ISSUE 1613 | March 28, 2016 The Weekly Digital Magazine ... · For eight years, Under Armour has...
22
ISSUE 1613 | March 28, 2016 The Weekly Digital Magazine for the Active Lifestyle Market
Transcript of ISSUE 1613 | March 28, 2016 The Weekly Digital Magazine ... · For eight years, Under Armour has...
ISSUE 1613 | March 28, 2016
The Weekly Digital Magazine for the Active Lifestyle Market
Editorial DirectorDavid Clucas
Senior Business EditorThomas J. Ryan
Associate Editor | Sports & Fitness EditorJahla Seppanen
[email protected] 303.578.7008
Contributing EditorCharlie Lunan
Creative DirectorTeresa Hartford
Art DirectorChris Loving-Campos
Media SalesBuz Keenan
Circulation & [email protected]
303.997.7302
SGB MediaPrint Magazine: SGB
Digital Magazine: SGB WeeklyExecutive Newsletters: Sports Executive Weekly,
The B.O.S.S. ReportEmail Updates: SGB Today
Daily Emails: SGB Update, SGB Apparel, SGB Footwear, SGB Outdoor, SGB Hook & Bullet,
SGB Sports & Fitness
SSI DataSSIData.com
Career ServicesSGBJobs.com
CEOGroup Publisher
James [email protected]
303.578.7004
1075 E. South Boulder Road • Third Floor Louisville • CO • 80027
SportsOneSource.com | 303.997.7302
Copyright 2016 SportsOneSource, LLC. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed by writers and contributors to SGB WEEKLY are not necessarily those of the editors or publishers. SGB WEEKLY is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork. Articles appearing in SGB WEEKLY may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of the publisher. SGB WEEKLY is published weekly by SportsOneSource.
Powered by
HOW TO REACH US
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: SportsOneSource, 1075 E. South Boulder Road, Suite 300, Louisville, CO 80027 or email [email protected]. Letters and emails should include full contact information. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and brevity. Send manuscripts and photo-graphs to [email protected] or to Submis-sions Editor at the address above. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material.
Powered By
SportsOneSource.com | 303.9977302
SGBJobs.com
THE INTERSECTION OF YOUR ACTIVE LIFESTYLE AND CAREER
THE RIGHT TALENT IS EASY TO FIND IF YOU LOOK IN THE RIGHT PLACE
SportsJobSource reaches the most connected, best informed, and highest caliber
professionals in the active lifestyle market.
For more information call 303.997.7302 or email [email protected]
The Weekly Digital Magazine for the Active Lifestyle Market
ISSUE 1613 | March 28, 2016
GIVING BACK
12“Packing It Out” – A team of outdoor misfits collected 1000 pounds of trash hiking the Appalachian Trail in Spring 2015. In May 2016 the team will tackle the Pacific Crest Trail for five months of playing nature’s garbage men.
INDUSTRY EVENT
14Get In Gear 2016In Asheville, NC, outdoor gear brands are intent on making Western North Carolina a hotbed of innovation through cooperation and collaboration.
MARKET REPORT
5By The Numbers
6 Under Armour Extends its Push into SoccerDebuts first match kits under multi-year partnership with NY Cosmas
7Movers & Shakers
8SGB Recap of the 2016 IHRSA Annual International Convention & Trade Show
10Fast Five – Five new fitness products at IHRSA 2016
21 Industry Calendar
ACTIVE LIFESTYLE | HAMMOCKS
16Hanging OutHammocks go social and sales surge with lighter models, warmer winters and a boom on college campuses.
MADE IN THE USA
20Grand Trunk Launches Made In the USA Hammock Line
Photo courtesy Eagle Nest Outfitters
Cover photo courtesy TensileTentsile's "tree tents" can be rigged in combinations to create multi-layered quarters such as that shown here.
4 SGBWeekly.com | MARCH 28, 2016
MARCH 28, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 5
MARKET REPORT
BY THE NUMBERS
2 Former City Sports LocationsAre now Modell’s stores in Boston and Philadelphia. The openings, on March 17, included donations to the Martin Richard Foundation (Boston) and the Fairmount Park Conservancy (Philadelphia).
3 Percent BonusApproved by L.L.Bean’s board of directors for 5,900 eligible employees, even though the company’s sales came in flat at $1.6 billion in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2016.
7.7 Percent RiseIn sales at Nike Inc. to $8.03 billion for its latest fiscal quarter, ended February 29, 2016. Earnings jumped 20.1 percent to $950 million for the period.
17 ProjectsAnnounced by the National Park Service in partner-ship with the Outdoor Foundation for conservation and outdoor recreation, intended to introduce Amer-icans to their national parks, national trails, and wild and scenic rivers.
50 New StoresPlanned by New Balance in India over the next three years. The brand opened its first store, measuring 1,100 square feet, at DLF Mall of India in Noida, near New Delhi. 4,400 Square FeetOf space leased by Canada Goose for its new retail store at 101 Wooster Street in the SoHo neighborhood in New York City. The space was formerly Patagonia’s lower Manhattan location. Patagonia is moving to 72 Greene Street in SoHo.
$85 MillionClaimed by Sports Authority in a lawsuit against some 160 of its suppliers over consignment sales. The suit will determine who gets the money when consigned goods are sold — vendors or the banks — amidst the retailer’s bankruptcy reorganization.
