News from National Ski & Snowboard Retailers Association!

Welcome to the NSSRA Newsletter. This publication is sent to all NSSRA members via email and be posted on the NSSRA website, www.nssra.com.

We welcome your comments and ideas for articles in future issues. In addition, if there is an issue troubling you, this newsletter is the appropriate vehicle to bring that topic to the attention of your fellow retailers.

Teddy Schiavoni, Summit Ski & Snowboard

NSSRA Chairman of the Board

Larry Weindruch

NSSRA President

NSSRA Chairman:

Prepare, Adapt for the Future

In last season's episode of being a Snow Sports Retailer, we were still a niche group with our own National trade show operated by SIA. The industry was, more or less, status quo with the usual quirky issues at play. Much has changed. Some of it is very good and some maybe not so much. Either way, you need to be aware and be prepared to adapt with the future of our industry.

No "Fake News," here's what's happening:

SIA sold the Snow Show to Emerald Exhibitions which owns and operates the Outdoor Retailer shows. SIA was not sold; SIA sold its show.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Retailers and Suppliers from specialty snow and outdoor will all come together under one roof. It's a huge opportunity for both sides of the table for all the reasons we can imagine: creating efficiency; identifying business opportunities; developing new relationships; reinforcing the existing ones; emerging trends and more.

Cons: Retailers and Suppliers from specialty snow and outdoor will all come together under one roof. It's likely to feel like being dropped onto the campus of Texas A&M during homecoming, without orientation, and the success of your business hinges on everything. Along with this epic attendance comes hotel demand. It's up. Way up! And so are the hotel rates. We had it really good for a really long time.

NSSRA Point of Sale data project with SportsOneSource: I've been told by SOS that the first round of data will be published in November. Our industry needs this to work and we need as much retailer participation as possible for it to be successful. We all heard the complaints that the former data was, "Inaccurate" or "Unreliable" ... and so on. NSSRA took the initiative to work with SOS believing that a data source supported by the retailers and for the retailers would serve the greater good of the industry. Weekly market reporting, instead of 90-day hindsight, will help everyone validate business decisions. With this industry being so seasonal, having actionable information on a weekly basis should be as clear as black and red.

As a retailer, if you are contacted by SOS and asked to provide POS data to support the program, please speak with them and consider the value of participation. As a supplier, understand this is the best chance we have. Please give it a good look and don't hesitate to provide your feedback, good or bad. Collaboratively, we have an opportunity to improve on it and make it right. For more information, email SOS at [email protected].

NSSRA collaboration with Ship Skis and SporTube: Both companies are Supporting Members of NSSRA. Together, we are working on a project encouraging travelers to bring their own equipment along by having it shipped from and to participating shops across the country. Shops participate by signing up with Ship Skis as a pickup and drop-off center, creating a network of reliable NSSRA member shops to handle travelers' equipment on destination adventures. The participating shops can engage these customers (in spending mode) and monetize these shipments. SporTube has designed and built a specific shipping case to handle recurrent use as a rental product with this program in mind. This is a new opportunity to create a better service experience for travelers while keeping them within the snow sports environment. We'd rather send them into your stores than have pickups and drop-offs at their doors. Take advantage and sign up. Check out our shipping programs by clicking here.

Learn To Ski and Snowboard Month: The organizers of LSSM are developing more user-friendly tools to help promote their messages. Beginning this fall, you will receive digital ad messages (similar to Promoboxx) for ease of use, in helping to grow snow sports. We encourage you to include this content in your local marketing throughout the season. LSSM is making it very easy to do our part and the least we can do is redistribute their work. For more information or with any questions, reach out directly to Mary Jo Tarallo: 202-431-6950 or at [email protected] .

There are some intriguing, new and progressive collaborative efforts among retailers and some in conjunction between brands with retailers. The La Familia project by evo delivers evo's online purchases into partner stores around the country for pickup, set up and fittings. Meanwhile, several major brands have taken to using Locally.com as a new O2O (online to offline) conversion source. There, consumers visiting brand websites who "Want it Now," are shown local in-stock availability, referring them into local retail stores, some with Reserve and Buy Online Pickup in Store functionality.

I'm feeling good about all I see happening. Our industry is coming together in a new and exciting trade show environment with great potential for retailers and suppliers alike; to create new relationships and build on the existing. Collaborations between retailers acting as shipping centers will service the snow sports customer where we want them -- in our stores. The POS data project should become the go-to resource for suppliers to rely on sales in as close to real-time as possible, enabling better and more efficient decision-making. The updated Learn to Ski and Snowboard initiative will deliver potential newcomers a more contiguous message across the country if we support it, which we should. And finally, websites providing a better consumer-facing experience with guided in-store conversions is the new frontier and we're going there. Great news for the brick and mortars!

