BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Interbike Marketweek in North America concluded on 20th September, after returning to the Reno Tahoe region for the first time since October 1987.
The bike industry trade show and demo event had generally positive feedback despite lightertraffic than expected.
Justin Gottlieb, vice president of Interbike, said: “While the attendance numbers were lower than expected, the new location offered a fresh experience to the industry during a time when change is needed.
“The last few years in particular have been challenging for the North American market – but we are bullish about the future of our business.
“Interbike is going to invest in and focus on growing attendance – from retailers, to distributors, product managers, sales reps and more as this is our primary goal for the 2019 event.
“We also have several sizeable changes in the works for 2019 that we hope to announce in the near future.
“Trade shows play an important role in the business cycle of so many industries, as they bring valuable face-to-face interaction to all key constituents.
“We believe in the IBD and will continue to evolve our events to meet the needs of the bicycle industry.”
The experience kicked-off at the Northstar California Resort on 15th September for the inaugural Free-Ride Festival powered by Interbike.
The event shifted to a private retailer event on Sunday afternoon and all-day Monday, where many bike brands were out of demo bikes with demand-to-ride being high.
More than 2,500 flowed through the expo area on Monday alone, and Sunday evening’s new Retailer Welcome Reception was at maximum capacity with approximately 150 retail buyers in attendance.
Gottlieb said: “As with any major change to an event, we have things to learn and refine in the future.
“The demo experience was certainly improved over ODD’s in the past, with Northstar California providing an amazing venue, but we hate to see empty bike racks with attendees waiting to ride.
“While this may be viewed as a good problem to have, there’s an opportunity for more brands to get consumers (who came from the Bay Area, Sacramento, Reno and beyond) and retailers from across the country, on their bikes at an epic venue.
“Now that we’ve gone through an event cycle, our sales team will be better prepared to show benefits and features of the event to industry brands.”
