Return to Beijing for ISPO China
My second time to Beijing in so many years felt more familiar than was reasonable... I was in a new role this time (presenter), spent an unplanned night in SF, and had an unusually rough patch getting into country this time. In customs check, they actually took out my books, asked me about them, and gave them quite the gander before letting me through ('Sex, Time and Power and The Kite Runner, if you must know). By far the most 'communist' treatment I've personally had, but it was subtle, even friendly, like he really just wanted to know what a guy like me was reading.
Then again, there was that lady at the Forbidden City last year... hm, better come to Beijing (and ISPO China) and have your own communism moment! Beijing is a beautiful city, in a very bustling upheaval change center kind of way. That mix of ancient dust and construction cranes and emergency mobile tech vehicles alongside people cycling on faded, wobbly bikes. And it just got ranked by some high-profile magazine as the 6th Laziest city in China! That bodes well for the outdoor specialty scene...
The Chinese Outdoor Retailing Conference took place on the last day of ISPO China, Saturday Feb. 21, 2009, and was sponsored by Gore and ISPO China. It started with some (what seemed to be) pretty ho-hum growth figures from the industry group doing the market research. The jyst I got was that sales were up and margins, profitability were up but not much growth in the number of independent retailers. Department Stores, in the north at least, have the lions share of the business at this stage. Nevertheless, a spirited presentation by Jiang, President of Sanfo Outdoor (one of the top specialty retailers in China), fired up the crowd (160 or so) and is rumored to be opening 3 stores in 2009, making the total 17 in China for Sanfo. I, on the other hand, bored them slightly in English (thankfully Isabel Yu was translating) about e-commerce and how some specialty retailers use the internet here in the US.
They seemed appreciative, anyway.
How was the ISPO China show, you ask? Well it was very well attended (well above last year), but the exhibitor count was not in step with the dealers. The Chinese companies like Black Yak and Ozark were showing STRONG, and Vasque, Teva, and Marmot were there with new or stronger presentations, with traffic in lockstep.
Patagonia had a little pop at the CORA booth, where a few other US brands dipped their toe in. Seems the economy does affect Outdoor after all. It's too bad, because when it really goes off there, I suspect it's going to be the 'next coming' for our industry. Those of you familiar with the Korean and Japanese outdoor industry history, know what I'm talking about? Everyone seems to be guessing the right timing.
The show drew very well from the north and I met many from Shanghai and Hong Kong too. Hopefully next year more domestic brands (which were represented in the aisles) will be there to support the show and their business relationships in the East. We'll try to make it easier too, if and however we can help.
The presence of many good ski brands, as well as machinery for tuning and even Doppelmayr, the ski lift maker, made sense in the northern half of China (where Beijing is), where there are now 200 ski areas in all of China. There was an entirely separate education track riffing on a myriad of topics related to operation of ski areas/resorts. Early days, and it'll be fun to watch that go off. Rip Curl apparently sponsored a rail jam event the day before the show, which I missed with my rain-delayed flights here in the US. Too bad, last year's was fun.
Given the world economic upheaval, ISPO China 2009 felt very much reflective of the state of the industry here; cautiously optimistic that the people will return to the basics of life (as in past recessions), and understand once again that keeping one foot on the trail and one paddle in the water is a fun, healthy and prudent way to spend (one's limited) time and money.
