FOCUS magazine- June 2013 by FOCUS ON FASHION RETAIL

Footwear retailing in the US & China

trade shows

Calendar

Fashion Trends

Fall/Winter 2013

5 Marketing lessons From

Lady GaGa CoLours & MateriaLs For Spring/Summer 2014

Jessica Alba Please Open that Door!

FROM THE EDITOR

“Wherever smart people work, doors are unlocked.” — Steve Wozniak I meet and talk with many people at work, asking questions and particularly, what they like and don’t like about FOCUS. Knowing other people’s opinions about what you do is very important for defining the purpose and the value of the product. In many ways, what you are reading right now is the result of understanding needs and likes/dislikes of the audience. I listen and try to learn; my doors are unlocked and I suggest you do the same. There’s this guy named J, a salesman for a known shoe company. Nice guy, just talks too much and loves to argue without reason - drives me crazy! One of those people, that just for the sake of it will be proving you’re wrong. You probably know people like that, hot air balloons? Anyway, when we meet, we have a friendly chat and I ask my usual questions and listen… until hot air starts coming out. Apparently, he likes FOCUS, but admits reading only the Calendar section, and the rest- naaaaah. J’s job is in sales and marketing; but he never went to college and all he’s got are his street smarts. I give him that. He’s very stubborn and has strong opinions about everything. When our conversation touches the areas he MUST know as a professional, this is when the hot air and arguments begin, demonstrating his unpreparedness to be more successful, more productive, more competitive. Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is power.

“First you must fill your head with knowledge. Then you can hit ice with it.” — The Simpsons This is why I want to tell all the J’s out there — Please Open That Door! Don’t limit yourself to what you already know! Always strive to learn more, and better yourself as a professional and as a person! Besides the Calendar (J’s one and only favorite section), you will find many other useful editorials in this issue: the detailed analyses of Shoe Retailing in the US and China, a special report how Rising Wages in China affect your business, and the Importance of Merchandising, just to name a few. Adore the upcoming Fashion Trends Fall/Winter 2013 and take marketing lessons from the entrepreneur of the month — Lady Gaga herself! And participate in our survey about the trade shows — the December’s issue of FOCUS will be featuring our annual review of the Top 10 Trade Shows of 2013, based on your opinions and experiences throughout the year.

“I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened, and I’m not afraid to look behind them.” — Elizabeth Taylor With that, I want to thank you for your continuous support and appreciation of our efforts to make this magazine worthy of your interest. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to contact me at editor@focusonshoes.com with questions, comments, suggestions or topics you’d like to see covered in future issues. Serving you better is our goal and privilege. Sincerely,

Alex Geyman Editor 4

June 2013

high-end fashion and luxury lifestyle trade magazine for american retailers

On fashion retail EDITOR: Alex Geyman GENERAL MANAGER: Dmitry Nelipovich ART DIRECTOR: Allison Moryl GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Pay Fan GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Nadine Alvillar FASHION EDITOR: Francesca Trippoli SUBSCRIPTION: Sandra DaSilva RESEARCH: Shawn Lancaster SALES: Claudia Perez

Table of Contents 4 From The Editor: Please Open That Door 5 On The Cover: Jessica Alba Starring In Please Open That Door Campaign 6 Fashion Trends: Fall/Winter 2013 16 Market Analyses: Footwear Retailing In The US And China (Part 1/2) 22 Special Report: Rising Wages Blunt Chinese Factories’ Competitive Edge 26 Trade Shows Calendar: June- July 2013 28 Legal Matters: Who Owns The Design? A Glance At Works For Hire And Independent Contractor Relationships Under U.S. Copyright Laws 30 Retail 101: The Importance Of Merchandising 34 Entrepreneur Of The Month: 5 Marketing Lessons From Lady Gaga 36 From The Red Carpets: Celebrities & Fashion 40 PR & Marketing: Ten Tips For Successful E-Mail Marketing / Top 5 Annoying Press Release Words 44 Trends: Colours & Materials For Spring/Summer 2014 47 Subscription 48 Survey: Your Opinion Counts All images and editorials in this issue are subject to copyright law and are the property of FFR and/or the owners/contributors. No images, designs or texts may be reproduced, copied, used whole or in part without written permission. FFR magazine disclaims responsibility for the statements, claims made by either advertisers or contributing authors. FFR magazine is not responsible in whole or any part of advertisement or typographical errors.

