More than 200 companies showed off their activewear, another 180 displayed casual clothing, another 200 had new lines of outerwear and 100 displayed just fly-fishing apparel at the Outdoor Retailers show at the Salt Palace.
Nearly 100 displayed their styles of fanny packs, each with a pocket or a zipper or a strap that made it better. More than 100 companies presented new lines of footwear, from sandals to mountain boots. There were enough boots on display to fit an army. More than 50 companies had underwear that was warmer, more comfortable and looked better than anything ever before.Then there were the new products, like the gas-powered blender for $349 and the $7 tool to vacuum-pack everything, including your pillow, for convenient storage in a backpack, and a fleece helmet liner and a way of getting a hot meal without using matches, fire or stove, simply by slipping the food into a self-heated sleeve.
These companies took up about half of the 2,000 booths set up to show new products for 1998-99 and to entice the more than 13,553 buyers from around the world. The four-day show ended Tuesday.
Don't rush to your local store, however, to become the first in your neighborhood to own any of the new products. Instead, look for them in the fall lineup of new products at your favorite outdoor-equipment store. This show was for looking and ordering only.
And, says Jeff Blumenfeld, spokesman for show organizer Miller Freeman, it was a big success with none of the problems from two years ago - no rooms, no place to eat, no rental cars, poor taxi service, nowhere to go.
"Everyone had a good time," he said. "In fact, things went so well we're going to bring a third show here in the fall, a fly-fishing retailers trade show."
Along with the winter and summer market shows, Miller Freeman will bring fly-fishing com-panies together. First-year attendance is expected to be between 1,500 and 2,000 buyers, with around 450 companies occupying some 750 booths. The show will be Sept. 10-12.
Blumenfeld said Salt Lake City is an ideal location for these shows, "which is why we came here. Just look out of the doors of the Salt Palace at the mountains, and you're inspired to create. This is the show that fosters innovation in the outdoor market. You never know what's around the corner in the next booth or what will be the hot new product."
A show like this one started the snowshoe boom and led to the recycling of soft-drink bottles into warm and comfy fleece vests and jackets.
And, speaking of snowshoes, they were again hot items at the show. Once considered a lost practice of the mountain men, snowshoeing is coming back with a rush. Twenty-four companies displayed snowshoes, some that were as light as a sheet of paper, others that were small enough to fit into a backpack and some that broke down into pieces for convenient carrying.
Clothing was, of course, the dominant item. Almost every booth had something to wear, from hats to pants to sub-zero coats. Hydration, or watering apparatus, was another hot item. New systems have better storage holders and easier methods to get the water to the mouth. Footwear, especially hikers, was also everywhere. Many booths featured mountain-climbing gear, snowboards and camping equipment.
What interested many of the companies displaying their products, however, was not what was on the ground but what was in the wind. That is, plans to expand the nearly new Salt Palace.
"That's great news," said Blumenfeld. "We've got companies in the show looking for more space to show new lines or simply to get some breathing room, but there is no more space. We had to set up two outdoor pavilions to handle the companies we have. Right now there are about 100 companies on a waiting list to get into the show."
As for what's new in fall and winter outdoor products, trying to list them all would take up the entire newspaper. So, as one buyer said, check your favorite store this fall and "trust us to get the best of all that was out there."
And there was, indeed, a lot of goods out there.