To schedule a personal demo or to learn more about the SSI Data Point-of-Sale trend-reporting
platform, contact SportsOneSource Client Solutions at 303.997.7302 or email [email protected]
or visit SSIData.com
Actionable Weekly Sales Trend Reporting for the Active
Lifestyle Market
Powered By
SportsOneSource.com | 303.997.7302
6 SGBWeekly.com | MARCH 28, 2016
UNDER ARMOUR EXTENDS ITS PUSH INTO SOCCER
Debuts new Cosmos kits at NYC event.
By Thomas J. Ryan
Ramping up its push into soccer, Under Armour last week unveiled its first match kits under a new multi-year partnership with the New York Cosmos, the reigning champions of the North American Soccer League (NASL).
The Cosmos are the first professional soc-cer team sponsorship in the U.S. for Under Armour, which replaced Nike.
The Cosmos captured their second league title in three seasons and seventh overall in
its history. Legends who have played for the club in its heyday in the seventies include Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia and Carlos Alberto as well as Raúl and Marcos Senna, legends at famed Spanish sides Real Madrid and Villarreal CF, in recent years.
“It’s one of the most iconic U.S. soccer teams that there is,” said Peter Murray, vice presi-dent, global brand and sports marketing, dur-ing the event at Under Armour’s Brand House.
Under Armour gathered all of the club’s play-ers as part of the team’s annual media day. “It’s got a great history and legacy and they’re the reigning champions.”
Murray also said the partnership under-scores Under Armour’s commitment to ex-panding the sport of soccer. The brand will work with the club’s Academy Affiliates Pro-gram, which partners with 19 youth soccer clubs in the New York metropolitan area. The
From Left to Right: Peter Murray, VP Global Brand and Sports Marketing, Under Armour, Lucky Mkosana, Jimmy Maurer, Andres Flores and Erik Stover, Cosmos COO.
MARCH 28, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 7
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Implus LLC, parent company for accessory brands including Sof Sole, ForceField, Yaktrax, TriggerPoint and Balega, hired Mary Hannah Statham as Marketing Manager.
Kering, the parent of Puma, Volcom and a number of designer brands, appointed Jean-Philippe Bailly as Kering’s Chief Operating Officer.
Newell Rubbermaid appointed Russ Torres to the newly created role of Chief Transformation Officer. He will be in charge of making sure the company delivers cost savings and synergies promised to in-vestors following completion of its pending $15 billion merger with Jarden Corp.
Newton Running signed a lifetime partnership with recognized triathlete and Ironman champion, Craig “Crowie” Alexander.
Nike Inc. hired Dave Dombrow, Under Armour's former SVP of Design, Footwear and Accessories. Dombrow is expected to sit out for a full-year
OptiShot Golf, manufacturer of a compact golf simulator, added Chelsea Pezzola as a Brand Ambassador.
Performance Sports Group Ltd.'s board of directors dismissed CEO Kevin Davis and appointed Amir Rosenthal as the company's interim CEO.
PeopleForBikes hired Kyle Wagenschutz to serve as its Director of Local Innovation.
Plano Synergy, provider of brands like Wildgame Innovations, Evolved Habitats, Barnett Crossbows, GroundEFX, Browning Crossbows, and Halo Optics, appointed Gary Loon to be responsible for the de-velopment and ongoing management of the com-pany’s websites.
Shock Doctor, a leader in mouthguards, signed 2016 NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins as a new athlete ambassador.
VF Corp. named Scott H. Baxter President of its Outdoor & Action Sports group in the Americas. Baxter had been in the same role at VF Corp.’s Jeanswear Americas, Imagewear and South American operations.
Cosmos recently received academy status, and Under Armour will work with the club as they continue to build youth development pro-gramming in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.
“Under Armour’s brand history is to make athletes better, and we’re committed and passionate about growing the next generation of soccer fans around the world,” Murray said.
Cosmos COO Erik Stover noted that he first saw Under Armour cre-ate a “whole new category” in its early days and how that as a sports fan he noticed they eventually started “to show up at strange places,” citing the golf course and basketball courts.
“Now over the last 5 to 10 years, it’s really just exploded,” said Stover of the brand. “And knowing that they’re now turning their attention to soccer in the U.S. and for us to be on front end of that with them, is just a tremendous opportunity for us.”
As far as changes, Stover said fans should expect to see better distri-bution and in-store presentations, more unique designs and limited-edition series, and additional sideline gear such as track jackets.
Shawn Flynn, Under Armour’s director of global football, told SGB that the Cosmos partnership represents a further amplification of Un-der Armour’s push into soccer while noting that the brand already has a strong foothold in the sport.
For eight years, Under Armour has been outfitting youth soccer programs in the U.S. with over 100,000 kids wearing its gear. Its first soccer cleat arrived five years ago. Professionally, Under Armour out-fits world-renowned soccer clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur F.C., São Paulo FC, Colo-Colo and Cruz Azul as well as players like Memphis Depay of Manchester United, Granit Xhaka of Borussia Mönchenglad-bach, and 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup winners Lauren Holiday and Kelley O’Hara.
In fall 2015, Under Armour launched its first soccer campaign, “Slay Your Next Giant.” In early March of this year, Under Armour signed on as the Official Match Ball Partner of the NASL.
Flynn said the Cosmos partnership would help Under Armour reach women athletes. He added, “ We had two players on the U.S. women’s soccer team last year and if you look at all club programs, its 50/50 boys and girls. So we continue to do that. But when you gain a partnership with an iconic team like the Cosmos, you have a lot of ways to take advantage of it.”