FOCUS ON FASHION RETAIL 25924 Viana Avenue, Suite 19 Lomita, CA 90717 USA Tel. (310) 784-0790 • fax (310) 202-6027 General E-Mail: info@focusonshoes.com Web: www.focusonshoes.com © FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

ON THE COV ER

Starring

Jessica Alba PhotograPher

Mario Testino Director

Jean Paul Goude Jessica Marie Alba (born April 28, 1981) is an American television and film actress and model, has appeared in a several iconic and lucrative endorsement campaigns including the famous Got Milk? and was featured in a star-studded 30th anniversary campaign for The Gap, as well as other prestigious campaigns in the U.S. and internationally. She has represented Revlon, joining an elite group of beauties representing the brand, including Halle Berry, Eva Mendes and Sheryl Crow.

Please Open That Door! Getting invited to an exclusive club is a dream for many people. The magic doors of this unique place periodically open allowing one to peer in; though they are often closed, at times they do remain ajar giving onlookers a chance to catch a glimpse. To enter this world, the doors must simply be pushed open. A special environment welcomes you, © FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

along with a sensational homeowner, the beautiful Jessica Alba. It’s been a wonderful year for the club. Will you return? Who could decline such an invitation? Certainly not he who last sees her wearing those little white shorts and bustier, highlighted by a waist-defining black belt with its silver buckle!

Jessica showcased her comedic talents as host of the 2006 MTV Movie Awards and she has appeared on countless prestigious magazine covers in the United States and throughout the world. “Please Open that Door” Cover photo was taken for Club Campari (www.clubcampari.com) marketing campaign and appeared in the Campari’s limited edition calendar, and kindly contributed to FOCUS magazine by our Campari friends.

June 2013

Fashion Trends

Fall/Winter

2013

Tracy Reese

he theme of the upcoming Fall/Winter 2013 so far appears to be everything but white variety — prim and proper styles mixed with sexy sheers, floor-length formal skirts followed by short and flirty dresses, forgiving tunics and loose pants alongside waist-hugging pencil skirts and form-fitting corsets, plus a parade of black-and-white patterns, colorful prints and bold, solid colors. There are sky-high stilettos and sensible flats, along with the winter paradox of peep-toe boots…

Diverse palette: Kenneth Cole opted

for subdued shades of burgundy and olive, Ralph Rucci went bold with vivid purples, while Diane von Furstenberg highlighted with corals, pinks, oranges and reds. Classic black and gray also featured in Kenneth Cole and Nicole Miller proposals.

prints anD patterns: Laser-cut florals, thick stripes at Jill Stuart, animal prints at Tracy Reese, houndstooth at Tommy Hilfiger.

Zac Posen

Loriblu

June 2013

Nicole Miller

Barbara Bui

Roberto Cavalli

Jill Stuart

Rebecca Minkoff

Marros Sergio Rossi

Luciano Padovan

ÂŠ FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

June 2013

Fashion Trends Gritti Kenneth Cole Collection

Jeannot

Nicole Miller

Giorgio Piergentili

Low hemLines: Embracing longer hemlines â&#x20AC;&#x201D; floor-length styles at DKNY and more, as well as knee-length skirts at Nicole Miller, Rebecca Minkoff and Tommy Hilfiger opted for more leg-baring lengths, but none of the mini variety. Layers: Combinations of pants, tunics, dresses, sweaters, vests and jackets. The variety of layering effects blended textures, colors and patterns.

June 2013

ÂŠ FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

Fall/Winter

Tommy Hilfiger

2013

Diane Von Furstenberg

Ralph Rucci

Barbara Bui

Tom Ford

Barbara Bui ÂŠ FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

June 2013

faShion Trends

Fall/Winter

Diane Von Furstenberg

2013

Shine factor: Metallic details splashed across short and sheer dresses, embellished all sorts of pieces (including knits) with sequins and beading. Zac Posen used illustrious fabrics and metallic details to give sparkle and shine to his peplum tops, sheaths, coats and gowns. Leather accentS: Black and burgundy leather pants at Kenneth Cole,

leather-sleeved jackets at Nicole Miller and leather skirts at Derek Lam. The touch of texture — whether real or faux — lends warmth that’s perfect for the chillier months. Just Cavalli

Zac Posen

Casadei

Taccetti

G&G

June 2013

Fashion Trends

Editor’s Pick – This is so cool!

