The local owner of the Active Collective and Swim Collective trade shows held this month at the Anaheim Convention Center thinks the recent change of scenery—and a new focus on wellness—are improving the fortunes of the biannual shows, two of the largest events of their type in the U.S.
San Juan Capistrano-based trade show operator Emerald Expositions Events Inc. (NYSE: EEX), which owns Active Collective and Swim Collective, moved the shows last year to Anaheim after acquiring them in 2016 from founder Shannon Leggett.
They paid $14.2 million for the shows—which are geared towards buyers from the country’s largest retail, boutique and specialty stores—according to regulatory filings.
Emerald, which operates nearly 60 events annually in the U.S., cited the need for additional space as the motivating factor for the relocation.
That’s because the sister shows were bursting out of a previous home at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa, where they were held for nearly eight years.
“We outgrew the other space,” said Jane Preston, vice president of sales at Swim Collective.
“We were in three and four ballrooms, in the hallways—we were stuffed all over the place.”
The Anaheim space is estimated to run more than 50,000 square feet for the two shows.
This month’s events marked the second year the winter iterations of the two shows were held in Anaheim.
Emerald’s Vice President of Marketing Adrienne Belk said in addition to more space, Anaheim is more accessible for brands presenting at the show—pointing out access to a loading dock as opposed to using a hotel’s front entrance, for example.
Wellness Key
The digs also allow Emerald, which has a market value of about $940 million, to add new initiatives and concepts such as the debut of its Wellness section, which featured brands in the health and beauty space.
“We continue to add more fun opportunities for buyers and sellers with happy hour and bringing in interactive lounges to evolve from being in a hotel at the beach,” she said.
“We’re now [in] a different scenery and business, but it’s still fun-focused, laidback.”
Attendance at both shows, which ran on Jan. 7 and 8, was an estimated 1,400.
Buyers hailed from notable companies including Nordstrom, REI, Revolve, Diane’s Beachwear and Amazon.
Executives with Irvine-based Beach Bunny Swimwear, a lingerie-inspired swimsuit and bikini line that has participated in Swim Collective since its 2010 inception, said they met with more buyers at the show than previous years.
“We love the buyer mix that attends Swim Collective and to be honest the show is easy to participate in—the booths are minimal and it is a product-based show,” said Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Iannazzone-Barbour.
“We saw more buyers than normal, opened new accounts,” and received orders for new business, including the upcoming summer season, she said.
Stretching Out
The vibe was certainly relaxed on the showroom floor, which included areas outfitted with coffee, snacks and a catered lunch for buyers to relax between meetings.
The new Wellness section was between the two trade show areas, and consisted of a dozen brands including Laguna Beach natural skincare line Lumion.
Co-founders Amy Briant, who also co-founded fitness studio Pilates Plus OC, and Lisa Bonoff said that since the 3-year old brand is sold online and at yoga and Pilates studios it made sense to participate in the trade show.
Active Collective Sales Executive Devon Damelio said many retail buyers were asking for more wellness brands at the show.
Numerous national retailers are carving out space for wellness brands on their sales floor. Retailers trying to cash in on the business range from luxury department store Barneys to popular chains like Madewell, Anthropologie and Nordstrom.
Beauty retailer Sephora has also been expanding its own wellness offerings, including selling products from Bay-area startup Cocofloss, a coconut-oil dental floss retailing for $8, as well as herbal supplements between $38 and $65 from Los Angeles-based company Moon Juice, which refers to its powders of “superherbs” as “Moon Dusts.”
Damelio said she expects the new Wellness section at the conference to grow.
While plans are already underway to include more brands for its summer show, she’s careful to point out it must still make sense for clientele.
“It has to make sense to the active world so not just any kind of wellness brand but something that would make sense in an active-specific store,” she said.
Rachel Nobles, retail and buyer relations for Active Collective and Swim Collective, said the addition also means it can engage with buyers outside of the activewear space such as wellness specific retailers and even gourmet grocers.
The new Wellness section isn’t the only change. It joins the Beach category, launched in August, according to Preston.
Beach is a curated section of high-end resort wear, including hats, footwear and accessories.
“We used to have sandals, hats and suntan lotions scattered throughout the floor and it would be a hit and a miss,” Preston said. “So we figured, like wellness, [package] it all together as beach lifestyle then market it to that buyer that this is where you go on the floor.”
The 11 brands housed in the Beach category were placed together in the middle of the Swim exhibit.
Fashion Cycle
Swim Collective is the largest swimwear conference in the Western U.S. by attendees and participants, according to Emerald’s latest annual report.
The swimwear conference was followed up with Active Collective in 2014. Emerald expanded the trade show to New York in 2017. Organizers say it’s the first and only fashion activewear trade show in the U.S.
The booth count at last week’s Active Collective was 140 and Swim Collective drew in about 100 booths. Roughly a third of the booths were for OC-based companies.
Local brands at the show included performance swimwear manufacturer TYR Sport Inc. in Seal Beach, Manhattan Beachwear Inc., a Cypress-based manufacturer of private and licensed swimwear brands, and BECCA by Rebecca Virtue, an Anaheim-based label.
LSpace America LLC, another swimsuit maker based in Irvine, was also in attendance showing off its summer 2019 merchandise.
Director of Sales Debby Martin said LSpace took a break from the show last year, but returned with “a packed booth both days.”
“The show provides a great platform for us to launch our Summer 2019 collection for peak season and get hindsight feedback from the current collection at retail and recap [fourth-quarter] holiday sales,” Martin said.
“Overall, the swim section felt smaller and more focused, but for LSpace it was very successful and the timing helps as we kick off our Summer capsule.”
Attendance has gone up and down in recent years, even with the move to Anaheim.
“I think like anything in fashion it’s a bit cyclical,” said Roy Turner, senior vice president at Emerald Expositions. “Two years ago you heard athleisure is going away, but now it seems to be a staple. Stores are looking at ways to grow, which is where the product mix comes in of curating a wellness venue to keep that excitement.”
The organizers declined to cite revenue of the two conferences, but said the shows have consistently grown and year-over-year growth continues.
Belk of Emerald Expositions said the key to growing the show is making sure it keeps an eye on trends and takes steps to bring in a healthy assortment of brands, as well as introduce new categories.
“It’s really creating a marketplace of the right products displayed in the right groupings to make it easier for the buyers to shop,” she said. “And then, making sure you have the right type of buyers to buy those products.”
