Outdoor Retailer Summer 2026 is Aug 19 to 21 in Minneapolis. Use this guide to book buyer meetings, run a booth that stays busy, and follow up fast with tags.
Outdoor Retailer Summer 2026 is set for August 19 to 21, 2026 in Minneapolis at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It is a trade only event where outdoor and active brands meet specialty retailers, product teams, media, and industry partners.
You may still see older listings that place the 2026 summer show in Salt Lake City in June. Outdoor Retailer and multiple industry sources list the 2026 show in Minneapolis in August. Build your travel and booth plan from the official dates and location.
This guide is a practical playbook for fitness and outdoor brands. It covers where to focus, how to run a booth that stays busy, how to capture buyer intent, and how to report results in a way leaders can use.
If you want support with trade show planning, staffing, and reporting, start with trade show experiences.
Outdoor Retailer Summer 2026 runs August 19 to 21, 2026.
The 2026 show is in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
No. Outdoor Retailer is not open to the public. You must qualify and provide trade credentials to attend.
The Outdoor Retailer FAQ lists show hours as Wednesday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Always confirm the latest times in the event app close to show week.
Outdoor Retailer promotes Wednesday as an education focused day, plus special programming like the Retailer Playbook Lab and other sessions before the expo days.
Outdoor Retailer offers a Hosted Buyer Program that can help cover travel costs for approved retailers and product development teams. It can change who shows up, and it can raise the quality of buyer meetings.
Pick one primary goal. For most brands it is one of these, booked retailer meetings, qualified leads for wholesale, or new accounts with a clear next step.
Outdoor Retailer is a trade show with real buyers, but buyers still have limited time. They move fast, they compare options, and they do not want a long pitch. They want proof, pricing clarity, and a clean path to the next step.
Outdoor Retailer is also changing. The show is promoting a reworked format with new zones, new education, and a stronger focus on connection and sell through outcomes. That means your booth should feel less like a catalog wall and more like a working product moment.
For fitness and active brands, the win is not just “traffic.” The win is meetings with specialty retailers that fit your channel, plus clear follow ups you can run after the show.
Be clear on what the show is for. Outdoor Retailer is not a consumer festival. You are selling a wholesale story, a retailer margin story, and a product story that holds up on shelf and online.
If your offer is still being tested, attend and take meetings. If your offer is ready and you can demo it fast, exhibit and push for booked next steps.
Fitness and outdoor booths fail when they try to show everything. Pick one hero product and one proof moment that takes less than 30 seconds to understand.
Your proof moment should be repeatable all day. If it takes a long reset, you lose peak traffic.
Outdoor Retailer is promoting a show floor with themed zones and community spaces. Use that idea in your own booth design. You want quick discovery and easy conversation, not a maze.
If you plan an offsite moment during the week, tie it back to the show with a simple route plan and tight staffing. This is where logistics can keep assets, samples, and signage on time.
Your best meetings rarely happen by accident. Set a target number of booked meetings per day and build a short outreach plan.
A good meeting invite is simple. It says what you are showing, why it matters, and what the buyer gets in 10 minutes.
If you want a deeper meeting system, use trade show strategy as your base.
Outdoor Retailer promotes a Hosted Buyer Program that can subsidize travel for approved retailers and product teams. That can bring more serious buyers into the building, which can raise the value of being on site.
If your goal is distribution, ask your team to watch for buyers that match your channel. Tag them fast and book the next step while they are standing with you.
At a B2B trade show, one person should not do everything. Split roles so your demo stays fast and your meetings stay focused.
If you are a small team, keep the roles but combine them by hour. During peaks, separate them again. For a simple sizing approach, see trade show staffing.
Scanning badges is not enough. You need intent. Use a two step capture that stays fast.
Example tags that work for Outdoor Retailer.
Example notes that help follow up.
This matches the approach in trade show lead capture.
Most booths slow down after the first hour. Fix that with a simple run of show.
Outdoor Retailer also promotes education and community programming, including morning outdoor experiences on Thursday and Friday. Build your meeting blocks with those time windows in mind so you do not fight the schedule.
Leaders do not want a recap that is only photos. They want a short story backed by numbers and next steps.
If you want a clean reporting structure, use experiential marketing reporting as a template and tailor it to trade show outcomes.
If you are a brand lead, CMO, or head of sales, ask for these items before you approve the Outdoor Retailer Summer 2026 budget.
This keeps the booth focused and makes the show easier to judge.
If Outdoor Retailer Summer 2026 is on your calendar and you want a booth plan that drives real outcomes, Makai can help with strategy, staffing, and reporting. Start at Request a proposal. If you are planning work around Minneapolis, see where we work and coverage for Minnesota.
Since 1995, Makai has been connecting brands with people through live experiences, retail programs, and national activations.
