WRAP Blog

Biannually, the Outdoor Retailer Association hosts a trade show in Salt Lake City Utah. The Winter Market, held each January, features apparel and accessories for the outdoorsy type. Whether it’s hiking, skiing, camping or snowboarding—if you enjoy the outdoors, you’re in luck.

WRAP attends both of the Outdoor Retailer Associations shows, considering the markets a valuable opportunity to network with apparel producers, buyers, and marketing professionals in the outdoor apparel industry. Last week, WRAP’s Hong Mei and Anthony de Lima headed to Utah from January 24-27 to enjoy the event.

On the first day of the Outdoor Retailer Market, Mei and de Lima attended the Outdoor Industry Association breakfast, presented by The North Face. The breakfast was titled “The Greening of Business – Pathways to Stronger and Smarter Company Performance” and the featured speaker was
Andrew Winston, the founder of Winston Eco-Strategies. Winston’s speech focused primarily on how companies can save energy, and green their business operations and supply chains.

WRAP had a booth in the non-profit region of the exposition, which featured more than 1,000 exhibitors. Nearby were other groups such as the Sierra Club, Boy Scouts, Textile Exchange and numerous outreach organizations that work to promote outdoor activities among youth.

For her part, Mei was impressed by the technology and variety in apparel and accessories for outdoor aficionados. From high-performance socks to water-proof down sleeping bags and jackets to camping gear for pets, the exhibitors at the Winter Market offered everything and more for wintertime athletes and enthusiasts.

“I’m always impressed by the technological advancement at the Outdoor Retailer markets. Going to the show and actually thinking about how they make these products—sweat-wicking running clothes, moisture-proof down, high-performance socks—the technology and innovation is absolutely amazing to me.”

In addition to displaying unique and helpful apparel and accessories, the Outdoor Retailer Market had a strong environmental focus. Much of the discussion and seminars focused on how the creation and supply of the products affected the environment—overall, attendees were environmentally conscious. The Outdoor Industry Association has a supply chain eco-index that it is pushing companies to adopt.

Additionally, Outdoor Retailer has a social responsibility working group, which is where WRAP comes in. Numerous people stopped by the WRAP booth and Mei and de Lima were on-hand to educate them on WRAP’s principles and certification.

Posted on January 27th, 2012 by wrapadmin
Filed under: Shows and Events | No Comments »

This week, WRAP joins hundreds of exhibitors in Medellin for Colombiatex of the Americas from January 24 to 26.

Thanks to increased economic growth of Colombia’s textile industry over the last 23 years, Colombiatex of the Americas has become one of the best opportunities for businesses in the apparel export sector and is now ranked as the largest textile fair in Latin America.

Expectations for Colombiatex 2012 are high, with businesses hoping to increase opportunities for trade and export. Export dynamics are positively affected by the U.S. Congress’ recent approval of the free trade agreement (FTA), which allows the country’s entrepreneurs to position Colombia’s more than 500 products on preferential terms in a market with more than 310 million people.

Additionally, Colombian exporters are now considered equals in the international market, when compared to their counterparts in Chile, Mexico and Peru, which already have FTAs approved.

Another of Colombia’s neighbors, Brazil, is making a big push into the Colombian textile market following the creation of Texbrasil, a program created by the Exports Promotion Agency (APEX) to promote Brazilian textiles internationally. Brazil has more than 30,000 textile companies with a total production of $47 billion (USD) per year, making it the second largest textile producer in the world.

Another immediate benefit of the Colombian FTA is the creation of higher-quality jobs, a trend that occurs in the export sector when investment in the industry is revived.

Incidentally, as a result of the FTA, Colombia no longer depends on transitional arrangements, political swings or indecision on the part of foreign governments or the U.S. Congress for Colombian products to be treated in preferential terms in the international marketplace.

The Colombian government claims that the biggest winners from the FTA agreement are small and medium enterprises, who will gain new opportunities for growth because they can enter their goods and services into large production chains within the country and also supply exporte products. Work is underway to encourage relationships between investors and small Colombian companies, who would gain new resources and increased marketplace competitiveness through new investment.

However, it is clear that these opportunities will require the Colombian government to improve transport infrastructure such as ports, airports, navigable rivers, and railways.

For more information on Colombiatex, visit the website.

Posted on January 23rd, 2012 by wrapadmin
Filed under: Shows and Events | No Comments »