The Rock Fight Live At Switchback Spring 2025!
- colin7931
- 3 hours ago
- 39 min read
Today on the show we present a live recording of The Rock Fight, straight from the floor of Switchback Spring!
This past week Colin was joined by Producer Dave, Shawnté Salabert, and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford in Nashville, TN to record an episode of The Rock Fight in front of the crowd at Switchback Spring.
The crew handed out their brand booth awards and were also joined by Switchback show director, Christina Henderson, president of the OIA Kent Ebersole, president of Mountain Hardwear, Troy Sicotte, and GM of Cumberland Transit, Jason Thienel.
Whether you were there when it happened or missed it entirely, relive this live recording of The Rock Fight!
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Episode Transcript:
Colin True
00:00:00.160 - 00:00:36.280
Hey, everyone, before we keep going here, I need to tell you about our teammates at Darby Communications.
Like I've been telling you, if you run an outdoor, an endurance or an active lifestyle brand, there is no better PR and digital marketing, belay partner or drinking buddy than Darby. They can help your business reach new heights, and they might just keep you from falling on your ass.
Since we started working with Darby, more and more people and this is an important point now. Guys, I want you to hear me on this. More and more people have reached out to us here at the Rock flight because of that messaging.
Look, guys, I'm dead serious. If they can help us, they can help anybody. Hit them up@darbycommunications.com do it today.
Chris DeMakes
00:00:37.000 - 00:00:44.280
Rock Fight. Rock Fight. Rock Fight. Rock Fight. Rock Fight. Rock Fight.
Colin True
00:00:45.720 - 00:02:04.830
Welcome to the Rock Fight, where we speak our truth and slay sacred cows and sometimes agree to disagree. This is an outdoor podcast that aims for the head. I'm Colin True, and we are live at switchback in 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Joining me today up here at the Trailheads Theater, we have our own gear. Abbey Chante Salibair, outdoor industry insider. The consigliere to the Rock Fight, Captain Owen Comerford. Rumor has it he's a little overexposed.
And my favorite, your favorite producer, Dave. Look at that. That Timed that perfectly. That was pretty good, guys.
It's really a challenge to time it with the music, so I'm a little pleased with myself right now. Listen, we have a few things on the agenda today. Today we're going to be talking about our instant reactions to switchback 2025.
We're gonna have some special guests come to join us, and we will be handing out the Rock Fights booth accolades. We have some opinions on the booths and we're gonna get into that so quick. Table setting, though, guys. You know, we're. We're here at the show.
Let's go around the horn. You know, when the doors opened up this morning. Eoin, let's start over with you. We'll go this way. What did you think?
Eoin Comerford
00:02:05.710 - 00:02:14.510
I was impressed. You know, I think we have great turnout from a brand perspective. I think the big question was, would the retailers show up?
And I think the answer is yes.
Colin True
00:02:15.490 - 00:02:16.690
Are there any retailers here?
Eoin Comerford
00:02:16.850 - 00:02:17.370
I don't know.
Colin True
00:02:17.370 - 00:02:17.970
Bueller.
Shawnté Salabert
00:02:17.970 - 00:02:18.690
Bueller.
Eoin Comerford
00:02:19.010 - 00:02:30.290
But no, it was just a great vibe and just brought it all back from the days of yore and really just a good first step in the right direction for the industry.
Colin True
00:02:30.770 - 00:02:31.850
Shantae, what do you think?
Shawnté Salabert
00:02:31.850 - 00:02:40.050
Yeah, I mean, it feels like a Renewal of sorts, in my opinion. I haven't been to trade shows in a hot minute. I took a little time off and walking in the door, there were.
Colin True
00:02:40.210 - 00:02:40.850
We all did.
Shawnté Salabert
00:02:40.930 - 00:03:02.680
We all took a trade off. We all did. For better or worse.
But walking in the door, I don't know if you saw there were people out there with phones just like ready for the door to open at 9 o' clock on the dot. Just like hashtag tradeshow influencers. It was awesome. The energy was right on from the beginning. It carries on. Of course.
This is the height of the energy for the day. The 5 o' clock hour here we're peaking late.
Colin True
00:03:02.760 - 00:03:04.600
Peaking late here at Switchback.
Troy Sicotte
00:03:04.600 - 00:03:05.000
Yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:03:05.000 - 00:03:08.360
That's why we have many assorted boozes here on the table.
Eoin Comerford
00:03:08.600 - 00:03:09.400
Is boozes.
Colin True
00:03:09.400 - 00:03:09.880
Is it?
Shawnté Salabert
00:03:09.960 - 00:03:12.600
Can you floral boozes?
Colin True
00:03:12.820 - 00:03:15.300
Producer Dave, thoughts on Switchback 2025?
Producer Dave
00:03:16.340 - 00:03:37.060
I was, I mean, just like Owen and Beauchante said, I was psyched. As soon as you opened up the door, instant energy comes flowing out.
Last night we were here about five, six o' clock and you know, there's always that pre show day where you wonder if it's actually going to get done by the opening time. And it did. So kudos to everybody for kicking this thing off.
Colin True
00:03:37.780 - 00:03:40.820
So yesterday was the education day.
Producer Dave
00:03:41.960 - 00:03:42.600
What is that?
Colin True
00:03:42.600 - 00:03:45.560
Well, I don't know. Were you educated? Did you feel educated?
Producer Dave
00:03:45.560 - 00:03:46.120
I was.
Colin True
00:03:46.680 - 00:03:48.120
You feel smarter than you did before?
Producer Dave
00:03:48.280 - 00:03:51.040
Absolutely. Rachel Gross dropped some knowledge.
Colin True
00:03:51.040 - 00:04:02.040
Well, that's kind of my question. Did we shout out Rachel Gross. Shout out layers. Did we need the education day? What do you guys think? Was the education day worth having before?
Or should we just gotten right to the main event?
Eoin Comerford
00:04:02.360 - 00:04:08.200
I think so. There was a really good panel about emerging brands and retailers that I really enjoyed.
Colin True
00:04:08.660 - 00:04:09.900
I don't know anyone who was on that panel.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:09.900 - 00:04:12.020
I don't know anyone out there, but it was a great panel.
Colin True
00:04:12.020 - 00:04:13.460
Was Lloyd Vogel on that panel?
Eoin Comerford
00:04:13.620 - 00:04:14.580
The Lloyd Vogel?
Colin True
00:04:14.580 - 00:04:15.980
The Lloyd Vogel. G man.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:15.980 - 00:04:17.940
Lloyd Go Rog Groengeer.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:18.020 - 00:04:18.820
Yes. Yes.
Troy Sicotte
00:04:18.820 - 00:04:19.460
Ggg.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:19.460 - 00:04:30.660
He was there. But no, I think there were some good panels. It was just a good way to kick things off. You know, these things can always get better.
But I think it was a good first start.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:30.660 - 00:04:34.660
Yeah, I mean, happy hour. You have to like happy hour. For me, yesterday just brought it up.
Colin True
00:04:34.660 - 00:04:36.020
Is that part of the education panel?
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:36.260 - 00:04:51.960
I learned a lot about Tennessee Whiskey yesterday. It was. No, but I think it's also, it's the human aspect. There's so much, you come here, you do business.
But also we are here to spend time with each Other. And I think last night showed me the promise of what today is.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:52.200 - 00:04:52.640
Wow.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:52.640 - 00:04:56.120
So, yeah, it was. I go real deep there, guys. I loved it.
Colin True
00:04:56.440 - 00:05:06.040
How much? Real. Last question before we get to our first set of guests. How much pickleball did we see? Do we do a quick impromptu pickleball corner?
Dave, sing us into pickleball corner.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:06.290 - 00:05:06.530
There.
Producer Dave
00:05:06.690 - 00:05:08.930
There was a. There was a pickleball for sure.
Colin True
00:05:08.930 - 00:05:10.690
Did anybody see pickle ball out there today?
Shawnté Salabert
00:05:11.650 - 00:05:14.610
Raise your paddles if you saw pickleball Dave, tell.
Colin True
00:05:14.610 - 00:05:15.410
You want to tell them?
