by Board Retailers Association | Oct 10, 2021 | Associate Members, Educational Opportunity, HR, Industry, Resources, Retail Strategy, Statistics, Trade Shows
Concerns about the delta variant contributed to store traffic declines in July, combined with some signs that consumer confidence is wavering. The outlook for business in Q4 is nowhere near certain. In this Board Retailers Association (BRA) Retailer Roundtable panel discussion, the panelists speak about how these factors are affecting independent retailers plans for holiday selling this year. In addition, the panel explored and shared current pricing practices that have increased operating margins in their stores as well as significant staffing challenges. These competitive pricing and staffing strategies can be implemented in your store immediately. This remarkable panel was moderated by George Leichtweiss (BRA Chairman and owner of Modern Skate & Surf) and included Paul Erickson (Director and Senior Retail Consultant at BRA Supporting Vendor Partner Management One), Bruce Cromartie (BRA Board Member and Owner of BC Surf & Sport) and Doug Works (BRA Executive Director and former retailer). Push play to view this remarkable BRA Retailer Roundtable Panel Discussion from Surf Expo – 9 21 Massive thanks to Jesse of Podium (BRA Supporting Vendor Partner) for introducing their remarkable retail resource and sponsoring this outstanding event. Learn more about Podium in the following article: BRA Podium 4 Ways Article The video above serves as the 2021 3rd Quarterly BRA + Management One Webinar. At the end of the each Quarter, Board Retailers Association hosts relevant and helpful quarterly webinars on a variety of topics in collaboration with BRA Supporting Vendor Partner Management One. Push play to view the 2nd Quarterly BRA + Management One Webinar of 2021 Push play to view the 1st Quarterly BRA + Management One Webinar of...
by Board Retailers Association | Sep 7, 2021 | Educational Opportunity, Industry, Kiteboard, News, Resources, Retail Strategy, Skateboard, SUP, Surf, Trade Shows, Wake Skate, Wake Surf, Wakeboard, Women's Market
Surf Expo is the largest and longest running watersports and beach lifestyle tradeshow in the world. Since 1976, retailers from around the globe have relied on Surf Expo to identify new trends, new brands, and to get business done. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this vibrant, award winning marketplace! Surf Expo is excited to welcome our board specialty retailers back to forge new relationships and celebrate old ones with Vendors and each other. The Surf team is committed to creating an event experience at the Orange County Convention Center’s West Concourse where their customers, partners and employees can safely and effectively conduct business. Show Dates: September 9th through 11th, 2021 (Waterfest Sept. 8th)Location: Orange County Convention Center, West Concourse, Orlando, FL | View Map Show Hours: Thursday & Friday: 9 am to 6 pmSaturday: 9 am to 4 pm Register for the Show: Click HereMake Your Hotel Reservation: Click HereTo view the Exhibitor List: Click Here BRA Specific Events at Surf Expo: BRA Retailer Roundtable Panel Discussion on The Stage (Thursday, Sept. 9th at 2 pm). BRA Retailer Gathering/ Happy Hour in The Neighborhood Lounge (Thursday, Sept. 9th at 4:30 pm). HEALTH + SAFETY GUIDELINES AT SURF EXPO Updated: August 27, 2021 In line with CDC guidelines, everyone is required to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status while at the show and all show functions (this includes the show floor and registration areas). Masks will also be provided at the event if needed. Surf Expo is excited to welcome our buyers and vendors back to forge new relationships and celebrate old ones. Our team is committed to creating an event experience...
by Board Retailers Association | Feb 3, 2021 | Industry, Resources, Trade Shows
Outdoor Retailer Winter Online is just getting started. While Summit Days have passed, the digital marketplace remains active and education is ongoing through March 19. There’s a lot of time to schedule meetings, find new products for your store, and make new connections in the outdoor community. Once you’re registered, everything is accessible in one place. Build your profile and start exploring. It’s not too late to register for free – click HERE to log on. Here’s a few tips to help you make the most of the Winter Online experience. Tips for Attendees Tune in to education live or on demand. If you were in your shop or on a Zoom call during a session, you didn’t miss a thing. Every session and event hosted during Winter Online remains available to watch when and where you want. Click the Education & Events tab to scroll through daily listings or use the search function to filter by topic. Past sessions will auto-play and add upcoming education to your schedule. Take time to listen and learn. The education lineup has featured incredible speakers and impactful conversations that have the ability to help your business, this community, and our planet. Sessions available to watch on demand include the Industry Breakfast, SIA’s Industry + Intelligence day, the OIA education tracks, and discussions with The Conservation Alliance and Camber Outdoors; trend and consumer reports with the NPD Group, WGSN, and InMouv; and gear previews. There’s also yoga, the third annual Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards and the 16th annual Backcountry Film Festival. More education is on the way this month, and all can be...
