the OR 40+ Legacy Partner ... what does it mean?
At the upcoming Summer Market show, you are going to see something new.... well, actually a lot of things new, so don't let that 'same airport, same cab, same hotel, same street walk, same restaurant' thing fool you. But ONE of the cool things you'll see is a new program rollout called '40+ Legacy Partners'. Is that a Subaru ad, or what?
No, not Subaru.
At this OR Summer we are honoring those brands who have been with us for 40 shows or more, a landmark that only 54 companies can claim rights to. The highest possible number of OR shows is 42. Sorry if you're at 39 shows, but we had to make the cutoff somewhere and you can look forward to next year. If your brand is in the 40+, that means you have been exhibiting at OR since a time when feathered hair and parachute pants were de rigeur.
You'll see floor graphics in front of their booths, and highlights in the listings in the show directory and floorplan. We'll be honoring this group that represents today less than 5% of the 1030 brands on the show floor of OR Summer... but represents the core business that, according to the most recent OIA market research, is surging in Q1 2010 sales and participation among consumers.
These companies represent the origins of OR from the Reno days and further back, and all still serve the core active outdoor recreation market as we know it today. Please feel free to Hoist something frosty in honor of the following brands:
3M
| 5.10 Five Ten Footwear |
| Adventure 16 |
| Adventure Medical Kits Inc |
| Alpenbooks |
| Alpineaire & Richmoor/TyRy |
| Aventura Clothing/Sportif USA |
| Backpacker Magazine Active Interest Medi |
| Black Diamond Equipment |
| Cascade Designs Mountain Safety Research |
| Chums/Beyond Coastal |
| Columbia Sportswear Co |
| Crazy Creek Products Inc |
| Eagle Creek |
| EK EKcessories |
| Ellington Handbags |
| Fox River Mills Inc |
| Grabber Performance |
| Gramicci |
| Granite Gear |
| Gregory Mountain Products/Bianchi Intl |
| Heat Factory Inc |
| Hi-Tec Sports Usa, Inc |
| Jansport |
| Kelty |
|
Kenyon Consumer Products Leki |
|
Liberty Mountain Lowa Boots |
| Mammut Sports Group / Climb High |
| Marmot Mountain LLC |
| Merrell |
| Metolius Mountain Products |
| Montrail Inc |
| Mountaineers Books, The |
| Mountainsmith |
| Ojai Intl |
| Osprey Packs |
| Patagonia |
| Petzl |
| Pigeon Mountain Ind Inc |
| Polartec, LLC |
| Royal Robbins Phoenix Footwear Groupinc |
| Sierra Designs |
| Suunto |
|
Tecnica |
| Terramar Sports Inc |
| Teva |
| The North Face |
| Thorlo |
| Timberland Company |
| Vasque |
| Western Mountaineering |
| Wigwam Mills |
| WL Gore & Associates |
| Woolrich |
Considering our collective obsession with shiny and new, it's worth taking pause to consider the tried and true. The concept of character gained through age and experience ('Sabi ga tsuiteru' in Japanese) comes to life when you visit with some of the above original brands of OR. They are the survivors, the original gangsters of outdoor gear.
KH
Good idea Kenji. But how about special badge holders for anyone who has attended 40 OR's too? There are buyers, reps, and media folks that deserve credit also. I've only been to 30 or so. Guess I'm still a newbie.
Posted by: Clyde | July 17, 2010 at 08:56 AM
Very impressive post. I can appreciate the amount of effort that went into it. You have a very good feel for getting the right information out to the people. I am also very impressed with the website as a whole. Keep up the good work
Posted by: Francis | July 21, 2010 at 02:34 AM
What a great list of amazing companies! I can't wait for O loves M eco bags to make the list!!
Good idea about the 40 year badge holder, that is a lot of time on the show floor!
Kuddos to everyone at OR - super show, super people, lots of smiles:)
Merle
Posted by: Merle | July 23, 2010 at 11:21 PM
Well, this is only my 7th show, but it's great to be part of a company (AMK) that has such a long history with OR.
Posted by: Jordan Hurder | July 29, 2010 at 12:37 PM