DENVER — The outdoor gear industry brought its biggest winter marketplace to Denver last week as it faces slipping sales and shifting U.S. consumer habits.
About 1,000 manufacturers showed new products to 11,000 retail buyers at the Outdoor Retailer and Snow Show, which ended Sunday.
Industry retail sales totaled $18.9 billion from December 2016 through November 2017, down 6 percent from the previous 12 months, according to NPD Group, a market research company that tracks trends in two dozen industries.
One factor in the decline is changing consumer preferences, driven by millennials, said Matt Powell, NPD’s senior adviser for the sports industry.
Millennials — sometimes defined as people born between 1982 and 2004 — are less likely than the previous generation to demand outdoor gear that stands up to extreme conditions, Powell said. He used boots as an example.
“The hardest, the most extreme condition some of these boots are going to have is walking from the Prius to the craft brewery,” he said.
Millennials want outdoor products that are less specialized and have more uses, he said.
“I describe it as good-enough products. A product that will get me through most of what I want to do, and a product that is versatile,” he said.
He cited mountain bikes, which riders can use on streets or trails without special clothing and usually cost less than specialized road bikes.
Millennials are outdoorsy and support environmental preservation and sustainability, Powell said, but they have a different take on health and fitness than their predecessors. They have a more lighthearted approach that involves their friends, he said.
Some individual retailers and manufacturers have adapted, but the overall industry has not, Powell said.
Greg Thomsen, U.S. managing director for Adidas Outdoors, said the industry is moving to cater to younger people.
“A lot of companies are aging, and Adidas is focusing on the 20-something demographic and younger,” he said. “This industry has been aging for a long time, and it’s nice to bring in some new people.”
“A lot of companies are aging, and Adidas is focusing on the 20-something demographic and younger. This industry has been aging for a long time, and it’s nice to bring in some new people.”
— Greg Thomsen, Adidas Outdoors