Chaumet Montres Precieuses 2013 watches mix beauty of nature with time

he Chaumet Montres Precieuses 2013 series of watches are a fresh collaboration with Swiss craftsmen that gives birth to a series of timepieces that tie nature to poetry. The golden spider inches forward, one step by the hour as it patiently awaits its prey. The bee, flaunting its glittering diamond-set body, flitters freely around, luring its predator on. At first glance, the new complication watch by Chaumet, the Montres Precieuses 2013 does not seem to tell the time, at least not in a conventional way. We see the spider and the bee immerse themselves in their dance of romance, inspired by Chaumet’s classic love story. However, time is ingrained into their choreography, in a redefining design crafted out of the skilful experience of Swiss craftsmen, where the spider represents the hours and the bee represents the minutes. In a further display of creativity and artfulness, the story reaches a climax when the bee brushes the tip of its wings against the spider’s leg, as the hour hand converges with the minute hand at certain times like noon and midnight. This new creation from Chaumet also lavishes excellence and exquisiteness in its details. The watch dial forms the backdrop of this timeless tale of romance, with 43 mother-of-pearl elements and diamonds that make up the stunning web of the spider. The hours on the watch face are indicated by the twelve pink-gold cabochons set in the bezel, with diamond embedded in between to index the minutes. Chaumet has also introduced, in conjunction with the new Montres Precieuses 2013, a series of other timepieces that harness the gracefulness of nature in six unique designs. Each watch represents a different facet of nature, and accentuates the theme of elegance in its details and attention to color.

June 2013

In one watch, the white mother-of-pearl wings of three monarch butterflies glisten upon a dial made of black mother-ofpearl that enhances their mysterious allure, and the black satin bracelet adds a glorious finish. Another watch design draws our attention to a tiny mayfly with violet mother-of-pearl wings, gliding in delight among lovely sakura blossoms crafted out of pink mother-of-pearl, on a white-gold dial embellished with a violet satin bracelet. Chaumet craftsmen continue to challenge the limits of their artisanship with the bold use of different artistic techniques. In yet another example of skilled watch-making, the perfectly symmetrical designs of the butterfliesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wings are outlined in black China ink, carved on a white mother-of-pearl dial and complemented with a dark blue satin bracelet. The use of ivory painted sapphire glass enhances the colorful dragonflies and creates an impression of depth as they dance in the foreground. These beautifully designed timepieces from Chaumet are a charming portrayal of the mastery of Swiss watchmakers, and the tasteful creativity of Chaumet. The Montres Precieuses 2013 series seeks to wow the world with a new take on how we look at time, while at the same time creating a symphony of nature, poetry and romance.

ÂŠ FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

June 2013

fashioN Trends

Fall/Winter

2013

NoN-Plaid PatterNs: Checks, stripes, et

cetera: It’s clear that men have already embraced clothes that aren’t one solid color, houndstooth at Tommy Hilfiger.

sleNder silhouettes: Menswear, especially suits, ran slim, reminiscent of styles from the 1960s. Coats, however, tended to mirror this year’s boxy fit and at times featured oversized lapels as in Ian Velardi.

a dose of Color: Chase away winter blues with bold hues. Neon pink, orange, lime, berry and cherry red were among the more popular, either as accents to more subdued colors or as an all-over look as in Nautica.

Pablo Erroz

Ian Velardi

Due Elle 14

June 2013

Nautica

Tom Ford

Gritti

Tommy Hilfiger

Marros

Fabi

Diesel ÂŠ FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

June 2013

MARK E T ANALYSE S

Shoe Store Retailing in the US and China

(Part 1 of 2)

by Peter Mangione

oday, at some $60.0 billion, the US is probably the largest shoe market in the world by sales value (although the more populous 27 countries of the European Union are a close rival), while China, with annual consumption of at least 3.0 billion pair, is the largest global shoe market by pair consumption. Comparing the two shoe market leaders reveals some similarities but also some distinct differences. Similarities of US and China Shoe Markets. Both marketplaces are • Dominated by mega companies – retailers and brands. • Heavily penetrated by athletic shoes. • Fashion driven with emphasis on women’s trendy shoes.

