Outdoor Insight

A ll three Outdoor Retailer shows for 2019 will now span three days. Dates for Summer Market in June and Winter Market in November have been adjusted from four days down to three, and January's Snow Show remains three days as scheduled. Marisa Nicholson, Outdoor Retailer VP and show director, states, "We know it's crucial to continue to evolve and enhance the shows and to take action on the feedback we've received. What we learned is that three full days is sufficient." Meanwhile, Grassroots Connect, the twice-annual buying show of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, will shift its Spring 2019 event dates one day earlier to support the outdoor industry calendar. For Spring 2019, the new dates for Grassroots Connect will be June 9-12, 2019. The Spring show will continue to be held at the Knoxville Convention Center as previously announced. For Fall 2019, Grassroots Connect will return to the Colorado Convention Center from Nov. 1-4, 2019. Grassroots Connect held its first-ever event at the Denver venue this past December, drawing a record level of interest, energy and pre-booked appointments. "We're all a part of the evolving outdoor indus- try timeline, and honing in on the most effective venues and dates are a key part of that evolution. The shift of spring Grassroots Connect dates was an easy choice with real benefits for our vendors and partners," states Rich Hill, president of Grassroots Outdoor Alliance. l Outdoor Retailer 2019 Snow Show: January 30-February 1 Summer Market: June 18-20; Demo Experience: June 17 Winter Market: November 5-7 Grassroots Connect 2019 Spring Show: June 9-12 (Knoxville, TN) Fall Show: Nov. 1-4 (Denver, CO) 4 • Outdoor Insight • January 2019 outdoorinsightmag.com N E W S / A N A L Y S I S OUTDOOR EYE O utdoor watchers may have been surprised to see Callaway Golf swooping in with its recent acquisition of Jack Wolfskin. But under CEO Oliver "Chip" Brewer, Callaway Golf has been pivoting away from a singular and seasonal reliance on golf — and Callaway may eventually change its corporate name to reflect the broader direction. The public company has spent more than $676 million on three acquisitions—OGIO (Jan. 2017, $75.5 million), TravisMathew apparel (Aug. 2017, $125 million) and Jack Wolfskin—in the last two years in a foray into the broader active lifestyle category. While the 38-year old German outdoor apparel brand Jack Wolfskin is well-established in Europe and in China, its distribution and brand recogni- tion among the mainstream consumer in North America is limited. But Callaway reports that it will aim to leverage its operational infrastructure to broaden Wolfskin's geographical footprint to include N.A., Japan and Korea, and grow the brand to $400 million in revenues over the next few years. — Bob McGee The Numbers Behind Callaway's Jack Wolfskin Acquisition footwearinsight.com Let's Make A Deal The climate is right for more mergers and acquisitions, but not necessarily megadeals valued at more than $10 billion. According to a recent Deloitte annual survey of 1000 U.S. corporate dealmakers and private equity firms, 79% expect organizations to close more deals over the next 12 months and 70% see those transactions as larger than ones made in 2018. 35% of survey respondents see global trade uncertainty reducing interest in deal-making, with 45% suggesting rising interest rates will accelerate M&A activity. Within the active segment, the biggest pending deal as we entered the new year was the more than $5.2 billion offer for Amer Sports, parent of Salomon, Wilson, Precor, Arc'teryx and other brands, that would see China's Anta Sports take a significant stake in the Finnish company but operate it separately. — Bob McGee Trade Show Calendar Shifts Again

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