Interbike/HFB date change confirmed: mid-August as of 2011; no Outdoor Retailer conflict

The Interbike/HFB dates for 2011 will not conflict with Outdoor Retailer’s August dates, show management told SNEWS.

After unconfirmed published reports of a move by the Interbike show to early August began to circulate in mid-September, the fuel was spilled for rumors to spread quickly. The alleged dates, published in several outdoor and bike trade publications, would have overlapped with Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. (Click here to see a Sept. 15 rumor-busting SNEWS story.)

The 2011 Interbike show, traditionally in late September in Las Vegas, will move to the Anaheim (California) Convention Center and will take place Aug. 10-12, with a two-day pre-show equipment demo Aug. 8-9 at Irvine Regional Park, SNEWS was told by show director Andy Tompkins. The Health & Fitness Business Expo, co-located with Interbike for the first time this year, is expected to move with it, Tompkins said, assuming the HFB segment succeeds in its first year with the bike event. It also could grow back to a three-day event.

“We did look at a lot of scenarios,” Tompkins said.“But in a final analysis we did not want to overlap with other shows, especially Outdoor Retailer which has a base of cross-over exhibitors with Interbike and a number of marquis retailers that typically attend both events.”

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market is scheduled for Aug. 4-7, with its one-day pre-show equipment demo Aug. 3, all in Salt Lake City, which was the second-choice city for Interbike’s new venue.

Dates for 2012 and beyond were not disclosed in the public announcement made late Saturday, Sept. 18, but Tompkins noted that show management is targeting the second week of August in Anaheim as part of a three-year contract. Interbike (www.interbike.com) and Outdoor Retailer (www.outdoorretailer.com) as well as the HFB show (www.healthandfitnessbiz.com) are all owned and managed by Nielsen Expositions.

Tompkins said the goal of moving the bike show date up into late summer was to better place it in the earlier buy-sell cycles of manufacturers. In addition, show management wanted to have at least two weeks separation from EuroBike (www.eurobike.com), which starts about Sept. 1 each year in Germany.

Despite not overlapping with Outdoor Retailer, the quick turnaround between shows will still be a challenge for some brands who do both – estimated at about 5 percent to 10 percent of the exhibitors. Tompkins said to help exhibitors move from the Outdoor Retailer to the Interbike venue, the shows will offer what he called a “caravan,” as well as priority tear-down and move-out from Salt Lake City. The truck caravan will need about 12 hours to drive booths and products from Salt Lake to Anaheim, he said.

“We will have special arrangements for companies participating in both events,” he said. “It’s a challenge, but it’s doable.”

For a combined bike-fitness retailer, August dates for a bike show could be difficult since other bike manufacturer-specific shows and “camps” take place then. “This makes August a very busy month,” said Paul Crimmins, of BG Indy. “If this plays out the wrong way, a bike dealer could be out for three of four weeks (in August).”

For fitness however, the early August dates – about the time of the former stand-alone HFB show – are better. Crimmins added, “I like to see the new fitness products before the season kicks off.”

Indeed, Tompkins said that despite the reaction over a potential date conflict with the outdoor event in early August, this was good news for the fitness industry.

“This is exciting news for the fitness community,” he said. “Health & Fitness (Expo) is definitely part of the plan. “It’s a much more traditional time for that show. Theoretically, Health & Fitness will also be part of the move to Anaheim.”

One outdoor-bike retailer told us for a Sept. 15 SNEWS story that August dates for Interbike may mean he’d skip that show.

“When it comes down to an allocation of resources, unfortunately I don’t know that I’ll go to Interbike next year (if the dates change),” said Dan Hughes, owner of Sunflower Outdoor & Bike in Lawrence, Kan. “That’s just too much time away from my store, especially in a college market where August is huge for us.”

He added that his company may choose Outdoor Retailer because it does more business there: “Interbike is fun, but I don’t do a ton of business there since my open-to-buy has pretty much been decided by the (earlier) Trek show and the Specialized show. At Outdoor Retailer, on the other hand, we have a lot of appointments with small vendors, and we need to look at product.”

For bike and fitness manufacturer Diamondback, owned by Raleigh America, the date change is a good move. “I’m in favor of the show being earlier in the year, so moving back to August is a good first step in the right direction,” said Brian Davidson, the company’s fitness division director. He also expressed support of its combination with Interbike.

“The alignment with the bike show is a good step as well,” he added. “It’ll bring a lot of energy to both shows.”

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market dates for 2012 are Aug. 2-5, and in 2013 they are set for Aug. 1-4. 

Click here to see a Sept. 18, 2010, press release from show management.



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–Therese Iknoian