My TRE 2025

(I really should have a podcast, so I don’t have to type all this up….)

Let’s begin with a quick refresher on what TRE is: It’s a B2B buyer show. The foremost goal of TRE is to give brands with new gear up their sleeves a platform to show them off to retailers (and the media). The event exists to give brands a temperature check on what’s hot, but mostly to allow them a convenient way to gather all their buyers to write purchase orders which will be fulfilled throughout the coming calendar year. And while the inclusion of the media gives the public a view into what’s happening, and what products will be released, most of the actual dealings happen behind closed doors in separate conference rooms where the big brands hold court and conduct countless meetings closing deals with the players big and small.

Most of the media’s attention is on the two days of trade show pony prancing. The folks roaming the floor are hoping for freebies and after party invites. Big brands want the business, people want a party. That combination is what makes TRE TRE each year.

I went as “media” but wasn’t interested in reporting on the latest foam innovation in super shoes. I go there to represent the Trail Running Film Festival. I don’t, and am not allowed to, “sell my product” on the trade show floor but the relationships, the conversations, the face time and name recognition is what’s important to me personally, “brand Mathias”, and in my role as executive director for TRFF – the world’s largest and most important film tour showcasing trail and running films. Now in year 3 (of 4 – I skipped last year) I feel like I have slowly and finally arrived. People recognize me. I get friendly smiles and nods and even hugs. People know my name – still pronounce it wrong most of the time – and people get what TRFF is all about. This alone is why it’s worth it for me (and TRFF) to spend a couple grand going there.

My Badge Says Electric Cable Car

In my role as media I haven’t really found my groove yet. What am I reporting on? The folks standing at the booths are sales people and brand evangelists with incentives to write orders. TRE is the shoe brands’ Black Friday, maybe? I won’t add to the noise of “tell me about your latest shoe innovation I will take photos and share them on social”. Jebus, there are enough of these stories floating around already.

So, here are some of the highlights of the various conversations I did have:

• Merrel:
  My Q: Anyone here who knows anything about your sponsorship of the Skyrunner World Series?
  Merrel A: Let me check, no sorry, person with knowledge already left. We really have no one who knows anything about it.
  (Sigh…)
• Suunto:
  My Q: How’s the sponsorship of the UTMB World Series been for you?
  Suunto A: Good. Good, but we’re still trying to figure out how to take advantage of it in our marketing.
  (I love Suunto, but man, sponsoring Courtney and UTMB – two of the biggest properties in our sport and no one has any idea on how to capitalize on it properly.)
• LEKI:
  My Q: How have tariffs affected your business in 2025?
  LEKI A: Absolutely horrible. We received a container at the point where the tarrifs where the highest, and had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to receive our product, We didn’t increase our prices as we don’t know how long this all will last. If that container would’ve arrived a few days later tariffs would’ve dropped to a more manageable level. We’re essentially selling inventory that we’re not making any money off of right now. Retailers are buying our products because the competitors’ product isn’t available – due to tariffs. We don’t know how long we will be able to do this.
  (An ominous sign of what’s head for 2026?)
• La Sportiva:
  My Q: What’s happening with the Mutant – probably one of the most iconic trail shoe?
  La Sportiva A: It’ll go away early next year, will be gone for awhile, but will come back completely redesigned.
• My Q: Could you foresee that the Prodigio would be such a success or was it catching lightning in a bottle?
  La Sportiva A: We did put a ton of really smart engineering into this shoe, but no one expected La Sportiva to make a shoe like the Prodigio Pro, and when it hit the market it completely exploded. We’re still won’t be fully caught up on the demand and won’t be until early next year. Sadly demand on PP for women is softer, and we can’t justify a third color way, like we are introducing for the men’s side.
  (That reminds me of last year’s crazy dumping sale of previous models of various Nnormal shoes on Sierra.com – but only women’s sizes were available. Why is that, I wonder?)
• Nike:
  My Q: How serious are you about trail running this time around?
  Nike A: A fair question that’s deserved. We have our work cut out for ourselves in convincing the customers that we are really here for real this time.
  (One shoe was on display, along with various artifacts of their elite runner’s race worn clothes.)
• Adidas:
  My Q to concierge: Would love an overview of your trail running shoes.
  Adidas A: Someone will be with you in just a sec…
  (No one ever showed interest, I walked away.)
• Goodr:
  My comment: Thank you for another incredible after party. Are you feeling the pressure to up the ante each year?
  Goodr A: Yes, we’d love to but our finance department has some concerns.
  (I found a really cool and delicious pizza place on the way to said party.)
• Mount to Coast:
  My comment (to a contractor for M2C I know personally): Your booth, which was perfectly placed right at the front entrance – always looked incredibly busy – the buzziest on the entire showroom floor. But it took me bit to realize that one of the reasons why you looked so incredibly busy was that you had so so many of your own people working at your booth.
  Mount to Coast Response: Wink.
  (Fantastic strategy, I must say. Satisfy’s strategy this year was to have really cool people walk the trade show floor looking like they were on the way to the subway in NYC.)
• Squirrel’s Nut Butter:
  My comment: Sorry about your booth placement, it’s really off the beaten path.
  SNB Response: It’s always a crapshoot. We’re trying to make the most of it.
  (I still took the samples. Always takes the samples.)