Producer Dave
00:05:16.050 - 00:05:18.370
I'm going to call out. Life is good. Brought the pickle ball.
Colin True
00:05:18.370 - 00:05:18.770
They did.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:18.770 - 00:05:20.330
Oh, oh, oh.
Colin True
00:05:20.330 - 00:05:23.010
Y. Owen was actually pretty excited. Like, no pickleball.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:23.410 - 00:05:26.690
I was going to win. I was going to win my bet, so. But no, not again.
Colin True
00:05:26.850 - 00:05:32.770
All right, let's bring up our first round of special guests. We're going to start at a high level. Well, actually, we probably started at a pretty low level, but we're going to bring it up a notch.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:32.850 - 00:05:33.330
Yeah.
Colin True
00:05:34.440 - 00:05:57.080
With two key people who are here and have put this show together, both are returning champions to the rock fight. They've been on the show three or four times.
Between the two of them, please welcome Switchback show director, Christina Henderson and the president of the Outdoor Industry Association, Kent Eversall. Hey, buddy. How's it going? All right.
Shawnté Salabert
00:05:57.880 - 00:06:02.160
Should offer you guys one of my many drinks. I've got extras if you need them.
Christina Henderson
00:06:02.160 - 00:06:03.570
Yes, thank you. Thank you.
Colin True
00:06:03.650 - 00:06:12.130
So, Christina, let's start with you. I mean, firstly, I think we all need to give you a massive high five. High fives to Christina, everybody. I mean, look at this room.
Christina Henderson
00:06:13.010 - 00:06:22.450
Well, thank you. You know, our team worked really hard. A lot of them are here. So a round of applause for the Switchback team. Many of them are here.
Colin True
00:06:25.250 - 00:06:37.550
So you guys delivered almost every brand. Patagonia. Sorry, a little in my throat there, but no. How did it go today? Like, just after this all coming to fruition, how did it go?
Christina Henderson
00:06:38.270 - 00:07:03.810
You know, we came into this and we didn't know what to expect. Right. We had goals and, you know, we kind of thought we knew what might happen, but, you know, the community really showed up in this event.
The energy that everyone's talking about is because of this community. You know, our team built the space, but you all brought the energy and created the opportunity for connection. So thank you.
Eoin Comerford
00:07:05.010 - 00:07:13.090
Yeah. So, I mean, Christina, there must have been a lot of pressure leading up to today, so. A little bit. Little bit.
Christina Henderson
00:07:13.170 - 00:07:14.209
Yes. Yes.
Eoin Comerford
00:07:14.209 - 00:07:26.010
Okay. So, I mean, how. Just how did it feel walking through the doors? It was finally Here it was like Christmas morning. Ish, but with all kinds of pressure.
How did it feel this morning walking in the door?
Christina Henderson
00:07:26.330 - 00:07:30.890
There might have been a few tears, to be honest. Yes. Yeah.
Colin True
00:07:31.450 - 00:07:32.970
From Kent, I think was.
Christina Henderson
00:07:33.290 - 00:08:09.150
Yeah, well, you know, like, we really felt like we had such an opportunity and a responsibility to the outdoor industry to do this and, you know, but I think I took a big. Like, last night was really a highlight for me. I knew that it was going to be great. After the party last night, it was.
We had 600 to 700 people there all getting together. The energy and the smiles and the connection. So that's when I knew that this was going to be great.
And then when the doors opened, it was like, yeah, a few tears.
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:12.590 - 00:08:13.710
You got some woos.
Christina Henderson
00:08:13.870 - 00:08:15.350
No, I appreciate that. Thank you.
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:15.350 - 00:08:17.550
Did anybody else cry when they walked in today?
Christina Henderson
00:08:17.870 - 00:08:21.310
I know some of the team did, so I'm looking at them.
Colin True
00:08:22.110 - 00:08:27.950
So, Ken, what was your pitch to the brands from the OIA to get them to attend and make Christina look so good?
Kent Ebersole
00:08:28.350 - 00:08:33.790
Yeah, it was pretty simple. I just said there's going to be boat rides and there are boat rides.
Colin True
00:08:35.150 - 00:08:40.350
We would like to thank MC Escher for designing this hotel. All right, I would like to shout him out.
Kent Ebersole
00:08:41.630 - 00:08:50.520
It was pretty simple. We were going to show up and do education. I don't know why education gets quotes.
Colin True
00:08:50.600 - 00:08:52.360
I'm not smarter today. I don't know.
Producer Dave
00:08:54.200 - 00:08:55.400
That's a pretty high bar.
Colin True
00:08:55.400 - 00:08:56.400
Yeah. No, seriously.
Kent Ebersole
00:08:56.400 - 00:09:46.880
We started talking about this show about a year ago right here in Nashville. We met with Christina right here in Nashville a year ago. We did not take a boat ride, but we did talk about how this might work out.
And we looked at the space and we looked at everything in Erdos seemed to make sense. And then we started inviting people and we asked people to come. And there wasn't a lot of begging. It was mostly, we would love it if you come.
We're going to be there and we're going to show up. And this is what happened. People showed up. So it wasn't that difficult.
I will also say that speaking of tears, yesterday at 10:45, it was probably about 10:30, the doors opened. I think at 10:45, upstairs, 10:30, you and I walked in there and we go, this could just be nothing. There could be no one.
Colin True
00:09:47.040 - 00:09:48.080
No one showed up.
Kent Ebersole
00:09:48.960 - 00:10:29.180
The room was empty. There were three people in the back maybe. And we go, what are we gonna do? Because there's a lot of food out there.
And by the way, when you ask people what one of the things we've done here is listen. If you heard me yesterday. We listen. And we've listened to everybody that we can, all the way down to.
I think Switchback has a database on the kind of bean that you want in the breakfast burrito. They're keeping track of all those details.
We've heard all the opinions, we're trying to track them, source them, filter them, and make sense out of it and deliver a show that really makes sense for the industry.
Producer Dave
00:10:29.420 - 00:10:32.940
So I have to ask, what is the most popular bean?
Colin True
00:10:33.140 - 00:10:34.020
Oh, it's. I'm curious.
Kent Ebersole
00:10:34.020 - 00:10:34.500
Yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:10:34.740 - 00:10:36.300
Pinto. Pinto it is.
Kent Ebersole
00:10:36.300 - 00:10:37.700
Absolutely. The pinto bean.
Producer Dave
00:10:37.780 - 00:10:38.340
For sure.
Kent Ebersole
00:10:39.300 - 00:10:42.500
It's no doubt. You can't argue with the pinto bean.
Shawnté Salabert
00:10:42.660 - 00:10:45.860
That's right. Yes, you can, in any way you wanna do it.
Colin True
00:10:48.979 - 00:10:50.100
Owen turned his mic off.
Eoin Comerford
00:10:50.100 - 00:10:51.860
I did. Well, I was told to by the people.
Shawnté Salabert
00:10:52.180 - 00:10:53.540
He's trying to follow the rules.
Eoin Comerford
00:10:53.620 - 00:11:07.090
I did. I'm a yes. Not so much anyway. So, Kent, one of the great things about this show today is actually we've got a lot of emerging brands here.
Shout out to Beth Gordon. Where's Beth? Is she out there somewhere?
Colin True
00:11:07.090 - 00:11:09.530
Beth Gordon, everybody. Where's Beth Gordon? Beth.
Shawnté Salabert
00:11:09.530 - 00:11:10.610
Flash Gordon.
Eoin Comerford
00:11:12.290 - 00:11:27.020
Beth helped make that happen by putting together a special program for emerging brands. So I'm gonna throw it to you, Ken, put you on the spot. What is the OIA gonna do to better support emerging brands in our industry? Or how can you.
Kent Ebersole
00:11:28.140 - 00:12:20.330
That's a great question. We have a program right now for emerging brands where we're trying to make it more efficient to get involved and then we're opening up.
I can't talk like this.
We're opening up the amount of access you get to the data that's previously been behind the gate for the highest level brands, the brands that pay the most. It's active right now. It's super efficient. It's easy to get involved. Talk to me, talk to anyone of the OIA team. We're all aware of it.
