I was honestly surprised how well attended the trade fairs this summer. At the Barefoot in Offenbach, I explained this with the Novelty factor and the growth market barefoot shoes. But the tenor was also clear in Heilbronn and Mainhausen: the numbers in the market are bad, but they measure well visited and the mood mostly positive. In the past few years there have been enough trade fairs on which almost nothing was going on. On which the mood was bad and the few retailers present were in the face of bad business, if at all, clouded the mood. This time it seems different.
Why is that? Several exhibitors suspect that dealers want to know exactly now what they should order and therefore want to get a picture of the collection on site. There is a lot of interest in analyzing the new products and the calculations of the companies. Patrick Abend (Tamaris) summarized it well at the SABU fair: “A lot and specifically, new things are asked. The past events were very well attended, which showed us that the interest is there.”
The long -term cultural change seems to have actually moved into the exhibition halls without a large trara. Precisely because things are going badly, discussions and opportunities are sought for a good atmosphere. Not from optimism of purpose, but because it helps to find the best solution. On the one hand, this underlines why trade fairs can still have an important role in the industry today. On the other hand, it is the much better and more constructive handling of the problems.
