DEL MAR, Calif. (BRAIN) — Emerald Expositions, which announced last month that it was canceling its 2019 Interbike Expo, is talking to industry members about two options for a revived bike trade show as soon as this year.
One option would be to have a bike trade show element at the fall Outdoor Retailer show, scheduled for Nov. 5-7 in Denver. A second option would be to include bikes in the outdoor demo portion of OR's summer show. That show is June 18-20 in Denver, preceded by the demo event on the 17th.
Darrell Denny, an executive vice president at Emerald, told BRAIN that both options are still in the discussion phase.
"We are basically doing what we said we were going to do (when Emerald announced the Interbike cancellation). We said we weren't going to proceed with Interbike as originally planned but are researching alternatives," Denny told BRAIN on Thursday. "I'm hesitant to go into more details because we are still in the concept validation phase," he said.
Former Interbike sales director Andria Klinger has been meeting with industry members to discuss the plans. Emerald had announced in December that Klinger would be laid off on Jan. 1 along with Interbike director Justin Gottlieb and others. On Thursday Denny said Klinger's position has been extended with the company for a special project. He said Interbike's former senior art director, Andy Buckner, who was set to lose his job Jan. 1, also remains with Emerald on other projects.
Besides the June and November shows, Emerald operates the Outdoor Retailer Snow Show, which is Jan. 31-Feb. 2 in Denver.