by Board Retailers Association | Dec 16, 2020 | Resources, Retail Strategy, Snowboard, Trade Shows
Get ready for round two, everyone. After debuting its first all-digital trade show this summer, learning from industry feedback, and making tweaks to the format, Outdoor Retailer is ready to go forward with its second iteration of the online show in just a few weeks. A replacement for January’s traditional Snow Show, “OR Winter Online” will open to registrants on January 6 and run for more than 10 weeks, through March 19. Unlike the conventional in-person show, which squeezes hundreds of events, speeches, meetings, parties, and presentations into three head-spinning days—and unlike this summer’s digital show, which largely tried to replicate that format—OR Winter Online will unfold at a more leisurely pace, with much of the content available on demand for users to access whenever they wish. In other words, this OR will live in the background of our lives for months, rather than deluge us for a week. To help the industry plan for that shift, OR leadership today released the show’s education and event lineup and opened the calendar function of the registration dashboard, where attendees can start mapping out their schedules. What to expect from OR Winter Online Outdoor Retailer show director Marisa Nicholson told SNEWS that, so far, the upcoming show is projecting a better attendance than the summer run, with more buy-in from exhibitors and attendees across the board. “[Our numbers] are way up compared to where we were at this point before the summer show,” said Nicholson. “We have thousands of retail buyers and designers already registered for the event, as well as about 120 companies. Every week, we’re getting about 20 new sign-ups.” Nicholson confirmed that some of the...
by Board Retailers Association | Nov 2, 2020 | Educational Opportunity, Industry, Retail Strategy, Skateboard, SUP, Trade Shows, Wake Skate, Wake Surf, Wakeboard
PRESS RELEASES | Published Nov 2, 2020 Surf Expo, the premier watersports and beach lifestyle tradeshow announce today that their upcoming January 6-8, 2021 show will take place in the West Concourse of the Orange County Convention Center, a shift from the North/South Hall where the show has been held previously. Roy Turner, Surf Expo Show Director and SVP said, “Our top priority is to reunite the industry together safely. Our team is committed to creating an experience where we can safely and effectively conduct business.” The West Concourse will provide space for social distancing plus multiple entry and exit points to the show floor, a more favorable floorplan, and easier move in and move out for exhibitors. At around 120,000 net square feet, the reduced footprint will allow for approximately 420 exhibitors with increased aisle space for distancing. While attendance is expected to decrease somewhat due to travel restrictions and store closures, the overwhelming response from retailers is that they need inventory, and want an in-person show. Retailers from all across the US and Caribbean are registered to attend including Hi Tech Surf Sports from Maui, HI, Sun Diego from Carlsbad CA, K-Coast Surf Shop, Ocean City MD, Archie’s Surf Shop in Ontario, CA, Coastal Edge from VA Beach, Red Sail Sports in Aruba and Grand Cayman. Allyson Catanzaro, Buyer and Boutique Manager at La Playa Beach and Golf Resort in Naples, Florida said, “I am looking forward to attending Surf Expo to see vendors in person and to be able to touch and feel product. Zoom calls have worked, but it doesn’t replace the in-person contact.” Jim Archibald, owner of Archie’s Surf Shop in Ontario, Canada added, “Surf Expo has been hugely instrumental in our success. Archies wouldn’t be the same without it. We haven’t missed a winter show in 30 years. I don’t want to break...
by Board Retailers Association | Sep 15, 2020 | Industry, News, Resources, Trade Shows
Clockwise from top left: Paul Naude, CEO of Stokehouse and owner of Vissla, Amuse Society and Sisstrevolution; Linsey and Karly Cottrell, who own Island Water Sports with their brother, Cheyne; Pura Vida Founders Paul Goodman and Griffin Thall; and Patrik Schmidle of ActionWatch. By Tiffany Montgomery | Published Sep 15, 2020 We are excited to announce that we have lined up lots of big names for a series of video interviews we are doing for Surf Expo Connect, the virtual trade show that launches on Wednesday. Here’s the schedule and what I’ll be talking to industry leaders about. Interviews will be available on the Surf Expo Connect platform live and on-demand. Retailers can register to attend at no cost. Register here. Booming Sales for Boardsports and Water Business – Wednesday 7am PST/10 am EST When the pandemic first hit, everyone worried if independent industry retailers would survive. For many, business rebounded much more strongly than expected. We talk to eight retailers around the country about the unexpected boom in business and how they are feeling about the rest of the year. Retailers we talk to include Surfside Sports in Costa Mesa, Ron Jon in Florida, Hansen’s in Encinitas, WRV and 17th Street in Virginia Beach, Hi-Tech in Maui, Wanderlust Land & Sea in New Jersey and BuyWake.com in Georgia. Navigating the Pandemic: Opportunities and Concerns with Vissla CEO Paul Naude – Wednesday 12 pm PST/3 pm EST A conversation with Paul Naude about how his company has managed through the pandemic, where he sees openings for the industry and where he sees potential trouble ahead. Big Opportunity: Surging Hardgoods Sales and Participation Numbers...