“I think it was important for them to have a team in the U.S. being a U.S. company,” Hunter Freeman, a defender on the team, told SGB. “But to do it with the most iconic soccer team in the U.S., is a win-win for both.”
While noting that he was largely introduced to Under Armour through its hunting apparel while growing up in Texas, Freeman feels Under Armour’s push into soccer is a natural evolution as it has found quick success in other sports.
“I almost look at Under Armour like Nike was 10 or 15 years ago when they were starting to get into soccer and people were saying, ‘What are they doing?’ with Adidas and Puma everywhere. But now look where they are. I think in 5 or 10 years you’ll see Under Armour in the same spot.”
The partnership includes competition, training, sideline, travel gear and apparel. The team will debut the white uniform at their season opener at Hofstra Stadium on April 3 against Ottawa Fury FC.
8 SGBWeekly.com | MARCH 28, 2016
SGB RECAP OF THE 2016 IHRSA ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION & TRADE SHOW
The fitness industry is changing, promoting education over product and wellness over glamour muscles. Here’s why it matters to
everyone in the active lifestyle space.
By Jahla Seppanen and David Clucas
Most of us associate trade shows with edgy new products, but the biggest innovations at IHRSA 2016, and for the fitness industry as a whole, might just be a renewed en-ergy from the people, culture and education behind the brands.
Fitness is cool again … and it showed at a vibrant and interactive trade show in Orlando, FL, March 22-23, with group workouts galore.
Talk amongst the most success-ful brands at the show was centered on education. It’s not enough to hand a consumer a product and expect results. In this industry, the training has to be there, and the program has to be scrupulously de-veloped. Brands like Orangetheory, TRX, Precor, Technogym and oth-ers invested in developing the sci-entifically proven, expertly created,
athlete tested education that will direct consumers on how to use equipment to its optimal ability.
It’s a trend developing out of the industry’s most successful sec-tor — functional training — that promotes varied-motion work-outs powered by the body — think CrossFit and Yoga — versus the old fixed-plane, heavy-machined mo-tions of the past.
The discipline for functional training lies within the trainer and programming, plus an added social element of “we’re all in it together.”
Tech And TrainingToday’s fitness education is coming in many forms, whether through wearable data for the user to chart progress and areas of improvement, apps with video how-to instruc-
Photos courtesy David Clucas
MARCH 28, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 9
tion, or machines that act more like human trainers, prodding users to up their game and exercise proper-ly (no more short-cuts or improper form). Consumers not only expect information from their trackers, but analysis of that information that leads to guidance for real re-sults. Why do you think the explo-sion of group training classes has erupted so vigorously? Consumers with little extra time on their hands are demanding their exercise jour-neys be smarter and more efficient.
“The next step is the training,” said Francesco Bertiato, training, programs and PT network special-ist for Technogym. “It’s the athletic trend, people want to train like ath-letes and with functional training there is no limit … you can go as fast and hard as you want.”
Active Lifestyle PushWalking the show floor also made evident the major strides the indus-try is taking to tap the growing ac-tive lifestyle market.
After garnering a reputation for spandex and glamour muscles, the fitness industry at large is reinvent-ing itself, focusing more on health
and wellness. “The mentality then was a machine culture. Now it’s about health and functionality,” said TRX Founder Randy Hetrick.
Even heritage Olympic weight lifting brands like Eleiko are wel-coming the change. Rickard Blom-berg, Eleiko president of North America, told SGB it was one of the oldest brands to be at IHRSA and continues to perform well. Its lon-gevity could be caused by the fact that although getting bulked is go-ing out of style, weight lifting has changed to encompass more physi-cal wellbeing and optimal fueling among its consumers.
Don’t get us wrong, there were still tanning beds, gimmicky prod-ucts and lots of spandex at IHRSA 2016, but for the most part, it’s fading, with more sports, well-ness, yoga and nutrition brands like Honey Stinger, Balega, and In-Trinity taking stage.
“The gyms and brands need to be engaging the consumer all the way home,” said Ryan Cruthirds, VP of sales and product for Implus Fitness, parent to TriggerPoint and Harbinger. For the first time, Imp-lus brought its performance sock
brand Balega and hydration belt brand FuelBelt to the show, mar-keting to gyms that they can sell the accessory products that aid perfor-mance, but also speak to a broader lifestyle.
Sunny Sentiment In OrlandoWith blue skies and temps in the 70s and 80s, there was plenty of sunny sentiment at the show, which moved from being held on the West Coast (Los Angeles and San Francisco) for the past couple years
to the East Coast and Orlando, FL. Octane Fitness Senior Marketing
Manager Tina Nibbe said she no-ticed show attendance on day one was up close to 50 percent from last year, with more business coming in from Chicago, the east coast and Europe, and less from Asia Pacific.
While the official attendance figures are still to come, most all exhibitors said they were having a successful show.
By our take, the industry is in good shape.
10 SGBWeekly.com | MARCH 28, 2016
OCTANE FITNESS ZR8000 ZERO RUNNERHigh-impact is so last season. But high-intensity remains the pinnacle of our workouts. Enter Oc-tane Fitness’ new ZR8000 Zero Runner, $8,399, the commercial follow-up to last year’s retail ver-sion. The machine’s independent hip and knee joints does wonders to mimic the sensation of running, sans the harmful impact on the body. Intensity comes from the no-motor, no-belt de-sign. We dig machines that don’t do the work for us. An upgraded console (extra) will allow users to monitor and analyze their running stride.
