In January, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah for the annual Outdoor Retailer trade show. The running specialty industry is just a subsection of the entire Outdoor industry, and it was so interesting to learn more about the outdoor retail space as a whole. 

Touted as the largest global business-to-business trade event serving the outdoor industry, "OR," as it's called, was definitely situated in the right city for the crowd. Salt Lake City was a great area to visit. Although I didn't hit the slopes for pre- or post- show skiing like many of the visitors, I enjoyed exploring the city on foot. I went for some really great runs around town and visited Memory Grove Park, the Utah state capitol building, and Temple Square. I think running through a new city is the best way to explore it, and Salt Lake City didn't disappoint! It felt safe, the sun was shining, and the sidewalks were wide and accessible!

Inside the trade show, I met with some new brands, as well as some familiar ones to the running industry. I was able to chat with some of the national sales managers for Qalo, an active jewelry brand, and decided to bring in their popular silicone rings to offer at Terra Running Company. (They even custom engraved a dog tag for Rocky while I was there!) Another brand I was excited to meet with was Klean Freak, a husband and wife team who created a great individually wrapped, natural body wipe perfect for post-run or workout. I am always on the hunt for new, unique brands to offer to the Cleveland community, and Klean Freak really impressed me! We now offer all of their body wipes in the store and they've quickly become a staff favorite.

In addition to the trade show, there were tons of education sessions I attended. From learning about trends in the outdoor industry from 2022, to mastering social media marketing, I came away from OR with tons of new ideas for our team to implement! 

Overall, the chance to attend Outdoor Retailer was a huge win for Terra Running Company. We strive to stay on top of industry trends and bring our customers the best brands on the market, and OR was an awesome chance to continue toward that goal.