Outdoor Retailer trade show returns to Salt Lake after years away

Jan 10, 2023, 5:08 PM

People walk through the Outdoor Retailer Snow Show at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (Kristin Murphy/Deseret News)

(Kristin Murphy/Deseret News)

BY DALE SPAULDING

KSLNewsRadio

SALT LAKE CITY — The Outdoor Retailer trade show returns to the Salt Lake Convention Center this week. The event reports 425 exhibitors slated for this year, up from 330 last year.

In 2017, President Trump shrank the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments; Emerald X, the owners of the Outdoor Retailer trade show, severed ties with Salt Lake City and moved their event to Denver in protest.

But after they left for Denver in 2017, what brought them back?

Emerald moved the event back to Salt Lake after their contract with Denver expired in 2022.

The company said the shift didn’t bring the changes they’d hoped for in Utah politics, and returning would help them ‘stay engaged’ in policy talks in the future.

Companies like Patagonia, REI and the North Face said they’d boycott the show if it moved back to Salt Lake City.

Related: Utah alcohol sales exceed $500 million in 2022

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Outdoor Retailer trade show returns to Salt Lake after years away

Related: Utah alcohol sales exceed $500 million in 2022

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