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Tariff uncertainty looms large as Outdoor Retailer returns to Utah

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Tariff uncertainty looms large as Outdoor Retailer returns to Utah


SALT LAKE CITY — A collective giggle erupted in a Salt Palace Convention Center conference room when the T-word made its first appearance at this year’s Outdoor Retailer.

That T-word? Tariffs.

Outdoor Retailer is back in Utah this week, and it was immediately clear from the first scheduled event on Tuesday that tariffs are the latest uncertainty looming over the outdoor recreation product trade industry. It follows other drastic challenges over the past few years, like new consumer habits, natural disasters and — of course — the supply chain.

“They’re the elephant that everybody has to deal with in the industry at this point,” said Sunny Stroeer, owner of Dreamland Safari Tours in Kanab and founder of the mountaineering adventure group AWExpeditions.

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The outdoor industry supported about 5 million jobs in the U.S. alone two years ago, as well as $1.2 trillion in economic output and 2.3% of the country’s gross domestic product, according to the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable. But the impact of tariffs — a tax on imported goods — remains unclear for the people who manufacture outdoor products and the people who sell them.

President Donald Trump raised tariffs for certain countries not long after taking office in January, and he imposed even more widespread tariffs as part of his “Liberation Day” plan unveiled in April. It featured a broad tariff of 10% for all countries, with even steeper tariffs on various items brought in from countries like China, Canada and Mexico in an attempt to handle the U.S.’s trade imbalance.

There have been pauses, court cases and trade negotiations since then, but some are still in place, and others are slated to take effect later this year, per the law firm Reed Smith and its “Tariff Tracker.”

It’s become a logistical challenge for manufacturers, many of which still rely on a global supply chain. One of the companies that Joleen Ong — senior director of brand and retailer membership at Cascale, formerly known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition — works with relayed a story to her about how a truck carrying supplies from Mexico arrived in the U.S. hours before a tariff changed.

“If that truck driver had just stopped to get a coffee or take a break, they probably would have saved like $4 million,” she told an audience of growing companies gathered at Outdoor Retailer.

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Some companies, she adds, have rushed to get products into the U.S. as soon as possible because they don’t want to deal with the possibility of tariffs being reinstated later this year. Others are concerned that additional tariffs could come down the road beyond what’s been introduced.

Many are trying to figure out what costs they can absorb and what costs end up going to the consumer, while many are also looking to see where they can be more efficient with their supply chain to avoid this dilemma.

In short, she says it’s become a “really big deal” because the potential tariffs are “quite sweeping” globally as compared to the past.

Retailers set up for Outdoor Retailer at Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday. (Photo: Carter Williams, KSL.com)

All of this comes as the supply chain has become decentralized over the past several decades, explains Jenni Staudacher, vice president of supply chain of Salomon, a French sports equipment manufacturer whose North American headquarters are located in Ogden.

That means goods might be stored, processed or transferred across different facilities to cut costs, increase flexibility or improve customer service. One problem with the tactic is that it also puts companies at risk when tariffs change the cost of shipping between facilities between countries.

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What complicates this for outdoor retail companies is that they do source from many different countries. When pressed by a concerned business in the audience, she explained that the best approach to deal with the uncertainty is to review operational logistics and prepare for every possible outcome.

“When it comes to tariffs, we really don’t know what the future is going to hold,” she said.

This year’s Outdoor Retailer features about 300 brands from dozens of countries, many of which are displaying the latest and greatest versions of gear, materials, and ideas in outdoor recreation products. Executives at other companies described how they’re handling the situation, such as trying to stick to a strategy that works and ride through the uncertainty.

“Despite the industry going through the ups and downs, people are going to find a way to get outside,” said Peter Labore, CEO of winter sports gear retailer Christy Sports, pointing to a range of popular outdoor activities. “How we participate in that, how we help enable people (get outdoors), there’s a role for us. … It’ll work out. This too shall pass.”

Utilizing newer tools

While tariffs could be this year’s boogeyman, experts say artificial intelligence could be a major barrier-breaker in the industry. A panel discussion focused on how AI can help companies in many ways, ranging from operational efficiency to trimming advertising costs.

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Content creation — another trendy subject — also shows little signs of stopping as businesses seek to woo customers.

For businesses like Park City’s Skullcandy, content creation now accounts for nearly a quarter of the sales budget. It uses tools like CreatorIQ to find the right people who might best amplify its products, said Evin Catlett, the company’s global vice president. It mirrors what other companies like Utah’s own Cotopaxi are doing to drum up an audience.

These types of trends, on top of the demand for outdoor recreation, are why Outdoor Retailer director Sean Smith remains optimistic about the trade industry despite its newest challenge.

“It’s always going to be something,” he said. “The recession is going to hit, there will be natural disasters — this industry is just resilient, and every brand that is still surviving today has been through it all.”

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas


CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.

LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.

Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.

The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.

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MORE | Murder-Suicide

Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.

10:33 a.m. — Call 1

After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.

Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.

“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”

11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3

As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.

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“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”

11:26 a.m. — Call 4

Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.

“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”

She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.

Police indicated officers were on the way.

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2:26 p.m. — Call 5

Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.

Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.

“They found a note on the door.”

2:35 p.m. — Call 6

Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.

“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”

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A dispatcher responded:

“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”

2:36 p.m. — Call 7

Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:

“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”

2:39 p.m. — Call 8

Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.

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“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”

He repeats the details he knows for the second time.

3:13 p.m. — Call 9

Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.

“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”

Dispatch responded:

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“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”

4:05 p.m. — Call 10

More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.

“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”

The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.

Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.

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The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.

5:23 p.m. — Call 11

Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.

“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”

She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.

Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference

Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.

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The investigation remains ongoing.

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Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing

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Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing


AI glasses could allow you to get answers, snap photos, access audio and take phone calls—and now a proposal moving through the legislature would ban the glasses from Utah school classrooms.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kizzy Guyton Murphy, a mother who accompanied her child’s class on a field trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday. “You can’t see inside what the student is looking at, and it’s just grounds for cheating.”

Mom Tristan Davies Seamons also sees trouble with AI glasses.

“I don’t think they should have any more technology in schools than they currently have,” she said.

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Her twin daughters, fourth graders Finley and Grayson, don’t have cell phones yet.

“Not until we’re like 14,” said Grayson, adding they do have Chromebooks in school.

2News sent questions to the Utah State Board of Education:

  • Does it have reports of students using AI glasses?
  • Does it see cheating and privacy as major concerns?
  • Does it support a ban from classrooms?

Matt Winters, USBE AI specialist, said the board has not received reports from school districts of students with AI glasses.

“Local Education Agencies (school districts) have local control over these decisions based on current law and code,” said Winters. “The Board has not taken a position on AI glasses.

MORE | Utah State Legislature:

Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.

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“I think it should be up to the teachers,” said Briauna Later, another mother who is all for preventing cheating, but senses a ban could leave administrators with tired eyes.

“It’s one more thing for the administration to have to keep track of,” said Later.

The proposal, HB 42, passed the House and cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.

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Kalshi sues Utah over efforts to stop prop betting in the state

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Kalshi sues Utah over efforts to stop prop betting in the state


SALT LAKE CITY — A prediction market is suing Utah over plans to regulate proposition betting that it says would run afoul of federal regulations.

Kalshi is a New York-based prediction market that allows users to place “event contracts” on future outcomes and earn a payout if they are correct. Those transactions are regulated through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the company said Utah has plans to prevent the company from offering contracts in the state and asked the courts to block any enforcement that “interferes with the operation and function of plaintiffs’ futures market.”

“Plaintiff KalshiEX LLC believes the governor of Utah and the Attorney General’s Office of Utah will imminently bring an enforcement action against Kalshi with the intent to prevent Kalshi from offering event contracts for trading on its federally regulated exchange,” the complaint states. “Defendants have repeatedly represented that they believe Kalshi is operating unlawfully under Utah anti-gambling laws.”

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The lawsuit points to a couple of posts from Gov. Spencer Cox and an op-ed written by Attorney General Derek Brown in the Deseret News on Sunday. After Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig announced that his agency would “defend its exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets last week, Cox took to X calling the markets “gambling — pure and simple.”

“They are destroying the lives of families and countless Americans, especially young men,” he wrote. “They have no place in Utah. Let me be clear, I will use every resource within my disposal as governor of the sovereign state of Utah, and under the Constitution of the United States to beat you in court.”

He followed that up last Thursday, saying Utah is “ready to defend our laws in court and protect Utahns from companies that drive addiction, isolation and serious financial harm.”

In his op-ed, Brown argued that prediction markets are “the newest iteration of gambling” and said he didn’t see a difference between betting and trading futures.

“Although traditional sports betting apps are illegal under Utah law, these platforms argue that they merely allow users to hedge their risk,” he wrote. “But what is the real risk to hedge when you are simply predicting whether LeBron James will score more or less than another player? It’s simply a bet, dressed up in different clothing.”

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The lawsuit also comes as the state Legislature is advancing a bill that would clarify that proposition betting — or betting placed on specific players or events during games — falls under the state’s definition of gambling, which is prohibited by the Utah Constitution. HB243 has passed the House and a Senate committee and is awaiting consideration on the Senate floor.

But Kalshi says its contracts are lawful thanks to a carveout in Utah’s anti-gambling laws that allows for “lawful business.” Its lawsuit claims Kalshi’s attorneys made “multiple attempts” to contact Brown about potential action against the company but were “met with silence, even though the Utah AG had previously been willing to communicate with counsel.”

Asked about the lawsuit on Tuesday, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he is “standing with the governor on this one.”

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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