MIO SLICEIt’s easy to get overwhelmed with wearables. Mio Global shined through on the IHRSA floor with its new Slice, $129, available in September, wrist tracker, taking its old blocky models (more geared at run-heads) to a skinny, chic bangle (more for everyday). But this reduced model packs a big punch. Equipped with PAI technol-ogy (Personal Activity Intelligence), the Slice comes with an advanced tracking solution that does away with steps in favor of heart rate aver-ages – directly linked to scientific studies shown to improve health. It’s part of a larger trend for
being the “machine” to the body being the ma-chine. This manifests in stripping the motor and running from our own kick. Technogym’s Skillmill is self-powered and made for the elite that tries to break traditional treadmills by out-running the preset top speed. It’s also one of quite a few hybrids that we saw on the IHRSA show floor that mixes cardio with functional strength (trend alert!), adding a multi-drive gear to increase/decrease resistance and forward handles to mimic a sled push. No need to jump off the treadmill to get the cross-training in.
STAMINA JUVO BOARD One of the broader, but significant trends we saw at IHRSA was the industry’s push to tap into the large crowds and culture surrounding yoga, Crossfit, running and the overall active lifestyle market. Brands recognize these pursuits in many ways are the fresh, and particularly younger, face of fitness that are more about a lifestyle than just wanting to shed pounds or look buff. A good example of that is Stamina’s Juvo Board, $699, which fuses balance training with yoga and body resistance workouts, and even serves as a good stand-up paddleboard (SUP) trainer.
fitness trackers, as brands compete over more refined and accurate data to win consumers in a very crowded field.
PRECOR/EXOS DIGITAL TRAINING Athletic training group EXOS (formerly Ath-letes’ Performance) has been helping pro ath-letes get in shape for years, and through a new technology partnership with Precor, announced at IHRSA, it looks to bring its philosophy to gyms on a virtual basis. Exos VP of Performance and Innovation Kevin Elsey gave SGB an inside look at the cardio-trainer-meets-athletic-scien-tist programing (subscription required), which is featured on Precor’s new P82 Console for its equipment. The digital training provides tai-lored, time-efficient workouts for users who log-in on any machine in any participating gym. The programming builds out and remembers their progress and training as they go. Like a trainer, it’s there to push users a little further each time, but also recognizes those off days, and allows them to scale back if needed.
TECHNOGYM SKILLMILLThere’s a shifting mindset away from equipment
MARKET REPORTFAST FIVE
Fast Five – Five new fitness products at IHRSA 2016
Octane Fitness ZR8000 Zero Runner
Mio Slice Precor_Exos Digital Training Juvo Board
TechnoGym Skillmill
Powered By
SportsOneSource.com | 303.997.7302
SHARPEN YOUR PERSPECTIVESTART SEEING CLEARLY
SSI VantagePoint is the only weekly retail point-of-sale reporting platform exclusively for the active outdoor lifestyle industry that swiftly delivers critical trends and detailed business data to brands and retailers.
12 SGBWeekly.com | MARCH 28, 2016
GIVING BACK
Meet Nature’s Garbage MenA team of outdoor misfits collected 1,000 pounds of trash while hiking the Appalachian Trail.
By Jahla Seppanen
How much would someone have to pay you to pick up
trash for five months straight?
In the spring of 2015, three buddies under the blog name “Packing It Out” did it for free, thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail’s (AT) southern to northern terminus and collect-ing every piece of trash (yes, toilet paper, too) they came upon. Their creed: no more passing the buck. In a rejuvenation of the Leave No Trace ethic, Packing It Out got con-cerned with what was been left to litter our trails.
The payback? One cleaner trail, tons of inspired hikers and more than 1,000 pounds of debris re-moved.
Now how much would someone have to pay you to do it again?
On May 6, 2016, the Packing It Out team will take their first steps on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT)* in what they project will be another five months of playing nature’s gar-bage men. In preparation for a long walk north from the border of Cali-fornia and Mexico to the border of Washington and Canada, the Pack-ing It Out team shared with SGB their hopes and fears heading into their second conservation epoch.
But first, who the heck are these guys?
Seth Orme, Paul Twedt and Joe Dehnert were brought together through the outdoors, where they worked for a guide service spe-cializing in disability trips, dog sledding, skiing and sea kayaking.
Raised in different states, there was a kinship among the three. “We wanted to go on another big trip and take another adventure, but step up the game, Twedt said. We wanted a reason bigger than our-selves.”
Orme added, “Working as guides in the outdoors, it started becom-ing our home. I saw so much trash and decided to pick up whatever I found. I got a pound per mile hiking near the AT when the idea came to me: Walk for five months and pick up trash to raise aware-ness and inspire other people.”
Easy as pie, the guys quit their day jobs and set out, unsupported, un-funded, in what only a year later would become a sponsored move-ment backed by brands like Granite Gear, Zeal Optics and Gear Junkie.
Any questions? We definitely had some…
What was the most shocking thing you saw on the AT?Paul: Mattresses. They were two miles away from the closest road. Soggy and wet. We looked at them and thought, no way. But then fig-ured, who else is going to do it? We ended up finding branches to make a stretcher-style carrier to bring them out.
Seth: We were also surprised at the variety of trash, like eyelash curlers. And tons of toilet paper.
I thought toilet paper would be fine to leave out because it de-composes?Seth: Sort of. We always carried sticks to bury toiler paper that was on top of the ground. It decomposes
so much faster when it’s in the top layer of soil.