We can point you in the right direction. Simple solution. We just launched it in time for this show to make sure that emerging brands can be a part of it.
But if there's an emerging brand out there that can't afford to be a part of this, just talk to us. You don't have to weep, just talk to us.
Shawnté Salabert
00:12:20.490 - 00:12:21.530
It doesn't hurt, though.
Kent Ebersole
00:12:22.810 - 00:12:23.770
We'll figure it out.
Colin True
00:12:24.330 - 00:12:35.450
So, Christina, we're going to end the segment with you. Lots of talk about, you know, when this show was held, you know where it is. So two questions. You know, will there be a switchback? Spring 2026.
Christina Henderson
00:12:36.330 - 00:12:37.050
Absolutely.
Colin True
00:12:37.130 - 00:12:46.330
Okay. Breaking news. Shocking. If so, can we say where it is, where it's, when it's going to be? Anything we can tease anyone with?
Christina Henderson
00:12:47.020 - 00:13:04.220
We're really excited to share. We will be sharing in our post show release.
We really want everyone to be present and be here and experience this year's event and then we will share the great news for next year right after the show.
Eoin Comerford
00:13:05.340 - 00:13:10.540
Will it be, can you share if it will be a bigger venue, will it be more room?
Christina Henderson
00:13:11.260 - 00:13:12.100
There will be.
Colin True
00:13:12.490 - 00:13:14.810
Okay. That's something. Appreciate that.
Christina Henderson
00:13:14.890 - 00:13:15.450
Of course.
Colin True
00:13:15.450 - 00:13:22.090
All right, well, thank you both so much for joining us. Thank you for a great show. One more day to go. So excited to spend one more day with everybody and thank you for coming on the Rock Fight.
Christina Henderson
00:13:22.330 - 00:13:23.530
Yeah, thanks for being here.
Colin True
00:13:26.810 - 00:14:00.390
Thanks, buddy. Good job, guys.
All right, so an important part of the history of the Rock Fight, for those who don't know, it's tied tightly to producer Dave and I wandering trade show halls and making fun of bad booth creative and overly praising the brands that got it right. So today, here on the show for the first edition of Switchback Spring, we're going to present the Rock Fight's top booths that we saw at the show.
Quick note though, before we get started, in order to qualify, you had to have played by the rules and set up in either a 10 by 10, a 10 by 20 or a 20 by 20, which means that Merrill is disqualified because they broke the rules.
Eoin Comerford
00:14:01.030 - 00:14:02.230
I mean, those are the rules.
Colin True
00:14:03.350 - 00:14:04.110
Those are the rules.
Eoin Comerford
00:14:04.110 - 00:14:04.710
Those are the rules.
Colin True
00:14:04.710 - 00:14:05.750
Well, who sold them the space?
Eoin Comerford
00:14:05.750 - 00:14:06.150
Should we.
Producer Dave
00:14:06.550 - 00:14:06.830
No.
Eoin Comerford
00:14:06.830 - 00:14:07.030
No.
Colin True
00:14:07.030 - 00:14:08.310
Okay. No, we're not going there. Okay.
Eoin Comerford
00:14:08.710 - 00:14:12.050
What I would say though is how pissed off is the North Face right now?
Colin True
00:14:12.370 - 00:14:14.770
Yeah. Anyone from the North Face here who like the car to comment?
Eoin Comerford
00:14:14.770 - 00:14:20.290
All right. Because I mean, they've always, they always had the biggest booth, apex predator and they show up. They're like mother.
Colin True
00:14:20.610 - 00:14:21.090
Yeah.
Eoin Comerford
00:14:21.570 - 00:14:24.530
Right across the aisle is the Mega Merrell booth.
Shawnté Salabert
00:14:24.530 - 00:14:25.730
They look at it every day.
Colin True
00:14:25.810 - 00:14:30.570
Do you think that was Merrell's strategy? Like, how big's the North Face? We will buy another 20 by 20.
Eoin Comerford
00:14:30.570 - 00:14:39.330
Yes, exactly. In fact, what they did was they made up another fake brand, bought that booth and then like magically joined the team.
Colin True
00:14:39.330 - 00:14:43.090
I want to list another Wolverine owned brand, but I'm not going to right now because I have class.
Eoin Comerford
00:14:43.490 - 00:14:44.210
You do a class.
Producer Dave
00:14:44.290 - 00:14:46.930
Ok. Actually the other brand is called Merrill.
Colin True
00:14:50.050 - 00:15:00.450
All right, so producer Dave, you are easily the most qualified on this panel as the only one who's ever built a booth for a brand. What are the booth Themes you noticed at the show today, walking the show floor.
Producer Dave
00:15:00.450 - 00:15:24.870
Well, every trade show, you definitely can suss out themes in terms of where collective energy starts to design things in the same space. You get the same cues. Sometimes they're all working at the same fixture manufacturer. So there's a lot of shared resources.
But this year, and you know, we see this a lot, but I think Boo's built from wood structures.
Eoin Comerford
00:15:25.830 - 00:15:26.630
Wood structure.
Producer Dave
00:15:26.950 - 00:15:27.670
You see that?
Shawnté Salabert
00:15:27.670 - 00:15:28.870
The artistry of it.
Producer Dave
00:15:29.120 - 00:15:31.920
The artistry, the carpentry, the organic nature.
Shawnté Salabert
00:15:32.080 - 00:15:34.200
The two by fours, the four by fours.
Producer Dave
00:15:34.200 - 00:15:35.840
That's right, the presswood.
Eoin Comerford
00:15:36.240 - 00:15:39.280
We should just, like, list lumber sizes for the next 10 minutes.
Shawnté Salabert
00:15:39.520 - 00:15:40.520
Towels don't.
Colin True
00:15:40.520 - 00:15:45.120
Riveting content on the rock fight. That's what we're known for. Did you have a favorite? Did you have a favorite one?
Producer Dave
00:15:45.280 - 00:15:55.710
Oh, a favorite. I'm gonna actually call out Lifestraw for their use. I mean, that's pretty cool. You know, the organic shapes, the things like that.
Colin True
00:15:55.710 - 00:15:57.270
Could you use the booth as a straw?
Eoin Comerford
00:15:57.910 - 00:15:58.310
No.
Colin True
00:15:58.310 - 00:15:58.790
Okay.
Producer Dave
00:15:58.790 - 00:15:58.990
No.
Shawnté Salabert
00:15:58.990 - 00:16:00.230
But do you know for sure?
Producer Dave
00:16:00.630 - 00:16:03.670
It was kind of porous, but there are others that also did that.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:03.670 - 00:16:11.830
Yeah, the Teva booth was really cool. Somebody spent some money on a really great structure.
Shawnté Salabert
00:16:12.070 - 00:16:21.270
Yeah. The Howler Brothers booth. I love. I love an art piece. I thought the mosaic was lovely. Also colorful. Every time I walked past it, I was like, what?
Oh, yeah.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:22.130 - 00:16:27.170
Oh, by the way, was the mosaic made of recycled wood from pallets perhaps?
Shawnté Salabert
00:16:27.330 - 00:16:29.730
I believe it was a different kind of wood.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:29.730 - 00:16:30.050
Yes.
Producer Dave
00:16:30.050 - 00:16:31.210
Prediction coming true there.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:31.210 - 00:16:31.650
Yes.
Colin True
00:16:32.930 - 00:16:33.890
What do you got next?
Producer Dave
00:16:34.690 - 00:16:41.650
Well, look, shout out to Boggs, to Rab like we said to Howler. Just bring in the full wood structure.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:41.650 - 00:16:44.090
Like just the RAB booth I thought was really.
Colin True
00:16:44.090 - 00:16:44.850
Yeah, it was sick.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:45.410 - 00:16:46.210
Nicely done.
Producer Dave
00:16:46.290 - 00:16:47.110
Yeah, there's.
Colin True
00:16:47.980 - 00:16:50.620
So what about you? About 10 by 10 sample racks?
Producer Dave
00:16:51.100 - 00:16:58.260
Yeah. This is just a shout out to all the booze out there that brought a 10 by 10. They brought their sample racks, little table.
Colin True
00:16:58.260 - 00:16:59.260
Skirt, and that was it.
