127 Outdoor Recreation Businesses Urge House to Pass Great American Outdoors Act
127 outdoor businesses sent a letter to House leadership this week urging passage of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). GAOA, if passed, will stimulate the outdoor recreation industry and the thousands of small and large businesses that comprise the growing industry. GAOA would also create more safe and sustainable recreation access while improving infrastructure. The 127 cross-sector companies include, among others, Airstream, Bass Pro Shops, Brunswick, Cabela's, Columbia Sportswear, Kampgrounds of America, Polaris Inc., Pure Fishing, The North Face, VF Corporation, Winnebago and Yamaha. All of them signed on in order to highlight that investments in conservation and recreation are needed to provide business certainty so the recreation industry can get back to what it does best — grow jobs, support healthy communities, economies and people and provide more opportunities for everyone to benefit from time spent outside.
GAOA would provide a critical boost to what was, before the pandemic, a $778 billion a year industry supporting 5.2 million jobs and accounting for 2.2% of United States Gross Domestic Product. According to Outdoor Recreation Roundtable’s member survey and dashboard of the sector, 94% of outdoor industry businesses have experienced a decrease in sales and 88% have laid off or furloughed a portion of their workforce. These businesses have urged the House to pass GAOA before the August recess to revitalize this critical sector of the economy.
Yuji “Mack” Matsumoto Named President of Sightron, Inc.
Sightron, an innovative optical observation and aiming device company, recently announced that Yuji “Mack” Matsumoto has been named president effective July 1, 2020. Mack will assume the role previously held by Yoshinobu “Yoshi” Hamada, who announced his retirement on June 30, 2020. Yoshi has held the position of president of Sightron since 2010. In his role, Yoshi has successfully led the company to great success with many innovative product introductions and new technologies.
Mack comes to Sightron from Kenko Tokina where he holds the position of CFO and president of Kenko Tokina USA, Inc. Previously, Mack held the title of vice president of THK Photo Products, Inc. During his vast careers with THK Photo and Kenko Tokina USA, Mack has developed an exemplary reputation for strong leadership, executing strategy and driving growth.
Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's to Hire 5,000
Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's are hiring 5,000 new team members nationwide, with positions available in many cities across the country.
The outdoor retailer is seeing unprecedented interest in families and individuals returning to nature where they can safely practice social distancing activities such as fishing, hiking, camping and boating. Some of the positions available include Tracker Marine Boat Center, Hunting, Customer Service and Switchboard/Operator.
Southwick Associates Report on the Size of the 2019 Hunting and Shooting Market
Southwick Associates recently released a report detailing the size and trends of the 2019 hunting and shooting sports market. Overall, retail revenues declined 8% in 2019 across all categories, according to a new market size report, while overall units remained in line with 2018. The overall value of the market in 2019 dropped to $19.5 billion.
Firearms and ammunition experienced less discounting than other product categories and for the first time in several years presented increases in total units sold. Handguns, shotguns and traditional rifles all saw an increase in units sold over the prior year. The largest growth was seen in firearm storage, and the largest declines were seen in optics, black powder, firearm parts and shooting equipment.
The new “2019 Retail Market Size Report – Hunting and Shooting Equipment”, with 20-plus pages of detail, is available from Southwick Associates for $3,500. The report includes unit and dollar sales estimates of more than 100 products directly associated with hunting and recreational shooting. Other items such as travel-related spending, real estate and indirect equipment such as vehicles are not included. For more information on Southwick’s market size reports and to view a sample report, visit www.southwickassociates.com. To purchase a report, or to discuss any custom research needs, contact Nancy Bacon at Nancy@southwickassociates.com.
