The largest trade events for the action sports and youth lifestyle industry in the world!

2001 has brought an interesting new perspective to the surf and leisure sports marketing machine. This year's Action Sports Retailer (ASR) San Diego Exhibit demonstrated the new approach with which suppliers and merchandisers intend to enter the next selling season. The show began Thursday September 6th and ran through Saturday September 8th; the ASR Expo in San Diego is among the three largest trade events for action sports apparel in the world. Established in 1981, the ASR trade shows have set the standard for the active wear retailer for over 20 years. This weekend's show included 20,000 attendees, representing over 60 different countries. More importantly, this year's ASR Expo afforded apparel manufacturers the opportunity to communicate with retailers; ensuring them that the active wear industry will continue to grow.

With over 500 companies exhibiting at this year's show, Surfshot.com's weekend coverage was mainly focused on surfing related companies. Reaching 63 companies, we unearthed a slew of information regarding what is expected for 2002 and beyond. Limited resources, however, prevented us from extending our coverage further, and we apologize to the fantastic exhibitors we were unable to cover.

Exhibitors this year expressed their pleasure to us regarding the 2001 event. There is general agreement among the companies exhibiting that foot traffic during this show was lighter than previous shows. This is a good thing, however. By weeding out the freeloaders that generally scam their way into these shows for free merchandise, a healthy business environment was established by ASR. Attendees and exhibitors enjoyed the freedom of conducting business in a true surf style environment; foregoing the needless distractions endured during previous shows. The success of the event is so complete that any complaints throughout the weekend were generally limited to concerns about the inconvenient parking situation.

Though 2001 took a toll on the surfing industry, a majority of companies see blue sky ahead. 84% of the companies we covered at this year's show are forecasting industry wide growth in 2002. However, with 5% of these companies predicting a slow down and another 5% expecting sales to remain even, the naysayers did find their way into the show. A majority of suppliers are approaching next year with a positive outlook, and even though some apprehension exists among retailers, it appears all parties are on the same page. At least for the time being.

You are invited to check out the 2001 ASR Expo. By browsing through the pictures below, you can view pictures of exhibits, new product releases and see the smiling faces of everyone who made this years show a complete success. For additional information regarding ASR, please visit the official ASR web site at www.asrbiz.com.

To access the pictures of each company booth, click on the images on the right and on the links on the left column on the subsequent pages