Producer Dave
00:16:59.420 - 00:17:00.620
They were done setting up.
Colin True
00:17:01.180 - 00:17:01.900
That is right.
Producer Dave
00:17:01.900 - 00:17:02.580
That is brilliant.
Shawnté Salabert
00:17:02.580 - 00:17:04.220
Easy peasy, lemon breezy.
Colin True
00:17:04.700 - 00:17:06.340
It was a two box checklist.
Producer Dave
00:17:06.340 - 00:17:08.620
Oh, and they completed that.
Colin True
00:17:08.700 - 00:17:09.820
Do we have our samples?
Producer Dave
00:17:10.220 - 00:17:10.540
Right?
Colin True
00:17:10.540 - 00:17:15.630
All right, all right, we're good. All right, next category. Best attention grabber.
Producer Dave
00:17:15.630 - 00:17:32.390
Yeah.
So again, another, you know, a device, if you will, of the trade show booth is how can I draw people in if I don't have the money for a big wood structure? What can I do to bring you in? And look, animals always score high. Live animals are even better.
Eoin Comerford
00:17:32.630 - 00:17:33.110
Yes.
Producer Dave
00:17:33.990 - 00:17:38.470
And in the case of packet, even just an Empty pen did a good job.
Shawnté Salabert
00:17:38.630 - 00:17:45.100
I've walked past it three times looking for that alpaca. Are they coming back in the morning? They'll be back in the morning. I already asked.
Producer Dave
00:17:45.180 - 00:17:48.300
I think it's a good time out for people that are a little unruly as well.
Colin True
00:17:48.300 - 00:17:57.060
Well, and shout out to the Vermont folks across the way from Paca who was very worried about the place smelling like shit all day. But they said that they didn't shit once the entire day. No.
Producer Dave
00:17:57.060 - 00:18:00.340
But I did hear there was a spitting incident on the way out.
Colin True
00:18:00.340 - 00:18:01.500
Yes, I heard that too.
Producer Dave
00:18:01.500 - 00:18:07.580
Right. So yeah, look, live animals. Attention grabber. Absolutely. But what are some other attention grabbers?
Shawnté Salabert
00:18:07.580 - 00:18:08.820
Oh, that. Night Eyes Bubble wall.
Colin True
00:18:08.820 - 00:18:12.140
Nighteyes Bubble wall. Who's some Night Eyes folks in the audience? Anybody?
Shawnté Salabert
00:18:12.140 - 00:18:12.760
Night Eyes Bubble.
Colin True
00:18:13.070 - 00:18:16.550
Wow. Night I is ghosting us here at the Rock Bike. Oh, there he is in the back.
Shawnté Salabert
00:18:16.550 - 00:18:20.270
There you are. There you are. Show me your headlamps. You have a zipper pole.
Eoin Comerford
00:18:20.350 - 00:18:23.870
Very good. It was their true zip technology, right?
Colin True
00:18:23.870 - 00:18:24.270
Yes.
Shawnté Salabert
00:18:24.510 - 00:18:25.870
I love a zip.
Eoin Comerford
00:18:26.190 - 00:18:35.470
The other one I really loved was he dish, which is they had this sort of steampunk mosquito thing made out of drills.
Colin True
00:18:35.790 - 00:18:38.350
It was a mosquito mannequin, I believe. A mosquitoken.
Eoin Comerford
00:18:38.350 - 00:18:40.230
A mosquitoken. Interesting.
Colin True
00:18:40.230 - 00:18:40.670
Yes.
Producer Dave
00:18:40.750 - 00:18:53.200
Made of a muffler and as the center of their booth.
And I think it was a great, I don't know, maybe a depiction of where we're going in our future of industrial shaped mosquitoes flying around gently apocalyptic.
Colin True
00:18:54.880 - 00:19:02.240
Who are some booths, Dave, that were just on brand was just spot on. Like this is like just exactly what you expect from this brand.
Producer Dave
00:19:02.480 - 00:19:18.790
When it comes to booths, sometimes there is no substitute for a good budget. And so I'm going to give that to, you know, Nerona showed up and classy. See that booth? It looks like Nerona Arc' Teryx. Come on.
I mean, where would be without a massive light box?
Eoin Comerford
00:19:19.750 - 00:19:23.350
They are the king of the light box. If you go into an arcteric store.
Colin True
00:19:23.510 - 00:19:25.590
Where'S the lightbright collab that we really need?
Eoin Comerford
00:19:26.070 - 00:19:27.630
I agree. Absolutely.
Producer Dave
00:19:27.630 - 00:19:31.470
I'm gonna give Mountain Hardware the same shout out. It's a wood structure, technically.
Colin True
00:19:31.470 - 00:19:32.510
Oh, double hardware.
Eoin Comerford
00:19:32.510 - 00:19:34.430
Oh, wow. Okay, double, double check.
Producer Dave
00:19:34.430 - 00:19:42.280
But some goods store storytelling and then I. I know we kind of took them off the list, but you got to give it to Merrill. They know how to build a booth.
Shawnté Salabert
00:19:42.280 - 00:19:42.800
Take them off.
Colin True
00:19:42.800 - 00:19:43.400
Disqualified.
Shawnté Salabert
00:19:43.400 - 00:19:46.520
Dave, you didn't hear that. Delete that from the podcast.
Colin True
00:19:46.520 - 00:19:48.920
40 by 40 doesn't exist in the show hall, Dave.
Producer Dave
00:19:48.920 - 00:19:52.360
They figured out that two brands would get two Sites.
Shawnté Salabert
00:19:52.360 - 00:19:55.680
They should have made it a Merrell by Merrell collab. Yeah, it was great.
Producer Dave
00:19:55.680 - 00:19:59.280
Meryl by Real Hot. Oh, my gosh.
Eoin Comerford
00:19:59.280 - 00:19:59.600
That's crazy.
Producer Dave
00:19:59.600 - 00:20:01.720
There we go. The right and the left together.
Colin True
00:20:01.720 - 00:20:05.540
How is the north face not thought of this yet? You could collaborate with yourself.
Eoin Comerford
00:20:05.620 - 00:20:06.260
That's true.
Shawnté Salabert
00:20:06.260 - 00:20:07.660
Next time, guys. Next time.
Eoin Comerford
00:20:07.660 - 00:20:11.580
Double the PR hits and also double the letters in the. In the name.
Colin True
00:20:11.580 - 00:20:12.260
Oh, my God.
Eoin Comerford
00:20:12.260 - 00:20:12.660
Yes.
Producer Dave
00:20:12.820 - 00:20:14.660
The SEO search is off the charts.
Eoin Comerford
00:20:14.900 - 00:20:17.060
It's insane. Okay, all right, all right.
Colin True
00:20:17.060 - 00:20:18.740
So, Dave, who did the most with the least?
Producer Dave
00:20:19.859 - 00:20:20.980
The most with the least.
Eoin Comerford
00:20:20.980 - 00:20:21.460
Yes.
Producer Dave
00:20:21.460 - 00:20:36.470
Look. That is in everybody's toolkit. I understand. Right. You're trying to make these things happen.
Especially those that came from a show maybe a few days ago. Maybe those that are going to a show in a few days. But we just have a couple here, and one is the Mimicai. That's Mimicai.
Colin True
00:20:36.550 - 00:20:37.510
Mimicai. Yes.
Producer Dave
00:20:38.470 - 00:20:38.990
What is it?
Shawnté Salabert
00:20:38.990 - 00:20:43.990
The deet free mosquito repellent plant based on tomato plants.
Eoin Comerford
00:20:44.150 - 00:20:45.750
Yes. Wild tomato plants.
Shawnté Salabert
00:20:45.829 - 00:20:47.830
Wild feral tomato plants.
Producer Dave
00:20:47.830 - 00:20:57.910
10 by 10 booth. And they just brought off the shelf flooring that interlocks bright colors and done like that's there. You're done. What am I doing?
Colin True
00:20:57.910 - 00:21:00.390
You're going to do better. Yeah. There you go. Right.
Producer Dave
00:21:02.310 - 00:21:06.390
So we're going to give that just again, what you can do with simple off the shelf things.
