Trade Show

Grassroots, FFANY Cancel June Trade Shows

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Two more industry events have joined the ranks of COVID-19 related closings. On Tuesday, the Fashion Footwear Association of New York announced it would not be holding June market week, originally planned for June 1 to 5, to concentrate on the August edition, still scheduled for Aug 3 to 7. On Monday, the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance said it would not hold the June edition of its specialty shop-oriented Connect show, initially slated for June 12 to 15 in Knoxville, TN.

The shows join a list of canceled events that includes the Running Industry Association’s KICK show, initially planned for May in Denver. Outdoor Retailer stager Emerald Expositions has said it is “closely tracking recommendations from government and health authorities” but has not announced any changes to the summer OR show, scheduled for June 23 to 25 in Denver.

“While there still may remain an optimistic outlook that travel bans and social distancing restrictions will be lifted by June, the prospect of having any type of collective industry gathering in New York City in June simply does not seem feasible or prudent,” FFANY Executive Director John Heron said in a statement. “Every company in our association has been dealing with this situation individually but all share in that June will be a period of recovery and rebuilding. Officially cancelling the June FFANY will allow for companies to plan for this recovery on their own accord with steps and protocols that make sense to them.”

Grassroots said the show would move ahead with a “digital framework” for spring buying, including a resource hub with best practices on digital workbooks and video line showings.

“By announcing this change now, our hope is that we will give all of our members and partners as much time as possible to work toward this common goal,” Rich Hill, president of Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, said in a release. “We are creating a transparent, easily accessible process that can be shared with all independent specialty retail stores to help everyone get through this challenging season. With a digital Connect, we’re not trying to recreate the wheel. We’re just hoping to assemble a bunch of new wheels so that everybody can keep moving forward."