TheStreet.com covers OR Show :: August 18, 2008

The news fallout from the Outdoor Retailer trade show—which I covered extensively last week, and plan to write again on later today—has garnered mentioned even on TheStreet.com, a popular business site that covers the financial markets, economic and industry trends and financial planning.

In “Great Gear to Lure Kids to the Great Outdoors,” Jonathan Blum, an independent technology writer and analyst living in Westchester, N.Y., writes about the current economic turmoil having an interesting, two-sided effect on outdoor-goods retail sales.

On one hand, Blum writes, outdoors retail is showing it can stand up to a soft economy with dollar sales for outdoor goods up 9% year-to-date through June, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. Blum says that’s due in part to sales of recession-friendly products like camping gear.

But on the flip side, Blum writes, industry vendors, retailers and travel suppliers are fretting over a serious new long-term threat: Kids are losing their taste for going outside. Everything from National Park use to participation days in outdoor activities, Blum cites, are down among kids.

Read the full story, “Great Gear to Lure Kids to the Great Outdoors,” here:

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10433048/1/great-gear-to-lure-kids-to-the-great-outdoors.html