Colin True
00:21:06.390 - 00:21:07.230
But who is the best?
Producer Dave
00:21:07.230 - 00:21:09.590
The best. Look, that's the landmark project.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:09.830 - 00:21:10.790
Landmark project.
Producer Dave
00:21:12.070 - 00:21:16.670
Okay. That is a 10 by 10. It kind of had a Wes Anderson set going on.
Colin True
00:21:16.670 - 00:21:17.110
Yeah.
Producer Dave
00:21:18.310 - 00:21:31.660
The graphic design. And she's sitting there on her computer.
And most of the times we would deride someone at their booth for sitting on their computer and a table, but that absolutely looked intentional. I wanted to write. I just wanted to sit there and just write.
Colin True
00:21:31.660 - 00:21:36.860
So I saw three booths today where I would have absolutely engaged with them. And they're just there on their computer.
Producer Dave
00:21:36.860 - 00:21:37.220
Right.
Colin True
00:21:37.459 - 00:21:41.660
My guys stand up, man, talk to people. So not at the landmark project.
Producer Dave
00:21:41.660 - 00:21:43.140
No, that was good stuff.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:43.140 - 00:21:43.620
That's good.
Colin True
00:21:43.860 - 00:21:50.100
All right. I think our last thing here is. Excuse me. We have two more brands that could have tried a little bit harder.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:50.100 - 00:21:50.780
A little bit harder.
Colin True
00:21:51.100 - 00:21:52.780
Can we cue the immemorial music?
Eoin Comerford
00:21:52.780 - 00:21:53.260
Yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:21:54.380 - 00:21:57.700
Brands that are legacy brands. Brands that. That have money, that.
Colin True
00:21:57.700 - 00:21:58.940
They know they have money.
Shawnté Salabert
00:21:58.940 - 00:22:00.860
They know they have money they have.
Eoin Comerford
00:22:01.180 - 00:22:02.500
Are we gonna name names?
Shawnté Salabert
00:22:02.500 - 00:22:08.620
I think we should. This is. Should we name names? Do you want us to name names? Oh, look at all the.
Eoin Comerford
00:22:08.620 - 00:22:10.700
The pebbles being the blood they want.
Colin True
00:22:10.780 - 00:22:12.900
Does it follow me to name names or do you want.
Shawnté Salabert
00:22:12.900 - 00:22:13.740
Yeah, Colin.
Producer Dave
00:22:15.040 - 00:22:17.680
All Right. We have to do this nicely, but if you.
Shawnté Salabert
00:22:17.680 - 00:22:21.840
Wait. If they advertise with us, we'll delete this before the podcast goes live.
Eoin Comerford
00:22:21.920 - 00:22:22.320
Fair.
Colin True
00:22:22.480 - 00:22:25.360
Yes. We reserve the right to edit after. This is in the hall.
Eoin Comerford
00:22:25.360 - 00:22:28.560
And again, this is. This is from love. These are brands that we love and.
Colin True
00:22:28.560 - 00:22:32.400
Respect, and we understand the position they're in because you don't know what's going to happen here.
Eoin Comerford
00:22:32.480 - 00:22:34.400
Right. They didn't know it was going to be this great.
Colin True
00:22:34.640 - 00:22:37.520
That said code epoxy. What are you doing?
Eoin Comerford
00:22:37.600 - 00:22:38.160
Come on.
Colin True
00:22:38.160 - 00:22:39.040
We love you guys.
Troy Sicotte
00:22:39.760 - 00:22:40.560
We love you.
Eoin Comerford
00:22:40.720 - 00:22:43.160
We want more top 5 apparel brands.
Colin True
00:22:43.160 - 00:22:44.390
Right? You're letting us go.
Shawnté Salabert
00:22:44.390 - 00:22:46.190
You could have brought two alpacas.
Colin True
00:22:46.350 - 00:22:49.470
And we had a lovely conversation with Lindsay Lindsey. We love you. You're great. But come on.
Producer Dave
00:22:50.110 - 00:22:52.870
Hold on. She's absolutely right. They could have upped the llamas.
Shawnté Salabert
00:22:52.870 - 00:22:53.870
Two alpacas.
Troy Sicotte
00:22:53.870 - 00:22:54.830
They invented that.
Eoin Comerford
00:22:54.830 - 00:22:58.750
Llamas like a llama versus alpaca, like cage mash.
Colin True
00:22:58.830 - 00:23:01.390
This could have been real in the arc' Teryx booth.
Eoin Comerford
00:23:02.430 - 00:23:03.470
All right, okay, next.
Colin True
00:23:03.710 - 00:23:07.430
Next up. And I'm sorry to have to do it, but the marmot booth could have used a little love.
Eoin Comerford
00:23:07.430 - 00:23:15.160
Little love. Although I would. You know what I would say, though, is it was a doing business booth. They were back there writing some orders.
Colin True
00:23:15.240 - 00:23:16.840
Well, they heard John on the rock fight.
Eoin Comerford
00:23:16.920 - 00:23:17.440
Okay.
Colin True
00:23:17.440 - 00:23:20.400
You know, lastly, Chubby's.
Eoin Comerford
00:23:20.400 - 00:23:25.440
Chubby's. Come on, Chubbies. Your brand is about fun and excitement. That was not fun or exciting.
Colin True
00:23:25.440 - 00:23:27.000
They were too hungover to design a booth.
Eoin Comerford
00:23:27.000 - 00:23:28.600
Oh, fair. Fair. Okay.
Colin True
00:23:29.720 - 00:23:32.840
All right, last category, we have producer Dave's Shoutouts.
Producer Dave
00:23:32.840 - 00:23:40.430
Shout outs. This is more of just category. And again, you've seen the themes. First, I want to shout out to the Euros.
Colin True
00:23:40.430 - 00:23:41.310
The Euros.
Producer Dave
00:23:42.030 - 00:23:56.190
Welcome to Switchback. You guys are making the play, right? So you know, Berghaus, Dorona, Rav, Scarpa.
You've been in the industry longer than we've been a country, so I think that's pretty cool to come on and bring it like, they may outlast our question.
Eoin Comerford
00:23:58.750 - 00:23:59.550
That's true.
Producer Dave
00:23:59.790 - 00:24:13.480
And the tent is. I also do want to shout out. We talk a lot about the young brands and kind of they're giving that space.
And a lot of our oxygen is about the big brands, but let's face it, the bigs. Thanks for showing up.
Colin True
00:24:13.480 - 00:24:14.200
Yeah, Bigs.
Eoin Comerford
00:24:14.360 - 00:24:15.000
The bigs.
Colin True
00:24:15.000 - 00:24:16.120
The 20 by 20s.
Eoin Comerford
00:24:16.120 - 00:24:16.920
The big guys.
Colin True
00:24:16.920 - 00:24:18.360
Not the 40 by 40s.
Shawnté Salabert
00:24:18.360 - 00:24:20.280
No, no, we can't talk about them.
Eoin Comerford
00:24:20.280 - 00:24:20.840
No, we can't.
Producer Dave
00:24:20.840 - 00:24:33.410
But look, we have seen. We have seen industries and trade shows rise and fall based on the particular participation of the lead of the larger brands in the space.
If we do not all play together, this all. We all go down.
Colin True
00:24:33.410 - 00:24:34.250
Yeah. We don't have this.
Producer Dave
00:24:34.250 - 00:24:42.330
So I want to just, you know, we've got to keep showing up. So thank you for that. I want to. Thanks to the founder brands. Right? Those that are out here, front row.
Colin True
00:24:42.330 - 00:24:43.570
Founder brand for the founders.
Eoin Comerford
00:24:43.730 - 00:24:45.650
That's there for the founders. Come on.
Producer Dave
00:24:45.730 - 00:24:47.970
Yeah, Most of the founder brands.
Kent Ebersole
00:24:49.810 - 00:24:50.210
Right.
Producer Dave
00:24:50.450 - 00:25:01.260
But yeah, look, you're, you're, you're pulling that, pushing that boulder up the hill, right? And it's a hard fight, but it's worth it. And so it's really, it's great to see you're the energy of this industry. So thanks for being here.