Differences in US and China Shoe Markets. Each market has its own approach to • Shoe store chain size – While the US has chains with thousands of stores, China’s chain shoe stores are the top six by store count in the world with the largest operating more than 16,000 units. • Shoe production – China makes nearly all of its own shoes, while the US makes almost none. • Multi-brand retailing – China has only one channel for this, its powerful department stores, while the US is dominated by this retail format, which is the mode of its department stores, its branded self-service discounters, and both its athletic and its non-athletic retail shoe chains. • Retailer buying of multi-brands – No retail entity in China buys multi-brands for resale to customers in a multi-brand retail format

June 2013

• •

•

(its department stores are real estate companies that sell floor space to brands in return for a concession fee and do not buy anything from the brands), while all of the US’s multi-brand retailers buy directly from brands and sell to the consumer in multi-brand formats. Self-service shoe retailing – China basically has none of this, while it is nearing half of all US shoe sales from its mass market and branded discount formats. Mono-brand retail stores – Nearly all shoe retailing in China is in this format with most being fully vertical – design, manufacturing and consumer distribution -- while in the US these shops are mostly a complement to sales by the brand to multi-brand retail formats. Vertical integration – No US shoe brand is vertically integrated since there is almost no owned US shoe brand production either domestically or overseas, while, as noted, vertical integration is the dominate model for China shoe brands. Franchising – For many China shoe brands, especially the local sports brand companies, retail distribution is handled by franchisees, who operate the stores and buy the product from the brand on a wholesale basis. Growth – The US shoe market at retail is mature and slow growing, while China’s retail formats are developing rapidly and retail sales are growing in double digits annually.

With these similarities and differences in mind, the following analysis the retail formats and the key businesses that dominate each market.

US Shoe Store Retailing

Overview. Shoe sales to the US consumer are upwards of $60 billion annually, and while some 6% is now done on line by internet sellers like Zappos, Amazon, Shoebuy.com, etc., the power in US shoe distribution is very much in the hands of the brick and mortar retailers. US shoe retailing today is dominated by mega companies in five key groups. They are listed in order of their dollar sales power in the marketplace 1. Athletic specialty full service retailers like Footlocker 2. Mass market self-service stores like Wal-Mart and Payless ShoeSource 3. Self-service national brand big box stores like DSW, TJ Maxx, and Famous Footwear 4. Department stores selling national brands like Macy’s and Nordstrom’s, full service 5. Non-athletic specialty full service stores like Clarks, Nine West and The Walking Company. The chain store companies classified in these categories account for some 90% of all US retail shoe store sales with the rest done by independent shoe stores. With the exception of the mass market self-service category and the non-athletic specialty stores of some key brands, all of the groups are multi-brand retailers selling mostly national brands. How the Retail Landscape Evolved. Fierce competition has ruled the shoe retail sector in the US for decades and, no doubt, will do so for decades to come. The current state of the sector bears almost no relation to that which existed as late as 20 years ago, let alone 30 or 40 years ago – a warning to anyone who thinks the existing structure is secure going forward. Shoe retailing giants like Kinney, Thom McAn, Wohl Shoe (which leased the shoe area in leading department stores), Edison Brothers, Butler’s, Endicott-Johnson, etc., are only ghosts today. A few morphed into niche leaders like Kinney, whose branded athletic experiment became Footlocker, or Volume Shoe, which acquired nearly all its low priced store competition, emerging as the giant Payless ShoeSource. Nearly everyone else disappeared, falling victim to a changing American culture and life style, as well as new demographics and the most disruptive influence of all, suburbanization (ending the rule of key shopping streets and imposing new expansion costs and vulnerabilities).

The new attitudes and physical landscape led to new shopping habits and new retail formats designed to accommodate new consumer preferences. Changing consumer attitudes were also reflected in the acceptance of more synthetic and less leather footwear. This brought lower prices and more options for the consumer. The opening of the US market to unfettered free trade in 1981 resulted in an unrestricted flow of low priced attractive man-made shoes, as well as new athletic styles (never made in the US), and all in heretofore unknown volume and choice. The free market also opened the US to better value in leather shoes from around the world. US shoe brands and even some retailers abandoned the vertical integration model – design, manufacturing, and selling (wholesale and/or retail) – and became design and marketing firms, contracting production with overseas partners. Nike was an early leader in separating design/marketing from owned production. The design and marketing format is now ubiquitous among US shoe brands. The lower import prices complemented more efficient retail formats – driving the move to selfservice stores and the demise of many full service operations, especially in the popular price ranges. Self-service Shoe Sales. Perhaps no other single change was more significant than the switch from nearly all full service shoe retail environments – where the sales associate measures the customer’s foot and brings offerings from the stock room to try on – to environments where the customer self- selects items from racks or shelves in the store, often arranged by size, type, etc. Convenient and a super time saver, selfservice has become the favorite shopping mode of America for just about everything. While self- service shoe shopping was all but nonexistent just a few decades ago, today it powers US shoe retailing with six of the top 10 shoe retailers and 13 of the top 25 shoe retailers operating in a self-service mode. The self-service presence is even greater once you