Health and prosperity to you, your families and your staff,

Teddy Schiavoni

NSSRA Chairman

Summit Ski & Snowboard, Framingham, MA

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING BOOT-BINDING COMPATIBILITY

Shops and customers can choose from a wide variety of ski/binding/boot systems for alpine and backcountry skiing. Using ski boots and bindings that are not designed to be compatible increases the risk of injury to the customer and increases the potential liability exposure for your shop .

NSSRA, working with the F27 Snow Ski Committee of ASTM, is providing guidelines to retail and rental shops regarding customers who wish to pair boots with bindings not intended by their respective manufacturers to be used in combination with each other.

These guidelines have been sent to all NSSRA members along with the 2017/18 Combined Indemnified Bindings List. Non-NSSRA retail and rental shops may download these guidelines by clicking here.

To receive the Combined Indemnified Bindings List, non-members may complete the secure online membership application or download the membership application, both at the Association's website, or contact NSSRA President Larry Weindruch, [email protected] , who can take your information either via email or over the phone, (847) 391-9825.

Featured Member Benefit:

SporTube Rental Tube Program

In conjunction with the new NSSRA ShipSkis gear shipping program, SporTube is offering a SporTube hard case for rental purposes. The SporTube rental hard cases will be available at NSSRA-member pricing and in a custom charcoal color.

Shipping of ski and snowboard equipment is commonplace nowadays, as it eliminates hassles and luggage fees associated with airline travel. With a little planning, it ensures your gear arrives safely at your destination with no need to move your gear to and from the airport and check it with the airlines.

SporTube is offering a rental program designed to improve and build brand awareness amongst travelers by allowing a potential customer to experience the many benefits of using a hard case to ship or travel with skis and boards. Not only will this rental program be a source of revenue for retailers, SporTube believes this will ultimately lead to new customers and more sales of SporTube hard cases at retail.

For more information on the options available to NSSRA-member retailers, please go to www.sportube.com, call (800) 423-4439, or email: [email protected].

Housing, Registration Are Open for Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show

With many more people expected to attend this year's show, it is important to reserve your hotel rooms sooner rather than later. Go to https://www.outdoorretailer.com/travel/hotels/ or call (864) 208-2376 to make your reservations, which are provided by EventSphere, the official housing partner of the show.

Benefits of booking within the official housing block include: exclusive show rates; flexible cancellation policies; reservation relocation protection; U.S. based contact center open 24/7/365; exclusive promotions and perks; pre-arrival acknowledgement emails including a hotel confirmation number will be provided approximately seven days prior to arrival; and on-site customer support presence at the show.

For more information, contact EventSphere at [email protected].

Also, t he show officially opened for registration, and the exhibitor list is available. A sneak peek at the exhibitor list is available here, with new brands added daily. Attendees are encouraged to register and book their hotels early.

Future Show Dates Announced

The five-year calendar for the Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show begins with the previously announced 2018 dates and extends through 2022. Outdoor Retailer is committed to Denver, and the Colorado Convention Center, which will host all Outdoor Retailer's trade shows:

2018

Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show: January 25-28

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market: July 23-26

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market: November 8-11

2019

Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show: January 8-11

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market: June 17-20

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market: November 5-8

2020

Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show: January 7-10

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market: June 22-25

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market: November 9-12

2021

Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show: January 11-14

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market: June 14-17

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market: November 15-18

2022

Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show: January 10-13

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market: June 10-13

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market: November 11-14

NSSRA Unveils New Website

The new NSSRA website has a fresh look and several updated features, including the capability of accepting secure membership renewals online through Authorize.net. Check out the website at www.nssra.com.

Former Chairman Paul Prutzman Inducted into PA Hall of Fame


	Paul Prutzman, center, with NSSRA President Larry Weindruch, left, and NSSRA Board member and SMC President Tom Gately.

Paul Prutzman, who served NSSRA as Chairman of the Board of Directors, was recently inducted into the Pennsylvania Snow Sports Museum Hall of Fame. Prutzman, who owned Pinnacle Sports Shop in Reading, has been involved in many aspects of snow sports, including as an instructor, ski patroller and a long-time member of the Pennsylvania-based Flying Dutchmen Ski Club.

His shop won the Ski Magazine Gold Medal Shop designation. As an innovator, Paul developed and patented a unique device for modifying ski boot shells. As vice president and treasurer of the Pennsylvania Snow Sports Museum, Paul established the first official office and memorabilia collection center in Reading, PA.