Did you ever wake up saying, “I don’t want to touch another piece of trash again!”Paul: Oh, yes. We all had that. Some days it was difficult to want to keep doing it, but being in a group of positive like-minded people helped. We turned what we were doing into a joke and just tried to enjoy it.
What are your trail names?Seth = Cap: He has an Outdoor Re-search hat with a clip-on sun visor that he wears everywhere he goes. He’s currently wearing through his fourth one.
Paul = Spice: He brought a very diverse and elaborate spice kit on the AT hike to use for dinners. The guys each agreed that despite its hi-larity, it was one of the best things any of them brought.
Orme= Goose: He’s a goofy guy, they said. In the beginning of the AT, he was really adamant about being the navigator and getting everyone onto the next step, so they referenced Goose from Top Gun.
How much trash do you think will be on the PCT?Seth: There has been so much change on the PCT. The number of people attempting it has es-sentially doubled over the past three years. But there’s always the chance there won’t be much trash, because it hasn’t been slowly ac-cumulating for years like it was on the AT.
MARCH 28, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 13
Paul: We don’t have a number we expect to find. One thing we have talked about is what if there isn’t much trash and our whole mission doesn’t seem necessary.
Seth: The ideal situation would be we don’t pick up any trash. It’s self-defeating. The bigger it gets the less important it will be. But we started Pack-ing It Out with that mission, so we’d be happy to go out of business.
Where does a mission like Packing It Out go in the future, from an organizational stand-point?Seth: I don’t think we want it to be massive. The premise was to show that anyone could go out and do this. We don’t have special skills. We pick up trash. The ideal for me right now is Packing It Out would become an ethic or minimum stan-dard.
Paul: We started the Packing It Out blog and social media to inspire environmental steward-ship. It has become a documentation to show what three people can do. Last year showed we were legitimate. This year we’ll ramp up engage-ment and plan to be more visible and connected by engaging local communities along the way. We hope to have a live talk on our blog and meet up with locals to clean up other trailheads.
Have you ever thought of partnering with re-tailers? Seth: We had talked about, with our logo, adding it to the back of a Clif bar or something, more as a reminder for people to Pack It Out rather than as a sponsorship.
Does the purity of the mission change or get murky with sponsors? Paul: It’s awesome getting free gear, but we don’t want that to get to our heads. We met Granite Gear at Trail Days in Virginia and they reso-nated with our personalities. It was genuinely fun to hang out and talk. Later we emailed, and they said they wanted to get on board and tell our stories.
Seth: We’re so lucky. All our sponsors said, ‘just be you.’ And what I found from applying for oth-er sponsors is that brands are focused on helping people with the same visions and goals.
*Follow Packing It Out’s PCT expedition at packingitout.blogspot.com
Powered By
SportsOneSource.com | 303.997.7302
SGBToday Brings the Depth of SGB Magazine to Your Mobile Device Five Times a Week Optimized to View on
Your Phone, Tablet, Laptop or Desktop.
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
14 SGBWeekly.com | MARCH 28, 2016
INDUSTRY EVENT
In Asheville, NC, a cadre of outdoor brands is intent on making Western North Carolina a hotbed of innovation for outdoor gear brands.
By Charles Lunan
A trade association that grew out of weekly gatherings at Asheville's growing microbrew-
eries is on the cusp of securing state assistance that will help several of its smallest members exhibit at one of Europe’s largest outdoor trade shows.
The Outdoor Gear Builders of Western North Carolina (OGB) could hear as early as this week whether the Economic Development Partner-ship of North Carolina will sponsor a trade mis-sion to the Outdoor Show in Friedrichshafen Germany in July. The mission would use govern-ment grants to help OGB members defray the costs of exhibiting at the show and help put a spotlight on the region.
The trade mission would mark an important milestone for OGB, which was formed in 2013 by employees of such companies as SylvanSport, Eagle Nest Outfitters (ENO) and Liquid Logic kayaks who would gather over beers at one of Asheville's microbreweries to talk shop.
On March 19, the group held its second annu-al Get in Gear Festival on a lot along the French Broad River cleared in 2008 by more than 200 people participating in the Timberland Service Project during the Outdoor Industry Associa-tion's annual Rendezvous networking summit. When the event returned to Asheville in 2012, volunteers also returned to the site to do more work, including removing dozens of tires and other debris from the river.
Two dozen of OGB's 35 members exhibited products at the site on March 19, while local breweries and food trucks sold locally made beer and food. Proceeds from beer sales went to Riverlink, the same non-profit organization
that partnered with OIA for the two Timberland Service Projects.
Liquid Logic, which makes its boats at a state-of-the-art roto-molding facility in nearby Fletcher and WASUP, a startup that builds Fi-berglas standup paddleboards in Asheville, of-fered demos on the river. Simpleshot Shooting Sports showed folks how to shoot its slingshots, while kids swung gleefully from ENO ham-mocks and a hawker coaxed bystanders to get up on a trailer and try to squeeze through a con-traption designed by the caving brand Swaygo to simulate a narrow cave opening.
"This is all about collective marketing power," explained Kyle Mundt, an OGB co-founder and marketing chief at Sylvansport, a maker of gear trailers. "We want people to come out and learn about some of the outdoor gear made right here in their backyard. We also want to let some of the bigger companies out West know that if they are going to have a presence in the East, they should consider Western North Carolina."
