NEWS
The Brazilian industry gets governmental help
After approval by the national parliament, the Brazilian government has launched a new programme of tax rebates to compensate for the strengthening national currency, which has been discouraging exports and encouraging imports, and for a recent big decline in domestic consumption. Called Plano Brasil Maior (“Bigger Brazil Plan”), the programme applies
to the footwear manufacturing sector as well as to national producers of clothing, cars, furniture, hardware and software. For shoe manufacturers, which have been forced to reduce their staff in
the last few months, the main points of the program are the following: - A tax rebate of 3% on their revenues from exports between December 2011 and December 2012; - A reduction to zero for certain social charges, including retirement benefits, which previously accounted for 20% of employees’ wages, starting in December 2011; - Offsetting these advantages, companies will have to pay a new 1.5% tax on their sales in the national market between December 2011 and December 2014. Brazilian shoe companies are obviously not happy about the latest
measure, as it adds to a plethora of other direct taxes that tend to boost the price of products sold in Brazilian stores, encouraging people to purchase them abroad.
Legal A new Italian law allowing stores to stay open at all times from the start
of this year is causing controversy and disbelief among the country’s retailers. The bold move was pushed by Mario Monti, Italy’s prime minister, as part of his plan to open up the country’s services industry. Some retailers applaud this liberalization, while others argue that it will lead to thousands of small store closures and many more job losses. The Indian government has decided to allow foreign brands to set own up
to 100% of any of their mono-brand stores operating in the country, instead of working with a local partner. The only condition is that they will have to source at least 30% of the value of the products they sell from small Indian firms and artesans if they own more than 51% of the store. The government had previously given up on a project to liberalize foreign direct investment.
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Merger of William Lamb Footwear and Rushton Ablett
William Lamb Holdings Ltd has acquired the entire share capital of
Rushton Ablett from Paul Ablett with immediate effect. The two companies have worked together for many years and have shared the same liaison offices in China since 2003. Paul Ablett and Ian Ferris have joined the board of William Lamb Footwear Ltd. The enlarged group, with annual sales in excess of £50m, holds licences
and brands such as Disney, Hello Kitty, Gluv and Buckle My Shoe and has a considerable share of the UK children’s shoe market in addition to a growing adult footwear
division.Paul Ablett will retain 100% ownership of the JUJU footwear brands and the UK manufacturing facility in Northampton through JUJU LTD.
8 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • FEBRUARY 2012 Niche brands that offer great service, design and value will prosper. Jacks
of all trades are masters of none. I have said at many times that it is important for retailers to have open and honest relationships with suppliers. When one works with the professionals, confidence grows and there is nothing a good supplier will not do for them. Let’s work together honestly and openly in 2012.”
British Footwear Association Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 1933 229005 Web:
www.britishfootwearassociation.co.uk
www.footweartoday.co.uk Footwear Predictions for 2012 Tim Little, CEO, Grenson Ltd. “It’s strange when you’re in a recession
because you’d expect everyone to be suffering, but they aren’t. There is real turbulence out there with some retailers doing well and others struggling. I think it’s going to be tough, but with a bit of common sense and good stock management I don’t think it’ll be as bad as some are expecting. The Goodyear Welted companies, like ourselves, will still succeed as the trend for brands with real heritage will continue for a while yet and men will continue to buy less but of higher quality. If the recession does get worse, I think it’ll be the brands that lack either the quality or a story that will really suffer.”
Dan Gyves, Joint MD, Esska Design. “2012 is likely to be a challenging
year for mid/upper-mid market footwear brands as a result of a competitive retail base and price sensitivity. While the premium and value extremes of the market are likely to grow, brands in the mid market are going to have to provide original and distinctive product, greater customer service, think outside of the box and look for new market opportunities to achieve growth.
The internet is going to play an ever important role in 2012 – branded
web stores and on-line retailers will offer some stability while social media and blogs will help to keep brands front of mind and drive consumer interest.”
Tony Evans, MD, Jacobson Group. “I won’t be the first to say that we are
faced with trying times ahead but, if we rise to the challenge, with a proactive and creative approach, we can all benefit from the opportunities as a result. As an industry we need to encourage people to spend through offering great product and presenting this in an interesting and creative way – a way in which we capture the public’s imagination – giving a reason to buy.
Supporting this, it’s important that we invest in our people and our
brands in order to remain innovative, but with a true point of difference. There are also opportunities from new markets and resourceful businesses will identify these in order to develop business further and safeguard from future threats.”
Stuart Marsh, Warden to the Trade, Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers;
Group Executive Chairman: Chatham Marine Ltd, Rainbow Club Ltd and Sterling & Hunt Ltd. “2012 will be an even more challenging year than 2011 and that was bad enough. The legal rape of retail businesses I’m sure will continue. Run it badly…get it back for nothing. Rid yourselves of debt… and to hell with the staff, the suppliers and the landlords. It should stop!! But it’s legal, so it won’t. “Who do we supply?” that is the million dollar question! Who can we trust?
We as a ‘footwear’ nation are getting a very bad reputation with
manufacturers overseas, which has a negative effect on the honest, honourable retailers and distributors. Please, please let quality and reliability be in its rightful place ahead of price.
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