Scouting Out New Products at the

Let's Play Hockey Show 

The staff recently attended the 2011 Let's Play Hockey International Expo held October 16-17 in Las Vegas, NV. We counted slightly more than 110 exhibitors while walking the show floor. With a show in January, it was the second show this year but there were some notable new exhibitors, two in particular -- Easton Sports and Reebok-CCM -- had a big presence, while Warrior had a sizable presence as well.

Getting the chance to see new products and receiving feedback from dealers is a highlight for us when attending trade shows. In our conversations at Let's Play Hockey, one dealer told us he was the most impressed with Graf Canada's offerings this time. He specifically mentioned their better price points and improved protection gear and sticks. They have always had a top end skate but they have added a starter skate to their offerings, which was refreshing. Another Dealer mentioned that he liked how the new Reebok 11K helmet fits with their Flexliner system.

Fashion

             (1)              (2)

On the fashion scene, Gongshow Gear (1) showed that hockey doesn't have to be stodgy and can be hip. We liked their Go-To belt buckles that say "Built in the Locker Room." House of Cotton also has some designer hockey and figure skating apparel that caught our eye. Custom Sports Jewelry (2) had some striking hockey sticks and player pendants along with hockey stick earrings, and the Russian hockey jerseys were impressive in the fine detail.

Training

 (3)    (4)    (5)

There was also a decent presence of training tools. The Pocket Radar (3) can measure slap speed, skating speed and wrist shot speed. Total Power (4) had the Russian Box  for a plyometric workouts and the new Kai-Core bar that is held on the shoulders to develop balance and strength. Green Biscuit (5) had a puck to improve passing and stickhandling.

Other Notable Products

(6)  (7)  (8)   (9)

Other notable products included the SK-8T Fuel, which is a white paste that is applied to the skate blade to reduce friction; Sudden Death (6) odor eliminator with a rechargeable kit to bring more customers back to the store; Elite non-waxed colored laces; and Mogo Sport (7) with flavored mouthguards.

With the prevention of concussions on everyone's minds, Impakt Protective Inc. (8) and Battle Sports Science (9) were two companies offering sensor devices. 

Consumers Spending Less Time in Stores  

According to the U.S. Labor Department, the number of minutes Americans spend per shopping excursion has fallen from 49.2 minutes in 2004 to 44.7 minutes in 2010. One explanation is that consumers are doing their browsing on the Internet before buying in the store, so less actual browsing is taking place in the store. How about the fact that there just isn't much time available to consumers today?

How do you counter this new reality of retailing? Old school thinking taught retailers to stimulate in-store browsing by making it difficult to find a customer's desired products, or making them walk to the back of stores to increase the chance of impulse purchases. New school thinking teaches that time is very precious to today's consumer. So make it very easy to find products in your stores with signage, location and easily accessible staff. This results in more time left to browse in your store.

c/o NSGA

1601 Feehanville Drive Suite 300

Mt. Prospect, IL 60056

Phone:800.815.5422 ext. 130