In 2014, OGB’s 26 members employed 470 people and sourced more than $6 million in goods from the region. The biggest cohort had annual sales of $1 million to $5 million, followed by those with $100,000 to $500,000 and less than $100,000. Only about 15 percent had annual sales of more than $5 million.
Judy Gross founded LightHeart Gear after she attempted a through-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2006. Using her skills as a seamstress, Gross set out to improve the design of ultralight tents she encountered on the trail. In 2009, af-ter friends suggested she could sell them as kits,
she traveled to the Appalachian Trail Hiker Fool Bash in Franklin, NC with nine tents and sold three. By 2012, she had outgrown the workshop in her basement and late that year she leased a space, where she began taking on contract man-ufacturing jobs.
Today, LightHeart Gear employs three full-time seamstresses and offers three models of tents, rain coats, pack ponchos and rain skirts hikers can drape around their waste to keep dry without removing their packs. The compa-ny sells almost exclusively direct in the United States because it can't provide the dating and other terms demanded by U.S. retailers. But during a series of exporting seminars arranged by OGB last year, Gross learned how exporting might help her finance her growth, particularly if she was able to find a distributor in Europe willing to pay for inventory upfront. That lead to conversations between OGB facilitator Noah Wilson, who once worked by the regional eco-nomic development authority, and the EDPNC about a trade mission to Friedrichshafen.
"I would not know where to start with that, but the state would screen potential distribu-tors and set up meetings" said Gross, who has already mocked up a miniature version of one of her tents for the show.
One of the busier booths Saturday featured a “Micro Camper Conversion System” from Fifth Element. The system of wooden cabinets can be clipped into the seat anchors of a Honda Ele-ment to quickly convert it into a micro camper. Co-founders Nick Spero and Sara DeFosset began working on the concept while living in
MARCH 28, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 15
San Francisco, but said the business has only come together in the last year when they stum-bled across the Get in Gear Festival after relocat-ing to Asheville to be closer to her family. They’ve since been overwhelmed with the level of sup-port, including introductions to local suppliers.
“There is such a culture of entrepreneurship in this town and in the last six months we’ve been able to bring this thing to market,” DeFosset said.
Sons of Bill Masters, who founded Perception, the recreational kayak brand that is still made down I-26 in Greenville, SC by Confluence Out-door, head up two brands they exhibited at last week’s festival.
Nathan Master’s company, Simpleshot Shoot-ing Sports, drew a steady stream of visitors ea-ger to learn how to properly aim its Scout sling shots. On March 21, Simpleshot launched the Hammer, the first slingshot that can be quickly altered to shoot an arrow for bow fishing, which has been growing rapidly in the Midwest as wild-life agencies turn to sportsmen for help eradicat-ing the invasive Asian carp. Nearby Simpleshot’s tent, Adam Masters exhibited models of his lay-on-top Bellyak boats, which are rotomolded in nearby Fletcher at the same company that makes Liquid Logic, Native Watercraft and some Hur-ricane kayaks. Adam Masters is now working with the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, NC and the American Canoe Association to develop a certification course for “prone pad-dling” instructors.
Though a forecast for rain may have damp-ened attendance at the festival last weekend, OGB members said they were pleased with the turnout the night before at a reception local me-dia and elected officials. More than 100 people
attended the event, which was held at a brand new climbing gym and maker of climbing acces-sories that just joined OGB. Some were particu-larly encouraged that Asheville’s Mayor showed up because the city is evaluating the feasibility of building a whitewater park several thousand feet downriver from the site of Saturday’s festival.
Across the river from the site, New Belgium Brewing’s $175 million brewery is nearing com-pletion. More than one OGB member said Sat-urday they’d love to see New Belgium host the festival next year.
“This is the most untapped outdoor mar-ket in the country bar none,” said Bill Medlin, a former CEO for Legacy Paddlesports and Confluence Watersports who helped create the OGB. “People are moving here from all over the country because they see how cooperative and collaborative we are.”
Photos courtesy Seyl Park
16 SGBWeekly.com | MARCH 28, 2016
ACTIVE LIFESTYLE | HAMMOCKS
Hanging OutHammocks go social and sales surge with lighter mod-els, warmer winters and a boom on college campuses.
By Charles Lunan
Photos courtesy Eagle Nest Outfitters
MARCH 28, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 17
It's hammock season, but don't expect them to hang around too long, particularly if you’re in
a college town.Sales of hammocks have grown by about half
in the last three years in terms of units and more than a third in terms of dollars and they are not slowing down, according to SSI Data*. In fact, sales grew more than twice as fast last year as they did in 2014. At that pace, sporting goods retailers’ sales of hammocks and hammock ac-cessories are poised to easily surpass $100 mil-lion this year.
The growth is being driven by multiple trends ranging from:
• The rise of hammocking as a social activity, particularly among college students;• MShorter warmer winters; • Tighter budgets; and • Adventure travel.
Brands deserve credit for developing modular systems that enable cash-strapped
20-somethings to buy a starter hammock for $70 to relax on campus, add a mosquito net later for $80 and a fly for $90. Warmers thatthat can be clipped above and below a hammock have not only extend the hammock camping season, but created the opportunity for additional add-on sales of as much as $300.
If 2015 is any guide, retailers can expect ham-mock sales to grow rapidly over the coming nine weeks toward their biennial peak in late May. By then, unit sales will have reached about four times their current level.
