CONTENTS
FROM THE EDITOR Back to school C
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hildren’s shoe shops are reporting a great ‘back-to-school’ with many shops 20% up on last year. Hopefully, the message is finally getting across that there is no substitute for having your
children’s feet looked after professionally. In this edition we feature a report from the Society of Shoe Fitters
calling for more public awareness about the dangers of self-fitting. Laura West, SSF Secretary fears that parents won’t realise the damage they could be doing to their child’s physiology until it is too late. Read more on page 6. On the subject of shoe fitting, are you an experienced shoe fitter
but have not qualified as a member of The Society of Shoe Fitters? The SSF is always looking to promote staff and shops that do the job well and its members are well respected. There has never been a better time to join - you need every possible achievement to retain your customers and your staff in these tough times and with overwhelming competition. The SSF run its courses primarily for new shops and those
wanting to learn more, and have also offered an Entrance Examination for experienced shoe fitters with more than 5 years experience to allow them to gain its membership qualification. Now, it is offering an alternative form of entry - The Entrance
Application, available from its website. Membership of the organisation is by qualification and experienced staff have been unaware that it offers an Examination. Unfortunately the majority of shops employ staff who are retail sales assistants and not shoe fitters, the SSF therefore believes it would be nice to give their self esteem a lift, and give them the opportunity to qualify for membership. The Application has been designed to target shoe fitters based on
their past experience and career history/CV as well as their day to day shoe fitting ethic. What’s more, the Special Price of £50 per entry applies if completed within 2012. Finally, if you are an independent footwear retailer, Footwear
Today Magazine would like to invite you to join its Best Sellers Panel. We want to know your five best selling brands in each category, each month. In return we will feature you and your shop in our Retailer Of The Month pages (see pages 24-25). We would need to know your five best sellers overall for Men, Women and Children. Also, for Men's Comfort/Casuals, Men's Formal, Ladies Comfort/Casuals, Ladies: Fashion/Contemporary footwear, Ladies Formal, Ladies Boots. For Children, it’s Pre-Walkers, Walkers and School Shoes. I look forward to receiving your September Best Sellers for the
November edition. Just drop me an email to or give me a call if you want to know more and I'll answer any queries.
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NEWS COMPANY PROFILE EDITOR’S CHOICE (CHILDRENS) FOOTWEAR FOCUS EDITOR’S CHOICE (BEST OF SHOWS MENS) TRADE TALK BEST SELLERS RETAILER OF THE MONTH KENSINGTON REVIEW
FRONT COVER: SHOE-STRING LACES LTD Shoe-String known for their laces, insoles and
Woly Shoe care now add fashion accessories to
their formidable range in the shape of shoe bows, diamond gems, glitter sprays, taking footwear from Drab to Fab.
Contact Details:
info@shoestringuk.com 00 44 1858 467467
www.shoestringuk.com
Inside this issue: Editor’s Choice: Best of Shows Men’s Footwear and Children’s Footwear Footwear Focus on Khrio – Best Sellers – Retailer of the Month – Trade Talk and Footwear Industry Awards News
www.footweartoday.co.uk OCTOBER 2012
EDITOR Cheryl Taylor:
ctaylor@datateam.co.uk CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Adam Bernstein FEATURE WRITERS: Becci Knowles Henry Harington Dawn Smith Vicky Kember Joe Maggio Emma Cooke JOURNAL MANAGER Sue Wiseman: 01622 699185
swiseman@datateam.co.uk DESIGNER Steve Parks ADMINISTRATION Ellie Inchmore PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Paul Ryder:
pryder@datateam.co.uk
Media Partner of the STAG Buying Group
Published by: Datateam Business Media Ltd, London Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 8LY. Tel: 01622 687031 Fax: 01622 757646 email:
footwear@datateam.co.uk website:
www.datateam.co.uk
Best regards, Cheryl
Cheryl Taylor,
Editor, Footwear Today Tel: 01622 862962
Email:
ctaylor@datateam.co.uk ISSN 1475 8601
The Publishers cannot accept responsibility for any discrepancies either in copy or between products and/or services listed. Nor can they be responsible for illustrations and/or copy for products which lead to infringement of copyright.
IFRA, BFA and Society of Shoe Fitters all support Footwear Today as a valuable forum for the footwear industry, helping to promote trade and keeping retailers informed about the latest products and developments.
Footwear Friends are the chosen charity of The Footwear Industry Awards 2012
OCTOBER 2012 • FOOTWEAR TODAY
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