Colin True
00:25:02.380 - 00:25:09.900
Yeah. The states, we got Maine and Vermont, New England showing up, you know, stronger together. Good job out there. States. How about video screens?
Producer Dave
00:25:10.540 - 00:25:18.940
Well, look, I'm a sucker for a good video screen. So the North Face and Ultra, you get something for that. Bring in the 20 by 20 or whatever that is.
Eoin Comerford
00:25:19.100 - 00:25:20.220
Bring in the electronics.
Producer Dave
00:25:20.220 - 00:25:21.050
Yep. Right, right.
Eoin Comerford
00:25:21.050 - 00:25:21.450
Yes.
Colin True
00:25:21.850 - 00:25:23.650
And then we got. What do you have? The last one here.
Producer Dave
00:25:23.650 - 00:25:39.290
This is my favorite category. This is the brands who threw caution to the wind, who stepped it up.
And they created names that defy all rules of SEO, that defy pronunciation, but they also defy boring. And so I'm not going to pronounce.
Shawnté Salabert
00:25:39.290 - 00:25:42.410
Oh, no, I want this. No, no, you have to do the first one.
Colin True
00:25:42.410 - 00:25:44.010
Hooty hoo. Hooty, Hooty hoo.
Eoin Comerford
00:25:45.850 - 00:25:46.250
Right.
Shawnté Salabert
00:25:46.410 - 00:25:47.730
And then, wait, my favorite.
Colin True
00:25:47.730 - 00:25:48.250
Okay.
Shawnté Salabert
00:25:48.690 - 00:25:49.410
Wooloom.
Colin True
00:25:52.930 - 00:25:55.090
Google broke when they created that one.
Shawnté Salabert
00:25:55.490 - 00:25:56.170
Too many vowels.
Eoin Comerford
00:25:56.170 - 00:25:57.250
Too many vowels.
Colin True
00:25:57.650 - 00:26:02.650
I mean, oofos, they're having a moment, but you still. They still call themselves oofos, which was great once upon a time.
Eoin Comerford
00:26:02.650 - 00:26:03.050
Apparently.
Producer Dave
00:26:03.050 - 00:26:04.210
It's all better, judge.
Eoin Comerford
00:26:04.210 - 00:26:07.850
Apparently you just have to have a lot of O's in the name to qualify for this category.
Colin True
00:26:07.850 - 00:26:09.730
That's a good point. How many O's did we use?
Shawnté Salabert
00:26:09.730 - 00:26:15.530
It's a lot of O's. I also feel like oofos is the sound I would probably make when I put one on my foot, like, after a long day.
Colin True
00:26:15.530 - 00:26:17.970
I'm pretty sure that's probably what they were going for.
Shawnté Salabert
00:26:17.970 - 00:26:21.470
Yeah, they just recorded everybody making a sound, and that's what they came up with.
Colin True
00:26:22.350 - 00:26:23.230
Who you got next?
Producer Dave
00:26:23.470 - 00:26:28.990
Giant mouse knives from Lansing, Michigan. I have no idea what that means, but awesome.
Colin True
00:26:30.750 - 00:26:33.150
Is the mouse knife giant or is the mouse giant?
Shawnté Salabert
00:26:33.390 - 00:26:40.150
I'm imagining the mouse being giant. It's like Chuck E. Cheese on, like, Revenge. For all the ball pits that every child peed in in the 80s.
Colin True
00:26:40.150 - 00:26:44.870
You like Chuck E. Cheese, right? So Chuck E. Cheese got into some PCP and just, like, went nuts.
Shawnté Salabert
00:26:44.870 - 00:26:45.350
Absolutely.
Producer Dave
00:26:45.350 - 00:26:45.590
Yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:26:45.590 - 00:26:46.830
He's on every. Every drug.
Eoin Comerford
00:26:47.330 - 00:26:47.650
Yes.
Shawnté Salabert
00:26:47.730 - 00:26:48.370
Rampage.
Producer Dave
00:26:49.250 - 00:26:54.850
I do feel like Nara belongs on here, just because, I mean, nara.
Colin True
00:26:55.090 - 00:26:56.850
Gnarly, gnarly, gnarly.
Producer Dave
00:26:57.250 - 00:27:00.210
And then Colin, who will always make our list of names.
Colin True
00:27:00.370 - 00:27:10.050
Dave and I, we knew this for two and a half years. And there's a brand that if we hear they're in the trades, we will mention them. And that's turtle fur. Because it's hilarious. It's turtle fur.
Shawnté Salabert
00:27:10.450 - 00:27:11.170
I want to pet it.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:11.170 - 00:27:12.050
Yes, we love that.
Colin True
00:27:12.370 - 00:27:17.320
And also shout out to the show organizers for feeding us lunch. We. Did you ever get fed lunch at Outdoor Retailer?
Eoin Comerford
00:27:17.320 - 00:27:18.640
Yes, right, Exactly.
Shawnté Salabert
00:27:18.640 - 00:27:19.680
We got lunch today.
Colin True
00:27:19.840 - 00:27:21.600
Bars and breakfast.
Shawnté Salabert
00:27:22.720 - 00:27:25.920
So this is the most well fed I've ever been at a trade show.
Colin True
00:27:26.400 - 00:27:32.440
All right, guys, so thank you for that. Congrats to all the winners. We'll mail you a sticker.
Shawnté Salabert
00:27:32.440 - 00:27:33.200
Hold your head high.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:33.520 - 00:27:33.880
Really?
Shawnté Salabert
00:27:33.880 - 00:27:36.160
I mean, put a little sign on your booze for tomorrow.
Colin True
00:27:36.480 - 00:27:37.720
Yeah, like. Like Livson does.
Producer Dave
00:27:37.720 - 00:27:39.200
Talk to Beth about your discount.
Troy Sicotte
00:27:41.390 - 00:27:41.670
Mention.
Shawnté Salabert
00:27:41.670 - 00:27:42.830
Teller Dave sent you.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:43.470 - 00:27:45.790
Yes. So your plaque is in the mail.
Colin True
00:27:46.430 - 00:28:25.730
So a lot of folks, you know, gather at industry events. The core relationship, though, of this industry industry trade show. Excuse me.
It's built off of the brands and retailers, so we wanted to get the perspective of both of those entities today.
So please welcome to the Rock Fight at the Trailheads Theater, the president of Mountain Hardware, Troy Saicott, and the owner, general manager of Cumberland Transit, which is a specialty outdoor retailer based right here in Nashville, Tennessee, Jason Fennell. Jason's also a La Sportiva athlete. We want to make sure. So shout out to LA Sportiva for sponsoring Jason.
And this means that he will win whatever race he is registered for from coming on this podcast to welcome these guys.
Troy Sicotte
00:28:27.170 - 00:28:27.890
How's it going?
Colin True
00:28:28.610 - 00:28:29.890
Thanks for joining us, guys.
Eoin Comerford
00:28:29.890 - 00:28:33.770
Hey, Colin. You named Troy? I think he nailed. Did he nail it?
Troy Sicotte
00:28:33.770 - 00:28:35.730
We spent a half hour on my last name.
Colin True
00:28:36.050 - 00:28:37.810
I wrote it phonetically in the outline.
Eoin Comerford
00:28:38.500 - 00:28:39.020
Nice, Nice.
Shawnté Salabert
00:28:39.020 - 00:28:42.620
Do you know what he was trying to call? You know how he was trying to pronounce your last name, didn't he?
Colin True
00:28:42.620 - 00:28:43.780
Oh, I screwed it up. What is it?
Troy Sicotte
00:28:44.020 - 00:28:45.180
It was all Owen's fault.
Shawnté Salabert
00:28:45.180 - 00:28:49.060
Psychotic Fennell. He was. He was really trying not to.
Colin True
00:28:49.060 - 00:29:00.580
I was so worried about Troy's. All right, all right, Troy, let's start with you, man.
You know, as a brand operator who saw Outdoor Retailer at its peak and now we're here at Switchback. You know, what are your thoughts, man? Are we back?
Troy Sicotte
00:29:01.620 - 00:29:31.740
I mean, I'm looking out here, hundreds of people. I think first and foremost, we're together and that I think this is the third or fourth week of trade shows, but we're together.