If your retail store sells out of stock before May, don’t sweat it. Hammock sales will begin climbing again in November before peaking the third week of December. Hammocks, it appears, have become a popular holiday gift.
SGB takes a look at the top trends affecting the category.
Hammocking Gets SocialThe most prominent trend driving hammock sales is also among the most ironic.
Adored by baby boomers as a bastion of back-yard solitude, hammocking has been embraced by millennials as a favored group activity. Many college campuses now have hammocking clubs and a growing number of universities, colleges and parks are building paddocks, or “hammock lounges,” in a bid to protect landscaping. When students began stacking their hammocks six deep up to 30 feet off the ground, a few universities re-sponded by restricting or even banning their use.
Hammock maker Eagle Nest Outfitters re-sponded last fall by launching a slimmed down version of the ENOpod, a stand it had developed for festivals that can accommodate up to three hammocks. The new version can be broken down into 12 pieces for easy shipping and assembly.
Hammocking also is catching on with ath-letic teams said Kevin Kaiser, president and founder of Grand Trunk, which started in 2002 by launching The Traveling Hammock. “Stu-dent groups are forming around ‘mocking’. It is reaching everyone from professional athletes to music festivalgoers.”
SPORTING GOODS RETAILERS’ SALES OF HAMMOCKS AND HAMMOCK ACCESSORIES WILL EASILY SURPASS $100 MILLION IN 2016
18 SGBWeekly.com | MARCH 28, 2016
Getting WarmerAfter years spent overcoming Americans’ fears that hammocks are inclined to flip or bad for the back and neck, hammock tent makers have been able to focus on making them more comfortable and versatile.
Hennessy Hammocks offers big-and-tall versions of most of its hammock tents that can accom-modate people up to seven feet and 300 pounds.
Much of the recent innovation has focused on enhancing warmth.
This spring, Therm-a-Rest launched its Slacker Hammock Warmer, $70, which uses a reflec-tive seven-ounce blanket to redirect
body heat escaping through the bottom of its single and double hammocks.
Kammok, a Texas-based brand that got its start on Kickstarter, but is now sold by a few hundred brick-and-mortar stores, is pre-selling its Koala “underquilt” on its online store for $329. The Koala uses the brand’s proprietary Insotect Flow insulation technology to ensure heat spreads rapidly for “optimal toastiness.”
Interestingly, SSI Data* shows hammock sales grew faster in northern climets over the last two years, including the Pacific North-west, which experienced one of its driest and warmest winters in a century in 2014/15.
MARCH 28, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 19
The Next Frontier: Portable Tree HousesTentsile, a U.K.-based brand whose founder was inspired by tree houses, could be opening a new frontier of growth with its line of suspended shelters. The tents feature a triangular floor made from a 240-denier nylon/polyester composite that is ratcheted into place above the ground using heavy-duty webbing. A mesh canopy and 190-denier rainfly are added to create a suspended shelter.
Tentsile’s Stingray Tree Tent, $675, can accommodate three adults, or two adults and two children. Given that it weighs 19 pounds and can take 45 minutes to erect, the Stingray is an unlikely backcountry option, but it could cause some young families to give car camping another look. The fact that a dozen people can sit com-fortably in the shade underneath the floor with headroom to spare makes it an appealing solution for
team sports, family reunions and festivals.
Custom Prints The pace of in-novation is likely to accelerate as brands seek to distinguish them-selves in a growing, but increas-ingly crowded market. REI.com of-fered 16 hammock tents from seven brands last week, albeit a fraction of the 182 backpacking tents from 14 brands available on the site.
One of Grand Trunk’s more suc-cessful innovations has been offer-
ing its classic parachute nylon ham-mocks in eight custom prints. Even as hammocking has emerged as a popular group activity, the brand recognized hammocks presented a great way for its customer to express their individually, said Kaiser.
*SSI Data, powered by SportsOne-Source, collects and analyzes point-of-sale data from more than 20,000 retail doors across nine channels of distribution.
Photo courtesy Tensile
20 SGBWeekly.com | MARCH 28, 2016
MADE IN THE USA
Grand Trunk Launches Hammock Line
By Charles Lunan
Domestic production could become the next differen-
tiator in the rapidly growing, but increasingly crowded hammock business, thanks to pressure from consumers.
Grand Trunk launched its One-Made collection of U.S.-made hammocks and trunk straps at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in January and Eagle Nest Outfitters (ENO) is evaluating whether to do the same. Both companies said they are responding to consumers who want their hammocks Made in the USA.
All five of the OneMade ham-mocks and trunk straps are cut and sewn in the United States from U.S.-made fabric. The collec-
tion features a hammock using the U.S. Marine Corps' patented Mar-Pat digital camo print, plus four double hammocks made from the company's trademarked Trunk-Tech nylon cinched with a webbing loop stitched with the same process used to make seatbelts. At $99, the MarPat hammock has the same price point as the Kryptek Camo hammocks Grand Trunk introduced in 2015, while the OneMade double hammocks extend the brand's price range for hammocks to $120.
“As we saw more players get into the hammock game, we recognized the need to innovate our collection by introducing American made products which are not only of the highest quality but also serve to
bolster the recovering manufactur-ing industry in this country,” said Grand Trunk President and Co-Founder Kevin Kaiser. “We hope to expand our U.S.-made products.”
Grand Trunk traces its roots back to 2001 when Kaiser and Co-founder and Vice President Jon Neff discovered packable ham-mocks while backpacking in Thai-land. The two formed The Travel Hammock, Inc. and began import-ing and selling hammocks. The company has since added dozens of travel products and now does busi-ness as Grand Trunk.
