The Outdoor Retailer trade show has announced it is moving from Denver back to Salt Lake City next year despite threats of a boycott from big-name recreation companies and an environmental group.
FILE - Jimmy Huh of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., arrives at the Colorado Convention Center to set up for the Outdoor Retailer and Snow Show on Jan. 24, 2018, in downtown Denver. The show, which is the largest gathering in the United States for outdoor and winter sports industries, is leaving Denver to return to Salt Lake City in 2023 in spite of boycott protests from big-name recreation companies and an environmental group.
“Salt Lake City is our hometown, and we're going back with a commitment to effecting meaningful change,” the company said. “In reality, leaving after 2017 has not brought the change we had hoped for, so we will push back, not pull back. We firmly believe that staying engaged and collectively contributing to the ongoing discussion, no matter how difficult, is far more constructive.
Emerald X consulted with hundreds of firms and exhibitors and considered multiple locations, including staying in Denver. An “overriding majority” of outdoor retailers wanted the event moved back to Utah, he said.“We've talked to all the brands, and while we cannot speak for all the brands, our tent is open,” Davis said. “We want as many participants as possible to contribute to what we believe is a positive change.
"We are disappointed the owners of Outdoor Retailer are blatantly ignoring the Indigenous Peoples, local activists and outdoor athletes who spent years working to conserve and protect wild lands in Utah by moving the show back to Salt Lake City,” Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert said. “You don’t get to come in and threaten us and tell us how to do things. That’s not how this is going to work,” Cox said.The Republican governor asked the show’s organizers last year to return the event to Salt Lake City, saying the location offered economic benefits for the state and for outdoor retailers.