Outdoor Shop Day™ Defined
Outdoor Shop Day™ is a day for Independent Outdoor Shop Owners, Outdoor Enthusiasts, Professional Adventurists, and Celebrities to come together with Manufacturers to celebrate the local independent outdoor shop, and make a difference in the outdoor community.
Outdoor Shop Day™ 2011 will be held on May 14, 2011, and each year thereafter on the second Saturday of May.
What is an Independent Outdoor Shop?
We define an Independent Outdoor Shop as any local retailer selling products primarily designed for use in the great outdoors. This may include local ski shops, bike shops, hunting/fishing stores, skate shops, camping stores, golf pro-shops, running stores, swim shops, dive shops, and everything in between.
In order to participate in Outdoor Shop Day™, a retailer must be independent from the large regional and national, corporate-owned "big box" outdoor retail and sporting goods chains. Additionally, the shop must be a true "local shop" by employing locals, understanding the local outdoor scene, and working toward the goal of local access to the great outdoors.
How Successful can we make Outdoor Shop Day™?
The idea for Outdoor Shop Day™ came after the founders read about, and participated in, Record Store Day™ 2010 (www.recordstoreday.com). In three short years, Record Store Day™ has become a worldwide phenomenon, with nearly 2,000 Independent Record Stores participating in 18 countries. This past year, Record Store Day™ participants witnessed sales increases of over 400% from the previous week. Most participating record stores enjoy better sales on this single day than they do for the entire Christmas/Holiday season.
The following graphs show actual Record Store Day growth over the past three years (Source: Record Store Day)
We believe that Outdoor Shop Day™ can surpass the sizable metrics set by Record Shop Day. There are significant similarities between Independent Record Stores and Independent Outdoor Shops: both retailers service a unique, dedicated, and socially conscious customer base; both retailers have seen significant decreases in their numbers over the past 20 years, with the rise of large regional and national Big Box retailers; both retailers are, by definition, local small businesses — brick mortar shops, employing locals, understanding the local scene, and working to enhance their communities.
Outdoor Shop Day™ will ultimately be an enormous success due to the size of the Outdoor Retail Market (over 20,000 US Shops), the extreme popularity of the outdoor activities they service, and the loyal nature of Outdoor Enthusiasts (more than 40 million in US).