"We had always discussed bringing the manufacturing pro-cess to the US, but had to be sure we had a partner that was able
Grand Trunk's ONEMADE collection features an exclusive MARPAT™ camo print hammock shown here, plus four
Double Hammocks. Designed to be the lightest, most spacious on the
market, each hammock in the ONEMADE collection is cinched with a continuous
webbing loop that is the same industrial stitching used in seatbelts, ensuring no
compromise in quality.
Grand Trunk Founder and CEO, Kevin Kaiser, and Co-founder and VP, Jon Neff, started Grand Trunk in 2002 by launching The Traveling Hammock. In 2016 they introduced their first Made In The USA hammock collection. All materials and fabrication happens right here in the USA.
to provide us with the premium quality and innovative processes that we need to make the highest quality hammocks available," said Kaiser.
Grand Trunk will continue to import the bulk of its hammocks from China and the Philippines.
If ENO opts to begin sourcing hammocks domestically, it won't come at the expense of current overseas suppliers or quality, said Marketing Coordinator Amy Al-lison.
"The employees of those part-ners rely on ENO to feed their families," she said. "We don't want to just push something out there so we can slap a Made in the USA label on it," she said.
In Spring 2016, Grand Trunk launched its ONEMADE™ collection of limited edition, US-made hammocks, including five new Hammocks and a set of Trunk Straps that
are made in the United States from sourcing and stitching to dying and assembly. Pictured here is an orange version of the ONEMADE hammock.
Grand Trunk's new ONEMADE hammock's proudly sport the American flag on their labels
to show consumers they are cut and sewn from U.S. fabrics by workers in the United States.
Grand Trunk's ONEMADE U.S. made Trunk Straps offer 29
attachments loops and have a combined weight capacity of
400 lbs thanks to the same T70 stitching used to make seat belts.
MARCH 28, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 21
TRADE ASSOCIATIONS BUYING GROUPS
Athletic Dealers of America1395 Highland AvenueMelbourne, FL 32935t 321.254.0091athleticdealersofamerica.com
National Shooting Sports Founda-tionFlintlock Ridge Office Center11 Mile Hill RoadNewtown, CT 06470t 203.426.1320 nssf.org
National Sporting Goods Association1601 Feehanville Drive I Suite 300Mount Prospect, IL 60056t 847.296.6742nsga.org
Nation’s Best Sports4216 Hahn Blvd.Ft. Worth, TX 76117t 817.788.0034nbs.com
Outdoor Industry Association4909 Pearl East Circle I Suite 300Boulder, CO 80301t 303.444.3353outdoorindustry.org
Sports & Fitness Industry Associa-tion8505 Fenton Street I Suite 211Silver Spring, MD 20910t 301.495.6321sfia.org
Snow Sports Industries America8377-B Greensboro DriveMcLean, VA 22102t 703.556.9020snowsports.org
Snowsports Merchandising Corp.235 Cadwell DriveSpringfield, MA 01104t 413.739.7331Snowsportsmerchandising.com
Sports, Inc.333 2nd Avenue NorthLewistown, MT 59457t 406.538.3496sportsinc.com
Sports Specialists Ltd.590 Fishers Station Drive I Suite 110Victor, NY 14564t 585.742.1010sportsspecialistsltd.com
Tennis Industry Association1 Corpus Christi Place I Suite 117Hilton Head Island, SC 29928t 843.686.3036tennisindustry.org
Worldwide 8211 South 194thKent, WA 98032t 253.872.8746wdi-wdi.com
INDUSTRY CALENDAR
MARCH
15-16 SFIA National Health Through Fitness Day Washington, D.C.17-19 Imprinted Sportswear Show (ISS) Atlantic City, NJ21-24 IHRSA Orlando, FL
APRIL
1-2 SFIA Litigation & Risk Management Summit New Orleans, LA12 SFIA/NFHS/NCAA Rules Conference Indianapolis, IN19-21 Imprinted Sportswear Show (ISS) Nashville, TN
MAY
22-25 NSGA Management Conference and Team Hilton Head Island, SC
JUNE 9-10 The Running and Fitness Event For Women Chicago, IL
13-17 Grassroots Spring Summit & Connect Albuquerque, NM23-25 Sports Inc. Athletic Show Minneapolis, MN
24-26 SGB 40 Under 40 Awards Boulder, CO
JULY
13-17 IDEA World Fitness Convention Los Angeles, CA
AUGUST
3-6 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Salt Lake City, UT
11-13 Sports Inc. Outdoor Show Minneapolis, MN
25-28 NBS Fall Market Fort Worth, TX
OCTOBER
28-30 ADA Fall Buying Show Phoenix, AZ
NOVEMBER
7-11 Grassroots Fall Summit & Connect Knoxville, TN
17-19 Athletic Business Conference & Expo Orlando, FL
Photo courtesy Eagle Nest Outfitters
40 UNDER 40Honoring the Industry's Best Young Talent
The nomination period for the 2016 40 Under 40 Award is closed.
SportsOneSource and SGB Magazine will recognize the industry's talent who have performed exemplary service to the active lifestyle industry.
The 40 Under 40 Award is among the highest award an industry executive can receive and this year is no exception. All submissions are being reviewed and honorees will be announced in the coming weeks.
Thank you for submitting your nomination for this extraordinary honor!
For more information call [email protected]