add in the online activity which may be the ultimate self-directed shopping experience. It is no coincidence that all of the retail ghosts mentioned above, except Payless ShoeSource, were full service companies. Today, nearly half of all US shoe dollar sales, and more than half on a units basis, are done in the self-service mode. Athletic Shoes Come of Age. Another key directional change that redefined the shoe retailing space in the US was the emergence of athletic shoes as mainstream footwear and not just footwear for sporting activities. No doubt this change followed the leisure oriented life style that came to rule American culture beginning in the 1970s, as casual Fridays became casual every day, redefining acceptable work and time- off attire. Comfortable, better made sports shoes (often of leather and not canvas, with comfort oriented soles) were the ideal accessory to complete one’s jeans or casual outfit. Not surprisingly, several of today’s leading shoe retailers are athletic specialists or general shoe retailers that are heavily sport shoe oriented. Indeed, it is the rare exception today if athletic shoes are not sold in the shoe retail shop. Shoe retailers that missed the athletic shift soon found themselves alone in their stores. With athletic shoes (broadly defined to include most leisure type shoes) accounting for at least 40% of all shoe dollars at retail, it is only fitting that the leading shoe retailer in the US today, by dollar sales, is Footlocker, and that of the top ten US shoe retailers only two (Macy’s and Nordstrom’s) do not emphasize athletic product in their selections. The dominance of the Footlocker group and its rivals at Finish Line and the big box sporting goods emporiums, like Dicks, have rendered it largely unnecessary for the leading athletic brands to have their own mainline mono brand shops. Interestingly, many of the leading athletic shoe retailers are full service companies including Footlocker and Finish Line, but others are self-service like Sports Authority. Still self-service wins even here as huge quantities of ➻

June 2013

MARK E T ANALYSE S lesser or house branded sport shoes are sold in the mass market at WalMart, Target, K-mart, etc. Moreover, a huge share of nationally branded athletic types are also sold self-service in the big box branded discounters like DSW, Famous Footwear, Rack Room, etc., to say nothing of the sales in factory outlet center stores operated by leading sports brands like Nike, Adidas, etc., as well as on the Internet. By definition house brands are only sold in the retailer’s own store, like those in Payless ShoeSource, Wal-Mart, etc. On the other hand, some brands like Nine West, Naturalizer, Skechers, etc., are sold in the brand’s own retail shops and are also sold as so-called national brands to multi-brand retailers. There is virtually no use of franchisees by US brands in their own brand retail stores. The stores are operated by the brand directly. Indeed, what makes a national brand is wholesale distribution by the brand to multi-brand retailers that purchase it. Selling National Brands Self-service. While selling low priced house brands in the self-service mode – like Payless ShoeSource, Wal-Mart, Target, etc. – seemed a logical extension of the supermarket format, the application of self-service retailing to nationally branded shoes of all types, even leading women’s fashion brands, was new. The idea has revolutionized US shoe retailing, mostly in the last decade or so. In this short period of time, retailers selling national brands in the selfservice mode have become four of the top ten US shoe retailers by dollar sales volume. It took the fashion brands awhile to figure out the power of and the security of these new self-service sellers of national brands. Some of the brands worried that their other customers, principally the leading department stores, might retaliate for selling to discounters. The way the branded self-service retailers operate cleared the field. Unlike department stores, where brands try to sell a complete line of shoes each season, the self-service retailers strive for maximum selection of brands and usually only need a few styles from each brand (leaving the department stores with many styles not available in the self-service store). Also, the selfservice firms are happy to work with versions of the best models made just for them (again sparing the department stores more direct competition). In the end, the national brand self-service retailers have become the largest customers of most US shoe brands, which has strengthened brands at a time when the department stores have increasingly moved to more ‘in house’ brands and away from national brands, as a means of fattening their margins. A somewhat late arrival to that scene, Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW), has emerged as the top performer in the space. It is now the sixth largest US shoe retailer by dollar sales, averaging over $6.0 million per store, with total sales over $2.0 billion in 2011. Only Nordstrom’s, the department store specializing in shoes with a per store average at $13.0 million and Neiman Marcus, the top end department store with average shoe sales per store of $9.0 million, have higher per store averages. DSW stores are huge, averaging over 25,000 pair per store, with upwards of 300 brands represented. The stores are largely of uniform format, either free standing near the mall or in a close by power or strip center. As a late comer, it had the advantage of all new stores and was not burdened with in- mall or other non-conforming real estate, as is the case with some of its key competitors. Of course the space has many other strong players including Famous Footwear, Shoe Carnival, Rack Room, among others, as well as soft goods specialists like Ross Dress for Less, and multi-product off price stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc.

