Key Takeaways:
- Outdoor Retailer will add national and regional pavilions for international brands at its August 2027 show in Minneapolis.
- Sweden-based Huginbiz will lead outreach to pavilion organizers and convene a new advisory board.
- The pavilions are limited to finished-goods brands, with suppliers and factories excluded.
Outdoor Retailer, produced by Forge, is partnering with Huginbiz AB, a Sweden-based international business development firm, to launch an International Pavilion Program at its 2027 show, Aug. 18-20 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Huginbiz will serve as the show’s international advisor and recruiter, working with national and regional pavilion organizers to bring groups of international finished-goods brands to the show floor.
The program is Outdoor Retailer’s first dedicated international initiative since the show moved to Minneapolis in 2026.
“International brands have told us for years that entering the U.S. market is expensive and uncertain,” Outdoor Retailer Group Show Director Matthew Mathiasen said in a statement. “With the International Pavilion Program, they can come in as part of a group, with buyers, media and programming already lined up.”
How the Pavilions Will Work
The program is modeled on the national and regional pavilion structure long used at ISPO. Pavilion organizers such as trade associations, export councils and regional industry groups will contract directly with Outdoor Retailer and recruit exhibiting brands from their home markets.
Early regions of interest include Korea, Iberia, the Nordics and Taiwan.
Huginbiz will lead outreach to organizers and support each organizer through a direct agreement with the show. The firm will also convene a new International Advisory Board of pavilion organizers, brand-side representatives and association leaders to advise Outdoor Retailer on international brand development through the 2027 show cycle.
Pavilion exhibitors will have access to programs Outdoor Retailer introduced in 2026, including its hosted buyer program, Wild Reach powered by Popfly, the Ascent Program and the Retailer Playbook Lab. Through the hosted buyer program, the show will work with pavilion organizers and their brands to identify and invite the retailers they most want to meet.
Finished Goods Only
The pavilions are open only to finished-goods brands, which the show defines as companies that design, own and market a completed consumer product under their own name. Raw material and component suppliers, contract manufacturers, OEM/ODM factories, private-label producers and trading intermediaries are not eligible to exhibit in them.
Huginbiz’s Pavilion Experience
Huginbiz has advised sport, outdoor and fitness companies on international growth since 2004. It represents international trade fairs including ISPO, FIBO, PGA Show and Performance Days in the Nordic region, and organizes pavilions at those shows.
Founder Martin Kössler is a former W.L. Gore key account manager who later established Haglöfs as a leading international outdoor brand. He also founded and led Scandinavian Outdoor Group, a cooperation among Scandinavian outdoor brands, and launched the Scandinavian Village at ISPO in 2001.
Kössler serves as chairman of the supervisory board of premium retail group Europas, works with Sport 2000 International and is a co-owner of EDM, publisher of Sporting Goods Intelligence Europe and Outdoor Industry Compass.
“Trade shows play an instrumental role for the sports and outdoor industry, far beyond just greasing our wholesale business machinery,” Kössler said in a statement. “I experienced the importance of a vital Outdoor Retailer show and how the industry has suffered without it. I look forward together with my colleagues and friends in the European outdoor industry to help bridge our industry across the Atlantic again.”
Huginbiz will meet with prospective pavilion organizers at ISPO Amsterdam, Nov. 3-5.
National and regional organizations interested in leading a pavilion at Outdoor Retailer 2027 can contact Huginbiz at info@huginbiz.com.
Building on the 2026 Debut
Outdoor Retailer rebuilt its format around discovery and emerging brands for its first Minneapolis edition in August 2026. The show drew more than 275 exhibiting brands against a goal of 200, plus more than 400 qualified retail buyers among roughly 1,800 attendees from 45 states and 20 countries.
Independent specialty retailers were the largest buyer segment. Outdoor Retailer is targeting more than 600 buyers for 2027.
“We rebuilt Outdoor Retailer around discovery, and the 2026 show proved buyers are hungry for new brands,” Mathiasen said.
