NEWS News In Brief . . .
• Fewer visits at GDS and Modacalzado • Start-Rite has new licensees for China and the Middle East • EU lifts anti-dumping duties Is China more promising than India for luxury goods?
Asserting its communist stance in the midst of the country’s irresistible economic development, the Chinese government has decided to ban any kind of advertising that could use such words as luxury, class or royal, starting on April 15. Violators will get a fine of 30,000 euros, but this should not prevent the underlying boom in the market for related products among the rich from continuing to grow in a country where more than 1.3 million people have a personal wealth of more than $l million.
Jacobson Group is going to further invest in its Creative
Fashion Footwear Division. The British footwear distributor and brand owner created this division to handle made-to-order fashion items for major accounts, and it has grown enough to warrant more attention. Ian Gardner, sales manager, heads up the division now.
Blue Sky Moda Sport has started representing the Ben
Sherman shoe collection licensed by Hudson Shoe Company in the UK and Ireland
Padders increased its total sales in 2010 by 3.5%, with an 8%
rise in retail. Exports account for 18% of the total turnover, which is not being given. The British shoe company exports mainly to the UK, Australia and the Middle East. Its healthy shoe collection sells well in Germany and the Benelux countries, and recently also in Turkey by means of a distributor. Prices for its products increased by 10-15% in the last year. Paddders owns its own production site in the UK, but also manufactures shoes in China by means of a production partnership. The brand received a major accolade recently by the Independent Footwear Retailers’ Association, winning several prizes.
Emu Australia achieved 50% sales growth in 2010, expanding
to 20 new markets, according to company officials. The newest markets for the company are the Czech Republic, Spain the Scandinavian countries, Portugal, Romania and Turkey. All of these markets are handled through distributors. Emu manages an office in Hamburg and the company’s head office in Europe is based in London. A new print campaign is going to be launched this fall /winter season in fashion and lifestyle magazines in Germany, Austria, France, the UK and Scandinavia.
Joya by Karl Muller expanded in the last year, achieving total
sales of 16 million euros and 350,000 pairs of shoes sold in 2010. About 30% of its total sales are exported. Future markets for the company are the UK, Britain and the Benelux countries. Last month (April) started a new print campaign in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The company also plans to have its own production site in Korea.
Fewer visits at GDS and Modacalzado
GDS and Global Shoes, the two international shoe fairs held on March 16-
18 in Dusseldorf, attracted altogether about 24,500 daily trade visitors this year, down by 15% on March 2010. Shoe officials indicated that while more people came from several foreign counties, the number of domestic visitors was off because the show is no longer held on a Sunday. Numerous small independent retailers and members of their staff did not come over because they were busy at their own stories during the fair. This year was the first time the fairs were held on weekdays, running
from Wednesday through to Friday. A survey conducted during the show showed that 82% of visitors were satisfied with the new dates. Thus the same schedule will be kept in the future. Many are asking for earlier dates, but apparently, this is not going to happen anytime soon. Sandwiched between the Micam ShoeEvent which recorded nearly 6%
more visitors and the GDS, the Modacalzado+Iberpiel show for footwear and leathergoods, held on March 13-15 in Madrid, experienced an 18% boost in the number of buyers on the first day, Sunday. However, the total number of visitors over the three-day duration of the exhibition was down by almost 20% from a year ago. The organisers said that more visitors came from abroad than in March
2010, but they only represented 15% of the total attendance. Portugal was the main country of origin. Higher numbers were registered from distant counties such as Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Belarus, Croatia, Georgia and Georgia. The Madrid show brought together some 650 exhibitors and brands
marking a record in the higher segment of the market. The organisers have decided to keep the same Sunday-Wednesday schedule between GDS and Micam for next September. However, the shoe section will be restyled and moved to different halls.
Start-Rite has new licensees for China and the Middle East
The British children’s shoe company has signed a licensing deal for
China, after striking similar agreements in Australia and the Middle East. For the big and promising Chinese market, Start-Rite has gone into a partnership with New Allied Commercial, a new subsidiary of New Allied Holding, listed in Hong Kong. New Allied has a factory in Xiamen that makes high-quality injected
footwear on rubber soles. Run by Jacinthe Wong, it is a supplier of better quality casual shoes, especially kid’s shoes, to major European chains, using lasts and outsoles designed specially for the customers. Drawing on European technical know-how, it has been making injected slippers and home shoes for Start-Rite, among others, and the collaboration has gone so well that the two partners have gone one step further. Run by Wong’s daughter, Yolanda, New Allied Commercial is development
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specific Start-Rite shoes for the Chinese market in cooperation with British designers, adding to the styles from the international line. The range offered in China will include multiple-width models like those that the British company is selling in the UK. New Allied plans to open the first three Start-Rite mono-brand stores in Shanghai next September, to be followed by others at key locations in China later on.
4 • FOOTWEAR TODAY •MAY 2011
www.footweartoday.co.uk
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