So I think that's a huge win for our industry. Are we back? I think there's still more work to do. I don't think anybody would disagree with that.
So whether that's timing or venue or we're in this giant cruise ship on land, so that's a little. But we're well fed. We're well fed.
Eoin Comerford
00:29:32.180 - 00:29:32.500
Yes.
Troy Sicotte
00:29:32.740 - 00:29:41.300
So, yeah, but it feels. It feels good. And that's, you know, that couldn't be said for the latter years, that other place. Right.
Colin True
00:29:41.460 - 00:29:49.300
Jason, you know, do you want to take a minute to go off on the Gaylord resort as a local? You know, do you want to. I think we'd all relate.
Jason Thienel
00:29:49.460 - 00:29:52.820
Yeah. I mean, my only complaint is it's a long way from my house.
Colin True
00:29:54.420 - 00:29:55.940
Same, actually. Yeah, right.
Jason Thienel
00:29:56.340 - 00:29:57.910
It took me a long time to get here.
Colin True
00:29:57.910 - 00:30:10.270
But, hey, man, like, you're kind of the real hero here. Not to blow too much smoke up your ass, like, publicly. Everyone says we need the retailers to attend these shows above all else.
So, you know, why is that? How does a show like this help your store or how can it help you?
Jason Thienel
00:30:10.270 - 00:30:21.910
Well, first of all, thanks for having me on here. Yeah. And second of all, thanks for calling me a hero. I daily, in my grind against big online retailers, I don't feel like a hero.
Colin True
00:30:21.910 - 00:30:27.470
Good thing Lloyd Vogel left. So.
Jason Thienel
00:30:27.470 - 00:30:45.230
Yeah, I appreciate you saying that, but I think that's.
That's part of why this show is important, is because it, you know, even though I have my daily complaints, I can get together with other retailers and talk about that and say, like, oh, yeah, I'm not the only one that's. That's, you know, upset about this, that or the other.
Colin True
00:30:45.230 - 00:30:46.910
You can feel isolated, I'm sure, at times. Right.
Kent Ebersole
00:30:46.910 - 00:30:47.190
Yeah.
Jason Thienel
00:30:47.190 - 00:31:03.860
I'm just sitting in my store looking at all my clothes.
But, you know, when I come here, it reignites my stoke for brands and, you know, just for getting together with people, like having coffee before the show or beer afterwards or, you know, here at the. At the happy hour.
Shawnté Salabert
00:31:04.420 - 00:31:20.600
Well, actually, I've got a follow up to that. So, Jason, you. You know, obviously, you're retailer, you're an athlete, you're an enthusiast.
So walking around the show today, what did get you excited? Like, did you see anything that you hadn't seen. Seen before. Did you see anything that you thought maybe I need to start carrying this? What.
What are you psyched about?
Jason Thienel
00:31:20.600 - 00:31:23.760
Well, did you guys get to experience the Soundworks water park?
Colin True
00:31:24.800 - 00:31:28.240
No. Can you carry that in your store? That's.
Jason Thienel
00:31:28.240 - 00:31:31.120
It's here on the resort property. Yeah. It's a water park.
Colin True
00:31:31.679 - 00:31:32.240
Anyway.
Jason Thienel
00:31:32.320 - 00:31:43.000
That's a bad joke. No. So I, you know, obviously I'm a fan of the little guy. There's a lot of really cool stuff here. I was really stoked that Ripton is here.
Big fan of Ripton.
Colin True
00:31:43.000 - 00:31:43.840
Shout out Ripton.
Jason Thienel
00:31:43.840 - 00:31:48.320
Yeah, they make some cool stuff, those overalls. Yeah. But my favorite would have to be butt napkins.
Producer Dave
00:31:49.520 - 00:31:50.720
See, Butt napkins.
Eoin Comerford
00:31:51.280 - 00:31:52.720
Shout out to butt napkins.
Shawnté Salabert
00:31:52.720 - 00:32:14.340
The butt. What was the brown? I love. Listen, if anybody here listens to the podcast anytime I work in a poo mention, so you better bet.
When I saw butt napkins, I tried really hard to, like, persuade them to send me away with a butt napkin. And they didn't. They didn't feel it. They didn't. I had to. I had to take Dave's butt butt napkins, which is a sentence.
Eoin Comerford
00:32:18.900 - 00:32:24.340
Jason, you had to go down this path. We were really looking for a poop free podcast, but.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:27.699 - 00:32:29.140
You'Re a sacrificial lamb.
Troy Sicotte
00:32:29.620 - 00:33:28.560
I'll just add one more thing just about our industry coming together. I think the folks that maybe have been in this industry 10 or 20 years benefited from the access to each other, right?
And for the last five or six years, we haven't had that.
So I think, you know, I know I would not be in the seat or have the opportunity to be in the seat or even the interests to work for a brand if it wasn't for that cross pollination of seeing what that brand over there is doing. That's really cool. Whether you're in product marketing, a retailer, a podcaster, whatever that is, or working for a mill, Right.
Just seeing what others are doing is really kind of a secret sauce for our industry. And I think we get jealous, we get envy. We get like, oh, they're doing something cooler. And that makes us all better.
It pushes us so it feels like there's a little bit of that left. Right? Like I was in the rad booth going, like, you guys are doing cool shit. Congrats. Keep it going. Right?
They're a direct competitor, but I'm giving them some affection. Right. That's very unique to this industry.
Colin True
00:33:29.130 - 00:33:37.530
So, Troy, to that point, I mean, with Jason sitting next to you, like, how do you currently feel about the specialty sort of brand relationship. Like, what's working, what's not working from your point of view?
Troy Sicotte
00:33:38.410 - 00:33:50.090
You know, I think there's been a lot of. A lot of hurdles. I think it's no news to anybody in this room that it's like, can we get one freaking year or maybe two or five years of normal?
It's hard.
Colin True
00:33:50.090 - 00:33:51.850
Downloads are crushing because of everything.
Troy Sicotte
00:33:51.930 - 00:34:01.270
We're all tired. You're making some money. We're all. We're all straight struggling to pay for trade show booths. Right? So. But hold on, hold on here.
Eoin Comerford
00:34:01.270 - 00:34:01.870
Let's just.
Producer Dave
00:34:01.870 - 00:34:04.830
Let's get some scale together. Okay?
Troy Sicotte
00:34:05.230 - 00:34:05.710
Hold on.
Eoin Comerford
00:34:05.710 - 00:34:06.830
Colin's making some money.
Shawnté Salabert
00:34:07.150 - 00:34:08.350
I want to know about this money.
Troy Sicotte
00:34:08.750 - 00:34:11.310
You guys didn't see the. That's a whole nother podcast.
Colin True
00:34:11.870 - 00:34:13.310
Give me the money after Troy.
Troy Sicotte
00:34:13.950 - 00:35:19.100
But I think brands that are here, you can tell they're focused on specialty distribution. Right. Much of the industry has recoiled.
So those that should be purveyors of outdoor specialty gear and apparel are doing outdoor gear and specialty apparel. Right. I think there's a little bit of this active lifestyle play that has been all over the podcast.
But this endemic nature of our industry, be it REI or a mom and pop specialty shop, single door, first or third generation. Right. I've run into a lot of those folks here, and that just feels really great. Many of us were at Goa last week.
Every brand is setting appointment records. Right. So trade is working, specialty is working.
I think modern consumers, those brands that have done a lot of consumer insights, are realizing that specialty, independent retail aspect of how you engage with brands and learn about those products is, I think, having a renaissance. So it's important.
Colin True
00:35:22.940 - 00:35:25.500
Same question for you. What's working between brands and specialty?
Jason Thienel
00:35:26.060 - 00:36:03.900
Yeah, I'd say as far as brand relationships, the ones that I mostly admire are the ones that are keeping the marketplace fair. I want to live in a world where consumers can walk into my store and say, say your store isn't expensive.
You know, it's the same price here as wherever I'm going to get it. So that's important to me. As far as things that are, there's not really anything that's not working.
