From November 29-December 2 the LEGEND® team made our way down to Orlando, Florida for the 2016 Running Event. This was our second year exhibiting and we were excited to see some familiar faces and to continuing sharing the LEGEND® story!
Travel Day & Opening Night Social
The team took off from Charlotte in the morning, and after a quick layover in Atlanta, we arrived in Orlando early in the afternoon. The trade show wasn’t formally beginning until the following day, but we were able to pick up our exhibitor badges and attend some fun evening social events. One highlight from the evening was the “laser” maze shown below. Team LEGEND didn’t quite win the race, but we did enjoy some good conversation with retailers and fellow exhibitors from around the country.
After some food and the laser maze, we made our way to the Hoka One One Jam Session and enjoyed a little live music featuring Charlotte local Scott Djovack, owner of one of our local retail partners, Charlotte Running Company. During the Jam Session we enjoyed time with one of our other favorite retail partners, Georgia Game Changers (GGC). By the way, congrats GGC on making the top 50 running retail stores this year! After the Jam Session it was back to the hotel to rest for the official Day 1.
Trade Show Day 1:
Day one began with setting up the booth and putting finishing touches on our preparation for the show. Things kicked off at 4PM and we hit it fast talking about our three core running products, the LEGEND Compression Performance Socks, Leg Sleeves and Recovery Socks. Good conversations were abundant and we enjoyed sharing our story with a few new stores that we had never met before. Here’s a pic of us heading into the show.
Trade Show Day 2:
Day two kicked off right as a couple of the LEGEND® team members hit the ground running, literally, as they competed the Indie 5K. This year’s race was one of a kind as the course took them through Epcot’s World Showcase! Creative Director Carolyn Johnson even finished #33 out of 226 female racers!
Following the race and some quick showers (humidity was 96% that morning) the team took the trade show floor once again. We enjoyed discussing the compression category with different retailers and gaining insights into trends that they are seeing and hearing from customers in their stores. Store owners and buyers were very interested in our Made in the USA story as well as our differentiation as compression done right not tight. Here is a picture of the team in action at our booth during the day.
Trade Show Day Three:
Final day of the show. Retailers were making their final rounds before heading to the airport. Amidst making some solid introductions to new stores, our team enjoyed some extra time walking the floor, creating some relationships with complimentary brands and bartering with our LEGEND socks for some cool gear from other vendors. Come 2PM we were packing up shop and were headed home to North Carolina with hot leads in hand and motivation to continue expanding the LEGEND® brand!
Key Takeaways:
- Retailers really appreciate our medical background and the graduated compression technology expertise that LEGEND brings to the table.
- Made in the USA remains one of our strongest assets. Many of the retailers are local independent stores and their customers value buying locally made products over those that are manufactured overseas.
- Compression Done Right not Tight™ is resonating. The buyers and owners who tried on our socks loved the way they felt and that they were easier on and easier off than other compression socks they’ve worn.
- We love the Running Industry! We left excited about being in such a great industry of passionate people. The retailers and the exhibitors alike all carry a great passion for running and our team left with an extra boost of motivation to keep pushing the envelope in manufacturing cutting edge compression products that make a difference!
We look forward to next year’s event as we head back to the normal location in Austin, TX.