirmed the show will continue annually in June at Salt Palace, based on positive feedback and strategic industry timing (ksl.com). Plans are already underway for the next event, including brand showcases like emerging gear and sustainable solutions.
Outdoor Retailer June 2025 reinforced its status as the outdoor industry’s flagship event. With innovations in education, sourcing, and buyer engagement, the expo remains the go-to meeting place for gear makers, retailers, and outdoor advocates shaping the next season’s trends.
Sources:OUTDOOR RETAILER
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