I would like to see, like, there are some brands that do, like, exclusive items for their website or for REI or something like that. I'd love to see an exclusive specialty shop product.
Colin True
00:36:03.900 - 00:36:07.620
You know, we may have talked about this once or twice on the podcast. I don't remember.
Eoin Comerford
00:36:07.910 - 00:36:08.310
You know.
Jason Thienel
00:36:11.990 - 00:36:16.790
Yeah, I mean, can you imagine what that would do for specialty if we had something that you couldn't get anywhere else.
Colin True
00:36:17.190 - 00:36:28.710
How. How would you say, like your customer base has changed over the last five years? I mean, like Troy mentioned has been so much turmoil and it's.
I mean, it's affected every level of the industry. Like, what has changed in your shop on over the last five years?
Jason Thienel
00:36:28.710 - 00:36:45.880
Yeah, well, from my perspective in Nashville, a lot has changed just because it's. Nashville's exploded and there's a lot more tourism now. So now it's like 5050 on if it's a tourist or someone. That's been my customer for.
For a long time. I really need HOKA to come out with a cowboy boot.
Eoin Comerford
00:36:48.040 - 00:36:48.720
That was mine.
Colin True
00:36:48.720 - 00:36:49.399
That was yours.
Eoin Comerford
00:36:49.399 - 00:36:58.120
Yeah, I came up with the hoka. Well, actually it was somebody in my comments, but I chat GPT created taking credit Cumberford.
Jason Thienel
00:36:59.080 - 00:37:02.310
I think they're working on it. It's just they're having a tough time with the stack height.
Eoin Comerford
00:37:02.390 - 00:37:33.830
Okay, that's probably right. So, so, so Troy, you know, we heard a lot about even, you know, as late as the end of yesterday about the sort of the casualization of the industry.
As you look at that as a brand president and you and I have known each other for years, is that going to change your product plans? Is there, is there a thought like, oh, how does mountain harm hardware become more lifestyle y more casual, more accessible? Call it what you will.
Troy Sicotte
00:37:34.470 - 00:38:38.340
Yeah, I think it's a couple different things. Like, you know, speaking for my brand specifically, we make versatile product. Most brands in this building make versatile product.
We need to get better at telling those stories to make sure that consumers understand how versatile, you know, a crater lake hoodie is. You can run in it, you can climb in it, you can use it as a base layer or a mid layer.
And so there are disrupting brands, some of which are in the active lifestyle or lifestyle industry that have done a really good job at telling that story. So, you know, our industry, outdoor retail, this segment has not grown in. We're looking at a decade and a half now. Right.
We're just taking share from each other. So I think that's not a mountain hardware specific thing.
I think it's an industry thing where there have been disruptors that have told a very pure story on just like, hey, this thing's comfortable and you can use it for 10,000 things. Right? I mean, we tend to go like, well, it has a lot of lycra in it and it's not going to wick as fast or dry as fast.
Colin True
00:38:38.340 - 00:38:40.900
The claw is 2.2% better than it used to be.
Troy Sicotte
00:38:40.900 - 00:39:29.290
And that's still important when it's alpine or mountaineering or trail running or ultra running. So I just think there's an element of, you know, we speaking again for my brand, our brand. We already make this stuff.
It's just, how do we, you know, with. With budgets at hand, with. With media prices the way they are, with how media is consumed, you know, it's not a.
I hope it's not a get ready with me TikTok shop. And that's speaking to my head of marketing. He doesn't want that either. Right. But that's happening. How are we gonna respond to that?
Because it's happening, and it's also proliferating and working. So how does our industry. How does a specialty, focused brand like Mountain Hardware respond to that? To drive traffic into his store. Right.
That's the thing. So then his staff is engaged and able to continue that story.
Colin True
00:39:29.850 - 00:39:36.810
So, Jason, you're a customer of Mountain Hardware. Is there anything you'd like to say to Troy? You know, do we want to air it out here, guys?
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:37.530 - 00:39:38.570
How do you really feel?
Jason Thienel
00:39:40.110 - 00:39:41.870
Honestly, I really feel good about Mountain Hardware.
Colin True
00:39:41.870 - 00:39:42.510
Oh, look at that.
Jason Thienel
00:39:43.790 - 00:39:48.550
There was a time where I wasn't. Wasn't so great, but I, you know, I say.
Colin True
00:39:48.550 - 00:39:49.790
And then Troy took over.
Jason Thienel
00:39:49.950 - 00:39:52.990
Yeah, right. And Mountain Hardware is back. It's a. It's a great brand.
Colin True
00:39:53.230 - 00:39:58.990
Last question, guys. Honestly, like, you know, pretty simple and to put you on the spot. We be back at Switchback next year.
Jason Thienel
00:40:00.590 - 00:40:01.950
Yeah, I'll be back. I live here.
Shawnté Salabert
00:40:03.790 - 00:40:05.870
Hopefully it's still here. Hope is not here, Jason.
Colin True
00:40:05.870 - 00:40:06.670
What if it's not?
Shawnté Salabert
00:40:07.270 - 00:40:09.750
What if it's elsewhere? Think hard.
Jason Thienel
00:40:10.790 - 00:40:12.510
If it's elsewhere, maybe. We'll see.
Eoin Comerford
00:40:12.510 - 00:40:13.190
Yeah, we'll see.
Jason Thienel
00:40:13.190 - 00:40:14.550
We'll see how much the flights cost.
Troy Sicotte
00:40:15.430 - 00:40:24.830
Fair point, you say, Troy, we're committed to telling our story and getting in front of more people. So, you know, if Switchback is. That's a very political decent.
Colin True
00:40:24.830 - 00:40:26.750
Yeah, I feel like I'm at a presidential debate right now.
Troy Sicotte
00:40:26.750 - 00:40:56.220
I was in D.C. for a week lobbying on trade, so maybe I learned. But. But absolutely, yes. You know, it's. It's good energy. Watch my LinkedIn.
I mean, I've engaged with 20, 25 people already that I have not seen in person in, I don't know, years, five, 10 years. That alone is worth it. My team, I've experienced them getting access to that as well. So that's super important. Whether that's.
You're a brand or a retailer. Nonprofit.
Colin True
00:40:56.220 - 00:40:57.020
So yes or no?
Troy Sicotte
00:40:57.180 - 00:40:57.940
Absolute yes.
Colin True
00:40:57.940 - 00:40:58.700
Okay, there it is.
Eoin Comerford
00:40:58.860 - 00:40:59.660
Absolutely. Yes.
Colin True
00:41:00.180 - 00:41:12.300
Thank you both so much for joining us. Really appreciate both coming. Thank you for making the time and joining the rock fight. Thanks, guys.
All right, well, producer Dave went to go find I don't know, like a dolly partner autograph or something like that.
Shawnté Salabert
00:41:12.300 - 00:41:14.660
Did he go find Christina to ask if she'll be back next year?
Colin True
00:41:14.660 - 00:41:27.850
He's going in. He's gonna pull everyone in the building. Everyone in the building except the people at Merrill. Yeah, we don't talk to them, so. But that's it, guys.
That's the show. Any final thoughts, Shantae and Owen?
Eoin Comerford
00:41:27.850 - 00:41:29.010
No. Thanks for having us.
Colin True
00:41:29.010 - 00:41:32.010
Yeah, thank you all very much. That's the show for today.
Shawnté Salabert
00:41:34.410 - 00:41:36.330
More, more clapping, more cheering.
Colin True
00:41:36.650 - 00:41:43.930
And here to take us out is Krista Makes with the rock fight fight song. We'll see you next time, rock fighters.
Chris DeMakes
00:41:43.930 - 00:42:39.490
Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight.
Welcome to the rock fight where we speak our truth Slay sacred cows and guys agree to disagree.
We talk about human powered outdoor activities and big bites about topics that we find interesting like pop culture, music, the latest movie reviews, ideas that aim for the head. This is where we speak our truth. This is where we speak our truth. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock flight. Welcome to the rock flight.
Rock flight, Rock flight Welcome to the rock flight Rock flight. Rock fight. Rock light rock rock fight. Welcome to the rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight.
Colin True
00:42:42.050 - 00:42:42.610
Rock.