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This Just In

Emerald Acquires Swimwear and Active Wear Collective Shows

HIL ANDERSON, SENIOR EDITOR

San Juan Capistrano, CA – Emerald Expositions, LLC acquired Active Collective and Swim Collective, two leading trade shows serving this fast-growing vertical category of the  apparel industry. The shows will be added to Emerald’s Specialty Sports and Apparel Group. The acquisition expands Emerald’s portfolio to more than 80 shows.

The two semi-annual shows were launched in Southern California a few years ago by Shannon Leggett. While still small in size, they have built a reputation for bringing retail sector buyers together with a curated roster of premium exhibiting brands and promising designers in a beach resort setting.

Swim Collective was launched in 2010 and takes place at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach. Active Collective debuted in 2014 at the same seaside venue and will launch an East Coast edition January 26-27 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan.

“The Collective shows are truly must-attend events and share many qualities with our existing brands,” said Emerald Executive Vice President Darrell Denny. “Bringing Collective events into Emerald will allow us to quickly leverage the strengths of all of our shows to enhance each individual show.”

Emerald assigned the two Collective shows to the same portfolio that includes Surf Expo and Outdoor Retailer.

Leggett’s staff, operating as Collective Trade Shows, will join Emerald. Among them is Vice President of Sales Jane Preston, who spent nine years running the swim category at Surf Expo before joining Swim Collective in 2013.

“I am confident that Collective’s exhibiting brands and attending retailers will benefit from Emerald’s presence in overlapping and adjacent markets, and also from Emerald’s scale, resources, infrastructure and industry relationships,” Leggett said.

There are big plans for the shows next year. In 2017, Swim Collective will shift its schedule from August to July, where it will be held at the Hyatt concurrently with a new trade show, The Beach Collective. In addition, a third Swim Collective show will debut in November.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Reach Darrell Denny at (949) 226-5773 or darrell.denny@emeraldexpo.com; Shannon Leggett at (213) 226-6924 or shannon@swimcollective.com

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