GDS T


International Event for Shoes & Accessories GLOBAL SHOES – leading trade show for sourcing 16 to 18 March 2011


he Düsseldorf shoe fairs GDS – International Event for Shoes & Accessories and GLOBAL SHOES – leading trade show for sourcing, held from Wednesday to Friday for the first


time, closed on a positive note. Approximately 24,500 trade visitors used the three days of the trade fair to gather information on the trends for the 2011/12 Autumn/Winter season and place their orders in Düsseldorf.


Commenting on this fact, Heiner Terbuyken,


CEO of Gabor Footwear GmbH, said: “We are very pleased with GDS. The new schedule produced a 42% increase in the number of visitors for Camel on the first day of the trade fair compared to the previous year. Snipe even saw a 50% increase. On the second day of the fair we had already reached the previous year’s attendance figures at 2.00 pm. What also struck me as positive was the


GDS attracts international audience + More decision-makers at GDS + Held from Wednesday to Friday for the first time + 82 % satisfied with new sequence of days


Kirstin Deutelmoser, Director of GDS and


GLOBAL SHOES is delighted by visitors’ overwhelming approval: “82% of visitors are satisfied with the new sequence of days thereby subscribing to our new concept. We have achieved our aim: more decision-makers than before have attended the trade fairs. Furthermore, I have received very positive feedback on the number of international visitors, e.g. many Americans and Englishmen also travelled to Global Shoes. Moreover, many retailers returned that did not visit us for an extended period.” In line with this the GDS Advisory Council


confirmed on Sunday that the two trade fairs will also take place on these weekdays in future. This is good news for Thomas Schmelzer of


Schuhhaus Schlatholt: “It is good to know that GDS will now be held from Wednesday to Friday rather than over a weekend. In the past, the Friday always used to be very hectic while Saturday was weaker instead. Now the traffic distribution is better, which is why the trade fair looks more structured to me. This makes it easier for us to keep appointments and to do our job.” The new sequence of days increased the


percentage of international retailers at the trade fair. In addition to this, the audience included more decision-makers. As expected fewer owners of small shoe stores and sales assistants visited GDS, since these traditionally came to visit the trade fair on Sunday, which is why attendance was down by 15%, explain GDS organisers Messe Dusseldorf. However, this did not impair the good mood


of exhibitors.


internationality of the audience this time. Overall more deals were concluded, we have received more first-time orders especially from non- neighbouring countries.” Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, CEO & President


of the organisers Messe Düsseldorf trade fair company, attributes the high number of international visitors to the consistent concept of GDS: “Visitors like the structure of GDS. Its segmentation by themed worlds provides


orientation and is a true reflection of the footwear market as a whole. Each segment features the key players on the market thereby allowing buyers to gather information on the most important trends and collections in the shortest amount of time. And, international visitors truly appreciate this.” Professor Dr. Rolf Konrad, spokesman of the


Mephisto Board, maintains visitors from abroad are also an important reason for exhibiting in Düsseldorf: “At the Mephisto stand we welcomed retailers from such countries as Lebanon, The United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Russia, to name but a few. GDS is the biggest and most relevant international shoe fair worldwide. The trade fair is organised ever so well and we are listened to as exhibitors.” The new online concept of GDS also went down


well with Professor Konrad: “I was positively impressed with the Internet Lounge and the Twitter Wall. This is precisely what people need today. Thanks to our stand being close to the Online Area we even registered more traffic at the stand because visitors were attracted.” Over the three days of the trade fair a GDS Online Team posted tweets in real time and information and images on Facebook. The GDS website was updated every hour featuring photos and videos of the fair. International visitors included Jones


Bootmaker and Shoon from the United Kingdom as well as Humanic and Stiefelkönig from Austria. Apollon & Afrodite came from Norway, Betsy Palmer from the Netherlands, Torfs from Belgium, Aleksi 13 oy from Finland and El Corte Inglés from Portugal.


26 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • APRIL 2011 Claude Steinmetz from Strasburg also visited


the trade fair. Steinmetz operates numerous mono-label stores, but also a multi-brand shop in Straßburg. He was pleased to note that so many different manufacturers use GDS as a platform: “This gives you a good market overview. To me the weekdays were especially positive. And, the GDS Party was “awesome” – ideal to make contacts. My impression is that GDS has become more relaxed than before. This is very pleasant.” Numerous renowned German retail companies


were also represented such as the Alsterhaus, Amazon, Breuninger, Görtz, Karstadt, KDW, Prange, Tretter, Uli Knecht, Zumnorde and Zalando.


Award presentation: Frauke Ludowig is “Shoe Woman of the Year 2011”


For the first time joint awards were presented


as part of GDS. Also new was the award “Shoe Woman of the Year” presented to TV presenter Frauke Ludowig. The winner of the German Shoe Award 2011 is


the Berkemann from Zeulenroda. The HDS Junior Award went to the design


students Karoline Angné, Karin Davis, Sophie Hetzel and Valerie Porr. All four of them study at the Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences, Campus Pirmasens. Ralph Rieker, CEO of Ricosta and Member of the


GDS Advisory Council, is delighted that the Awards were received so well: “The Award has existed for some time. But this time it has been greatly enhanced also by the new category “Shoe Woman/Man of the Year”. This has been achieved through the partnership-based, uncomplicated cooperation with GDS, HDS and the Structural Ministry of Rhineland Palatinate, which joined forces to develop the Award further. Add to this, that GDS is the perfect place for this award presentation.”


GDS – International Event for Shoes &


Accessories and GLOBAL SHOES – leading trade show for sourcing were held from 16 to 18 March 2011 at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre. 1,220 exhibitors in total (GDS: 844, GLOBAL SHOES: 376) from 40 countries presented the latest shoe and bag styles. The next GDS / GLOBAL SHOES trade fairs will be held from 7 to 9 September 2011.


www.gds-online.com www.globalshoes-online.com


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