According to SABU Schuh & Marketing GmbH, the economic situation of many shoe retailers in Germany is dramatically heading. “The minimum wage is just the latest trigger. Many of our members are wondering how to do the running costs. Increased personnel costs, energy prices, rents-all at, at best, zero growth and continuing consumption retention. The tree is on fire!” Wars Sabu Managing Director Stephan Krug.
Many shoe retailers have not been able to adapt their tax prices to inflation in recent years. “It starts with cuts in the staff to save costs. And where only one or two employees are in use, you can no longer shorten anything – in the end there is only the closure and therefore the loss of jobs.” In addition, Krug emphasizes: “Retail is part of the local supply and quality of life, which is now threatening to disappear, especially in structurally weak areas. In the city centers and centers, the high fixed rental costs are also a major challenge.”
The SABU, to which more than 500 dealers are connected with more than 1,400 sales points, therefore requires a fair adjustment of the output and input calculations as well as an honest shoulder closure of the shoe industry in the pricing. “The dealer is the last link in the chain: if we do not rethink the current price structure, too much stays on the dealers – and they can no longer,” says Krug. At the same time, the prices for end customers would have to remain justifiable: “The price increases for end customers must remain justifiable. Without the trade having to reduce its margin even more.”
The SABU brand monitor also showed that a better supplementary offer is necessary: ”The previous order rate is too high! The dealer must be able to react more flexibly in the current weather and mood.” Likewise, the calculation, especially in sought, leaves little air: “We are continuously in dialogue and see the use of some of our partners – unfortunately our clear message is: that’s not enough!”
Stephan Krug, Managing Director of Sabu GmbH for ten years, draws a concerned conclusion: “With a lot of personal commitment, the shoe trade has saved itself through the corona pandemic. Now five years later, the situation is still more tense: We are currently observing a helplessness and a dealer extinction of new levels.
Krug also refers to politics: “The coalition agreement, for example, provided for the reduction in electricity tax for all companies and the end consumer. So far, however, this has only been decided for individual industries.”
