Euro Shoes Premiere Collection: Sokolniki debut

In 2008, the structure of the exhibition sector of the shoe market, formerly relatively rigid, emerged from a state of crystallization and began to develop. In parallel with key exhibitions where online retailers make orders, Russian and European companies began to hold specialized presentations both in Moscow and abroad. Immediately, talk began that the market was eroding, visitors were disoriented. In our opinion, this alignment of forces indicates the search for new market development opportunities

Text: Maria Vostokova, Galina Kuznetsova

The first signs of this trend appeared several years ago, when Italian companies launched a workshop program in the regions - 15 - 20 companies held presentations of new collections in Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Krasnodar and other large cities.

The second sign was German companies and their Russian representative offices, which organized a series of presentations at the Holiday Inn, Mariott and Korston hotels last year.

Simultaneously with them, large Russian wholesalers announced their desire to become closer to customers, and, having declared, united in a pool to hold their own meetings with buyers. And if a year ago these meetings were held in the Pokrovskoye rest house near Moscow, then in the fall of 2008 the wholesalers decided to combine business with pleasure on the shores of Turkey (see the article in this issue “Informal Business Relations”).

And the presentation of German companies grew into a full-fledged panorama of European companies and moved to the Sokolniki Exhibition Center. For the first time in European shoe retail practice, manufacturers presented their new seasonal collections not at the largest MICAM and GDS exhibitions, but in Russia - 22 - 25 on August at the presentation of EURO SHOES PREMIERE COLLECTION.

Manufacturers chose this presentation, because the timing of its presentation is more adequate to the requirements of the modern shoe market. Accordingly, Russian buyers were able to make early orders and ensure early deliveries.

Both suppliers and customers were satisfied.

“Four days of work gave us more than ten new customers, both small and rather large,” says Shahin Asadov, director of the representative office of the German company Rieker in Russia and Eastern Europe, Ricker-East. “We consider this a good result.” A similar number of "newcomers" appeared among the customers of the Italian brand Accademia. The Austrian company Hogl gathered at the presentation of 70% of orders for models of the baseline. “We traditionally expose the Fashion Premium line at GDS,” explained Sergey Erets, manager of the Russian representative office of Hogl. - And here, customers can in a relaxed atmosphere select the base models they like. They complete the collection later, at exhibitions, taking into account the model range of other manufacturers, focusing on their assortment as well. For us, this presentation is convenient in that we can understand customer preferences earlier and, therefore, start production earlier. ” The Italian company Everybody, which has just left for Russia, has got 20 buyers who placed orders both with Russian partners and directly with the manufacturer.

Victor Mitin noted that the presentation clearly and clearly demonstrated the growing interest of buyers in Spanish shoes, similar in design to Italian, and in quality to German. Anna Veselova, an entrepreneur from Krasnoyarsk, confirmed this interest: “We were pleased that German shoe brands were widely represented at the exhibition: Peter Kaiser, Rieker, Wendel and others, but Portuguese and Spanish brands are no less interesting. Their shoes are praised by many buyers. Therefore, we plan to begin close cooperation with them. ”

Spain at EURO SHOES PREMIERE COLLECTION was represented by the brands Unisa, Hispanitas, Pedro Miralles, Pikolinos, Lodi.

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TMF Group, adding to its main collection - Tommy Hilfiger, with new brands Ed Hardy, Evisu and Cinque, was very pleased with the interest. This is logical, because new brands for Russia in their own homeland have already become a legend.

Ed Hardy is a designer label by Christian Audigier , created in collaboration with renowned American tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy. Its main selling point is the vibrant and original tattoo designs on its models. Evisu is a Japanese youth brand. Named by its founder, Hideniko Yamane, after the Buddhist god of money and luck, its Russian managers say it accurately reflects its meaning in terms of its clients' actual income.

“We consider this presentation to be one of the most important for us,” said Oleg Alexandrov, Director for Export to the CIS and Baltic Countries of MARC Shoes, “its main advantage is the timing. Thanks to the early dates, the Euro Shoes Premiere Collection was the first in a series of similar events. What particularly pleased was the emergence among our customers of new partners from distant regions of Russia. This allowed us to significantly expand the geography of partnerships. ”

Igor Naumov from Khabarovsk, speaking about the dates, said that large exhibitions, from the point of view of the time of their organization, are now more suitable for selecting the store’s assortment, its adjustments and revisions. “It was interesting for me to lay the foundation of the assortment matrix,” said Naumov, “the rest can be ordered later.”

Almost all participants unanimously noted the convenience of the venue. “A good location was a big plus,” said Kurt Rommelfanger, “it was possible to get to the venue of the presentation without any problems." “Sokolniki” is a functional working area that is perfect for our business, ”added Shahin Asadov.

The advantage of the presentation is its clear concept - only European brands. It is much more beneficial for both participants and visitors. Owing to this selection of exhibitors, the owners of retail stores will be able to provide a more uniform and equivalent assortment, which in turn will make it possible to better meet the needs of the target audience. This is also beneficial for manufacturers, because the growing competition makes them pay more attention not only to their own assortment and service, but also to what brands they have to side with on shelves in retail.

Given the fact that the Russian market in terms of shoe sales dynamics is much ahead of the European one (according to ANCI, shoe exports to Russia increased by 21% in the first half of 2008, while in general, it decreased by 6,6% in volume) , for manufacturers from Europe it makes sense to reserve places to participate in the next presentation right now.

For comparison, we give a calendar of exhibition events in Europe for only two autumn months. The expo industry giants - GDS (Düsseldorf) and MICAM (Milan) - have long been adjusting the dates for each other: 12 - 14 September and 17 - 20 September, respectively. In addition, European buyers were able to place orders at other exhibitions: Mess Around, Paris, 6 - 8 of September; Dutch Euroscarpa, Amsterdam, 22 - 23 September; Euroscarpa Benelux, Brussels 24-26 September; Modacalzado, Madrid 25-27 September; Tec, Tendences Europeennes de Chaussures, Paris, 28 - 30 September, Italmoda, Paris, 28 - 30 September; Moda made in Italy, Munich, 10 - 12 October. This only confirms that the Russian exhibition sector is developing in line with European trends, when a series of clearly segmented presentations are held along with large shoe exhibitions.

The fourth presentation of EURO SHOES PREMIERE COLLECTION will be held in February 2009.

For your information:

Presentation statistics Euro Shoes Premiere Collection

Number of participating companies - 40

Number of brands - more than 100

The total presentation area is 2300 sq. m

Number of visitors - 1000 people