Health & Fitness Business 2010: Hall expands to meet exhibitor needs, FIDA plans meeting

Closing in quickly on the new September co-location of the Health & Fitness Business show with Interbike in Las Vegas, show management has expanded the already sold-out hall.

“There’s good demand. That’s the good news,” said show director Andy Tompkins of event owner Nielsen Expositions. “We had sold through the space we had allocated and have expanded into a contiguous area.”

Already the show is nearly as large as it was a year ago — which nobody could argue was a shadow of a show with only 65 companies in 22,600 square feet. This year, for the Sept. 22-23 event on the first two days of the massive, three-day Interbike show, HFB has already exceeded its allotted space and grown to nearly the same size as in 2009. The addition will accommodate another five or six companies in an area that is a part of the original hall, not in a separate room, Tompkins stressed.

Of course, this means the show is still smaller than in many years past when it was double, triple or quadruple the size, but manufacturers with whom SNEWS® has spoken have noted they will be unveiling new products and have said most of their retailers are all coming. Retailers who sell both cycling and fitness are particularly enthusiastic about the co-location and some have told SNEWS they are in fact returning to the show after many years of non-attendance.

On the floor are the likes of SportsArt, BH Fitness, PaceMaster, Lifecore, Inspire Fitness, LeMond, Spri and Spirit, among other well-known names. Returning to the floor are, for example, True Fitness, Torque, Vision, Diamondback, Octane and Powertec. Click here to see an updated list of exhibitors.

In addition, not on the HFB list are some exhibitors on the Interbike show floor that are relevant to fitness retailers, including Saris cycling and Nautilus, as well as nutrition, apparel, hydration and accessory companies such as Power Bar, Odwalla, Pearl Izumi, Polar, Suunto and CamelBak. To see the list of Interbike exhibitors, click here. 

Show hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

Education, events and networking

With the huge audience that attends Interbike, the seminar and workshop schedule is expansive, including many that are applicable to any kind of specialty retailer. They include sessions on merchandising, marketing, inventory management, hiring, website operation and financial management. Click here to see a partial list of seminars that the show management has listed as specifically relevant to fitness retailers. The full schedule of events, seminars and workshops at the Interbike show can be accessed by clicking here. 

“So many of these topics apply to any retail store,” Tompkins told SNEWS, “and with the larger Interbike audience, we are able to provide a much larger series than at the Health & Fitness Business show.”

Other activities not to miss:

• SNEWS will again host a “Community Hub” on the show floor with seating for lounging, meeting and networking as well as terminals to check email.
• Tour de France three-time champion Greg LeMond and some of the Garmin pro team riders will also make an appearance at the HFB show at the LeMond Fitness booth. Details are still pending.
• “The idea is to use the synergy of the two shows,” Tompkins noted, “and this is one event that is doing that.”
• The newly formed Fitness Industry Dealers Association is planning a town hall meeting at the show so its founding board members can talk to others about the group, which is organized by the NSGA and supported by SNEWS. Click here to read a July 19, 2010, SNEWS story about the launch of FIDA, its board and its goals.
  
  
• All Interbike show activities, events and the pre-show demo on Sept. 20-21 are also open to HFB attendees.

“The brands want a show and they’re willing to take a look at this format,” Tompkins said. “It should be very successful.”

If you have product introductions or show events, please email SNEWS by Aug. 30 at HFBevents@snewsnet.com.

If you have any comments or questions about the show or any events, feel free to ask us and, if needed, we can turn to show management.

To see any past or current SNEW stories on the show, click here and scroll to the Health & Fitness Business section.

–Therese Iknoian