NSAA Launches Safety Initiative

You'd be hard-pressed to find a family more passionate about skiing and snowboarding than Kelli and Chauncy Johnson. The Johnsons, who live in northern Wyoming with their four children, have built their lives around the sports. By 2010, they had three young children, and Kelli and Chauncy committed themselves to teaching them to ski at an early age. As much as the sport had blessed Kelli and Chauncy and provided them so much joy, it also resulted in one of the most heart-wrenching ski accidents ever.

Read More

UPS and FedEx Take Different Approaches to Holiday Volume

If you use UPS for your small package residential shipments, expect to see a jump in costs this holiday season. UPS announced that it will add a 27-cent charge on all Ground residential packages from November 19 through December 2 and then again from December 17 through December 23. Air packages and packages that qualify as large or over maximum limits will also see an increase.

In a notable departure from UPS, FedEx will not follow suit. Instead, the only holiday surcharge they will be adding is for packages that are big or bulky enough to require special handling.

PartnerShip®, the company that manages the NSSRA Shipping Program, has taken a closer look at these changes. Click here to learn more about what shippers can expect this holiday season.

NSSRA members receive exclusive discounts on select FedEx® services through the NSSRA Shipping Program. For more information and to enroll, visit www.PartnerShip.com/14nssra.

News Digest

Pawlak Named NSAA President: The board of directors of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has named Kelly Pawlak as NSAA's new president and CEO. Pawlak, who is vice president and general manager at Mount Snow Resort in Vermont, will assume the position January 1, 2018. Pawlak has been Mount Snow's VP/GM for the past 12 years, and has worked at the resort for more than 30 years in a variety of executive positions, including VP of operations, human resources, and marketing and sales.

"I am honored and excited for this tremendous opportunity," said Pawlak. "At Mount Snow my love of skiing quickly grew into a passion for the ski industry, and now I look forward to putting my experience to work on the national level."

NSP Names New Executive Director: The National Ski Patrol (NSP) announced that Meegan Moszynski has been appointed the organization's new executive director, effective July 17. She brings extensive experience working with leaders in the private, public and nonprofit sectors and has developed a strong network of local and international stakeholders in a variety of industries.

Moszynski most recently worked as president of QF Group, Inc. and executive director of The Leaders Initiative. Previously, she directed the Ideas Program at the Biennial of the Americas, where she curated conversations on today's most significant issues in the Americas related to trade, education, the environment, culture and community. Her career has seen her work in many different industries, and taken her to Chile, California, Wyoming, New York and New England.

Smith Helmet Recall Notice: This recall involves all 2016 and 2017 Smith Quantum ski and snowboard helmets. They were sold in in sizes S, M, L and XL in matte black/charcoal, matte white/charcoal, matte Fire (red) /charcoal, matte Klein Blue (blue), matte olive green, matte Reactor (bright green) /black and matte Thunder gray (gray) color combinations. Smith Quantum is printed on a label inside the helmet along with the manufacturing dates.

Hazard: The buckle on the helmet can disengage, posing a risk of head injury.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported

Sold At: Specialty ski and snowboard shops and by major retailers and online from October 2016 through July 2017 for about $300.

Units: About 7,000 (in addition, about 1,000 were sold in Canada)

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled helmets and contact Smith for instructions on returning the helmet, free of cost, to Smith for a free repair. Smith toll-free at 833-459-0417 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT Monday through Friday.

Pro-Tec Helmet Recall: About 4,600 multisport helmets from Pro-Tec are being recalled.

Name of Product: Multisport helmets

Description: This recall involves Pro-Tec City Lite and Pro-Tec Street Lite adult mult-isport helmets. The helmets have chin straps secured by plastic buckles and were sold in sizes S, M, L, and XL. The same buckle was used on all sizes of both helmets. The buckle bears the markings "ERGO-LOK" and the "UTX D-FLEX" logo. A label on the inside of the helmet reads "Pro-Tec City Lite" or "Pro-Tec Street Lite." The recalled helmets have a date code inside on the EPS liner in the format MM/DD/YYYY-090EO. There are two vent holes in the back of the helmet. The left vent hole has either an LED light or a plastic insert. The City Lite helmet was sold in rubber black and gloss white, and the Street Lite helmet was sold in rubber black, rubber red and gloss white.

Hazard: The buckle on the helmet fails to meet current federal safety standards, posing a risk of head injury.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported

Sold at: McCully Bicycle & Sporting Goods, Quality Bicycle Products, Uncle Funky's Boards, and other sports specialty stores nationwide and online from February 2016 through January 2017 for about $80 for the City Lite helmet, and about $60 for the Street Lite helmet.

Remedy: Refund. Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled helmets and return them to Pro-Tec for a full refund. Contact Pro-Tec toll-free at 844-368-3695 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or online at www.protecbrand.com and click on CPSC Safety Recall for more information.