---

Some observations about the brands and their Presentations:

The Tantrums booth was the cleverest and most complete concept. A small footprint with a simple product offering. The entire booth branded like a NYC bodega. Custom posters, stickers, cans of beans. A fake fridge and lottery tickets. Incredible execution for a start up brand. If this well-thought through marketing campaign is any indication of their care and attention to detail than this brand, making running vests – which isn’t an easy thing to manufacture – is one to watch out for and pay attention to. Everyone at TRE was noticing.

The first time I went to TRE (back when it was still in Austin) Nike and Adidas barely had a presence on the trade show floor – which surprised me. Now both companies are back and NIKE had a big bold booth – but not many products to show. They did create a cool segmentation of their “road” and “trail” (ACG) offerings.

The North Face’s booth was my favorite among all the BIG brands on how they brought their brand to the trade show. The materials used and their signature orange color very much screamed: The North Face. It felt outdoorsy and welcoming.

Brooks‘s booth is so big, and I mean so so big, that it feels like they are owning the entire show. Which in some ways is how they present themselves in the sport (of road running). Not in a cocky way though. Their booth was open, welcoming, as if they were holding court.

Satisfy exploded on the scene last year with this mysterious booth that hid their entire product line. They pulled the same stunt this year. It felt “done”. So washed.

How do you stand out as a nutrition/hydration brand? I was disappointed in their displays and presentations. Nothing really grabbed my attention. Maurten had a boring black booth with an empty black counter. Cliff bar had the most pathetic booth I’ve ever seen. It felt like they hired someone who bought $100 worth of product at the grocery store nearby to sit behind a table. Blanks has a really catchy approach to personalized nutrition, but I worry it feels too complicated to really catch on.

Nnormal’s demure color palate makes it really hard to distinguish what shoes are what. They all look the same to me. They had a new shoe on display… anyone know anything about it? I guess I could’ve asked Dakota Jones about it, who I interrupted eating his lunch at the booth, but I opted instead to chat with him about Footprints Running Camps and his wonderful article he wrote about his experience running up and down mountains with Kilian.

Hoka and On where there too. But certainly not as “in your face” as in previous years.

All the international shoe brands (mostly Asian imports) look the same: massively garish color ways, bouncy, bubbly rockers, plates, huge price tags. (Most road running shoes by big brands look like this too, so they are just following the trend here, I suppose.) But, if street fashion currently is embracing cool color ways (hello Adidas Sambas!) why doesn’t this trickle down to running shoes. Even my favorite brand La Sportiva is all over the place in their color combinations. Stick to one or two colors. Not every shoe needs to look like a clown vomited it out.

Having said this Adidas had the coolest looking trail shoe, in my opinion. I am so tired of brands writing their full brand name on their shoe. I don’t understand that trend. Adidas still has the Terrex name on the inside, but on the outside they are leaning heavily into their most excellent and iconic three stripes – as they should. Just don’t ask me about the name said shoe. It’s a mouthful with at least 12 words, I’m sure.

Wrapping it up:

First time for me at the larger venue in San Antonio. Walking around felt quieter then what I remember. But the paths and aisles were never really crowded – maybe it was just the bigger venue? But it reminded me of the year I went to Outdoor Retailer in Denver – I had a great time, because, for a first timer, it was easy to navigate, but it was also the year brands really complained about their ROI of it all. Everything overall felt a bit more subdued and scaled back. Kickoff event, happy hours, freebies. I do really wonder if this is the effect of “the economic situation” we’re experiencing and if this might a bit of a warning sign. (I could be off completely here. I’m totally going on vibes and personal observations.) For example, I don’t think there were any breakthrough product releases that came out of the show. Anyone got any?

Will I go next year?

Of course. As I said, the people is what makes this show, and our sport, so special. And I am here for it.