Outdoor retailers upbeat as they try to hold on

SALT LAKE CITY — Jerry Rinder did not like the way the Outdoor Retailer Winter Show of 2009 ended. Woolrich’s vice president of sales and marketing remembers saying goodbye to long-time retailers and wondering if he would see them again.

“There was a lot of apprehension about the economy. People were scared. I heard, ‘If we can get through this, we can get through anything’ a lot,” he said. “And there was a lot of collateral damage on retailers. There are people who did not make it through.”

The 2010 Outdoor Retailer Winter Show ended its five-day Salt Lake City run last week with a much-improved outlook. Vendors and retailers attend to buy outdoor gear and apparel inventory for the winter of 2010-11.

“People in this booth today have come in ready to write orders,” Rinder said.

Kenji Haroutunian, the Outdoor Retailer show director, said the number of exhibitors was down slightly from 2009.

“Last year, most businesses were staring into a kind of black hole wondering what was going to happen,” Haroutunian said. “There is very much a sense this year that we have been through the worst and this market typically tends to do well when we are coming out of a recession.”

A lean economy didn’t stop one couple from traveling to Salt Lake from Chicago to announce their plans to open a travel-related business.

“We have been seeing a lot of raised eyebrows,” said Victoria Kathrein. “But we believe the economy will bounce back and we see an opportunity.”

Steve Komito of Estes Park, Colo., said his footwear repair store specializing in mountain climbing, rock climbing and cross-country ski boots is holding on during the recession, as people tend to favor repairs over buying new.

Peter Metcalf of Salt Lake City-based Black Diamond said retail orders were down last winter, but buyers are building inventory.

“Those really tenacious and committed companies like the hard times,” Metcalf said. “It gets rid of the riffraff.”

A poor economy also forces companies to focus on producing the best products available. That presents a challenge to those coming up with new ideas.

People find comfort in familiarity during troubled times, he said, and that’s another reason older companies with big names have survived. And none has been around longer than Woolrich, which celebrates its 180th anniversary this year.

“People migrate back to what they feel comfortable with. We kind of feel like the chicken soup of the industry,” Rinder said. “You give them quality, value and integrity and they will come back.”