GDS – International Event for Shoes & Accessories
GLOBAL SHOES – leading trade show for sourcing
16 to 18 March 2010

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

The 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. Kirstin Deutelmoser, Director of GDS and GLOBAL SHOES, delights at 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 had failed to 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 also 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 movement overall 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 mood was also positive amongst exhibitors. 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 posted the previous year’s attendance figures at 2.00 pm. What also struck me as positive was the 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 organising 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.”

Precisely this, the international flair of buyers, is also the reason why Sylvie Gervail, Export Manager at Babybotte, describes GDS as an “optimal presentation platform”.

To Prof. Dr. Rolf Konrad, Spokesman of the Mephisto Board, the visitors from abroad are also an important reason for exhibiting in Düsseldorf: “At the Mephisto stand we welcomed retailers from such countries as Lebanon, Abu Dhabi, Turkey, Dubai 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 and made an impact: “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 movement 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.

The aforementioned international visitors included the likes of 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. Furthermore, Claude Steinmetz from Straßburg 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 my mind 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. Exhibitors like billi b Copenhagen from Denmark appreciate “German buyers’ high quality”, as Jens Schott, Director at Fransi A/S explains.

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 company 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, delights that the Award was received so well: “The Award has existed for some time already. 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.

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