Emerald Expositions Acquires Swim Collective and Active Collective Trade Shows

August 12, 2016

Emerald Expositions scooped up a few more trade shows with the acquisition of the Swim Collective and Active Collective events from their founder Shannon Leggett.  

“The Collective trade shows have grown strongly over the last few years under Shannon’s leadership, and we are excited that they will now join Emerald’s Specialty Sports and Apparel Group, which includes leading trade shows such as Surf Expo and Outdoor Retailer,” said Darrell Denny, executive vice president of Emerald Expositions.

He added, “The Collective shows are truly must-attend events and share many like qualities with our existing brands.”

Swim Collective, created in 2010 and now held seasonally twice a year, is the leading swimwear trade show on the West Coast.

Active Collective, launched in 2014 and also held twice a year, is recognized as the first activewear-only trade show and has built a national reputation for leading this fast-growing vertical category.

Both events are highly valued by retailers due to the curated selection of premium brands and for the opportunity they present to meet both established and up-and-coming new brands, according to show organizers. 

“It is gratifying to see how critical the Collective shows have become to the swimwear and activewear markets,” said Shannon Leggett.

He added, “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.”

Denny added, “Bringing Collective events into Emerald will allow us to quickly leverage the strengths of all our shows to enhance each individual show and create new and better opportunities for brands and retailers to succeed.”

Swim Collective recently was held Aug. 8-9 in Huntington Beach, Calif., followed by Active Collective Aug. 11-12, also in Huntington Beach.

Just more than a week ago, Emerald also acquired The International Gift Exposition in the Smokies (IGES), a gathering of wholesale souvenir, resort and gift buyers in the United States.

The team at Collective Trade Shows will join the Emerald organization. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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