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Utah Ponies Up $2.7 Million to Keep Outdoor Retailer

By Steve Casimiro on January 14th, 2013

The outdoor industry has a much bigger contribution to the U.S. economy than you might think — $730 billion and 6.5 million jobs — and over the last decade it hasn’t been shy about flexing its muscles, particularly in Utah, where its twice-yearly Outdoor Retailer trade show has a major impact on the Salt Lake economy ($40 million annually). And with the trade show running out of room for exhibitors at the Salt Palace convention center, the industry has been threatening to go elsewhere. Utah, it seems, doesn’t want to kill the golden goose — it’s just kicked in $2.66 million to build additional space in a 150,000-square-foot tent north of the Salt Palace. Nielsen, the company the puts on Outdoor Retailer, had no comment on the move, but one thing’s certain: Nobody wants to do business in a tent in Salt Lake’s winter cold or summer heat. Via Salt Lake Tribune.

Read more stories like this at Adventure Journal.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2013 at 7:00 pm and is filed under Current Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Utah Ponies Up $2.7 Million to Keep Outdoor Retailer”

  1. Ute January 14th, 2013 at 8:12 pm

    If Utah really wants to show a commitment to the outdoor industry it should adopt policies favorable to outdoor enthusiasts, instead of trying to sell off public lands to the highest bidder.

    Also, please switch back to the old blog format. It’s really annoying to have to click on each post.

  2. Megan January 14th, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    The exhibitor space is only half the battle. You can add space, add exhibitors and that adds more people coming to the show…. to a city that doesn’t have enough hotel and dining space.

  3. Ben January 14th, 2013 at 10:48 pm

    We should have spent that money to KEEP OUT SkiLink

  4. Grizzly Adams Jr. January 14th, 2013 at 11:16 pm

    OR should move to Denver. ‘Nuff said.

  5. Goose January 14th, 2013 at 11:25 pm

    Why should OR move to Denver Grizzly Adams? Denver already has SIA?

  6. JD January 14th, 2013 at 11:29 pm

    OR could stop inviting so many textile types, and focus on real players. The demo day in the summer is a major hit and attendees are coming for that one day, a good thing expense wise. Ease of transportation means SLC should win, summer and winter. OR show management oversells the booths, then whines much like a baseball team that wants a new city, more bucks.

  7. Ben January 14th, 2013 at 11:43 pm

    They should move it to Denver, then after one year and everyone tries to drive i70 to go skiing it will come back to SLC on its own.