June 2013

Department Stores Drive National Brand Sales. It is sometimes said that no national shoe brand can succeed in the US without selling to the leading department stores. It is certainly true that the top national shoe brands are represented in the key department stores. This segment has undergone radical consolidation in the last two decades. It is now essentially the following key firms, which account for some $8.0 billion in annual shoe sales – 1. Macy’s, the coast to coast department store in just about every major market, with total annual sales of $26.4 billion, probably accounts for nearly half of all department store sales, does about 12% of its total business in shoes, and accounts for some 40% of annual department store shoe sales, 2. Nordstrom, the west coast based, upscale fashion house, that began life as a Seattle, Washington, shoe store, has total annual sales of $10.5 billion, devotes the most space and effort to shoes of any in this group, with shoe sales of $2.2 accounting for 21% of its total sales or about 28% of total department store shoe sales (its success prompted the others to imitate its huge offering of footwear, resulting in the prominence of these stores in the footwear space today), 3. Dillards, the department store fixture in the west and southeast, has total sales of $6.2 billion, works hard to make its shoe offerings distinctly different from its competitors with heavy reliance on unique in-house brands that complement its national shoe brands and now has annual shoe sales of almost $900 million (about 14.5% of sales) or about 11% of total department store shoe sales, and 4. Belk, concentrated in the south and in lesser markets, with mall and strip-center stores, does $3.7 billion in total sales and about $450 million in shoe sales each year or about 5% of total department store shoe sales annually. 5. Bon Ton Stores, with 272 stores and total volume of $2.9 billion, has shoe sales of $257 million, about 9% of its total sales. ➻

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MARK E T ANALYSE S Key to following table

Leading US Footwear Retailers Rank

Name

Store Annual Sales Count (Shoes) Millions

F = Full service S = Self-service (1) Athletic specialty full service retailers like Footlocker, (2) Mass market self-service stores like Wal-Mart and Payless ShoeSource, (3) Self-service national brand big box stores like DSW, TJ Maxx, and Famous Footwear, (4) Department stores selling national brands like Macy’s and Nordstrom, full service, and (5) Non-athletic specialty full service stores like Clarks, Nine West and The Walking Company.

Format Names

Comments

Type

Footlocker

3,369

$5,623

Footlocker, Champs, Footaction

2 3

Wal-Mart Macy’s

3,615 842

$3,600 est $3,100 est

Wal-Mart Macy’s

Shoe sales represent less than 2% of US WM stores sales Leading muli-brand retailer with some 12% of total sales in shoes

S2 F4

PaylessShoe Source

4,303

$2,443

PaylessShoe Source

All private label, 80% womens was sold to private equity group that paid $2.0 billion and then sold Stride Rite and other brands to Wolverine World Wide for $1.2 billion

Nordstrom

169

$2,200

Nordstom, Nordstom Rack

Leader in upscale multi-brands with 21% of total store sales in shoes

$2,000

Designer Shoe Warehouse

Leader in discount, self service sale of national brands. National brands with 2/3s women’s 25,000 pair per store which average some $6.0 million in annual sales returned 7.6% of sales before tax in 2011

DSW

Marmaxx

1,867

$1,800 est

TJ Maxx, Marshalls

Huge stores selling mostly branded closeouts of apparel, homegoods and shoes at deep discounts S3 with total store sales exceeing $15 billion

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Famous Footwear Kohl’s Genesco Target Finish Line JC Penney Ross For Less Sears Dicks Kmart

1,089 1,127 1,399 1,763 656 1,102 1,037 834 480 1,305

$1,500 $1,500 $1,434 $1,400 est $1,369 $1,208 $1,032 $1,000 est $988 $900 est

Famous Footwear Kohl’s Journeys, Schuh, J&M Target Finish Line JC Penney (JCP) Ross For Less Sears Dicks Sporting Goods Kmart

Various size and formats, 16% of product is parent, Brown Shoe items Large selection of special make ups from national brands, 8% of total sales are shoes Journeys sells hip national brands, J&M classics, Lidds hat stores not included in sales or store count Huge store Wal-Mart competitor with 19% of total sales in apparel and accessories like shoes Footlocker competitor with larger stores and one format, returned nearly 10% before tax in 2011 7% of sales are shoes, with increasing number of national brands Mostly closeouts of banded shoes, apparel is main business, $8.6 billion total Mostly house brands with some national brands included, shoes are about 5% of total sales National athletic brands are 19% of total sales About 6% of total sales are shoes and all private label

S3 S3 F5 S2 F1 F S3 F/S F1 S2

Jones Group

674

$892

Nine West, Easy Sprit, Kurt Geiger

About 1/3 of sales and stores are Kurt Geiger, the UK women’s fashion leader recently acquired and all its stores are in UK

19 20 21

Dillards Sports Authority Shoe Carnival

315 450 327

$868 $800 est $763

Dillards Sports Authority Shoe Carnival

Shoes are 14% of its total department store sales Privately held Dicks clone DSW format, smaller stores heavily athletic like Nike and Sketchers

F4 S3 S3

Neiman Marcus

$700 est

Neiman Marcus, Last Call, Bergdorf Goodman

Leader in international shoe brands

23 24

Shoe Show Saks Fifth Avenue

1,129 106

$700 est $475 est

Shoe Show , Shoe Dept. Saks, OFF 5th

Privately held, 900 Shoe Show, like Payless Shoesource, 240 Shoe Dept., like Famous Footwear International shoe brands, women’s alone exceed $365 million

S 2/3 F4

Belk Department Store

303

$450 est

Belk

National shoe brands, total shoes about 12% of sales

Rack Room

400

$425 est

Rack Room

Privately held by German shoe chain king, Deichmann, sells national brands at discount like Famous

Aldo

475

$425 est

Aldo

Privately held Canadian shoe chain king, sells moderate priced women’s and men’s nearly all private label make up items, 1,200 additional stores selling accessories, some in US, and shoes in Canada

Skechers

537

$410

Skechers

Owns 281 US stores, 49 outside US, while overseas distributors operate 207 stores outside the US, F 1/5 not including the 250 operated by a partner in China, which are not the listed store total

Clarks

250

$300 est

Clarks, Hanover

UK shoe chain king has long operated retail shoe stores in the US that sell only their own brands, almost all in top malls

Bon Ton Stores

272

$257

Bon Ton, Carson’s, Boston Store

National brands dept store in second tier cities, $2.9 billion total sales

Off Broadway Shoes

$250 est

Off Broadway

Sister company of Rack Room follows the DSW approach with large stores holding 30-50,000 pair S3 each, national brand closeouts and make up at discount

The Walking Company

200

$250 est

The Walking Company

TWC owns its stores nationwide, most in leading malls, it has reorganized under Ch 11 in 2003 and 2010, comfort shoes from multiple vendors are the specialty

33 34 35

Steve Madden The Athlete’s Foot Shiekh Shoes

84 78 136

$155 $120 est $100 est

Steve Madden The Athlete’s Foot Shiekh

Sells its own brand, the leading youg women’s dress and hip brand Franchise stores selling branded sports shoe, growth has been a challenge due to intense competition Mall stores with mix of athletic and hip womens

F5 F1 F 1/5

June 2013

326

Includes 783 doors outside US and 61% of sales are Nike, returned 7.9% in 2011 before tax

“The US shoe store landscape is like no other in the world.”

In addition, there are the two elite, high-end, department store groups, both of which are key players in the shoe sector. 6. Neiman Marcus, the Texas based leader, also operates Bergdorf Goodman in New York City, and Neiman Marcus Last Call outlets, has total sales of $4.3 billion annually, with shoe sales of some $700 million per year or about 15% of total sales, and about 9% of all department store shoe sales, and 7. Saks Fifth Avenue, has total annual sales of $3.0 billion, and like Neiman Marcus is a leader in sales of international women’s and men’s fashion footwear, which accounts for about 15% of total sales, about $475 million annually, and about 6% of total department store shoe sales. There are some others like the 50 stores, privately held, Lord and Taylor, but the seven above account for nearly all US department stores that sell predominately national brands, although some now have a good portion of their own label shoes. (Neither Sears nor JC Penney, both of which have huge shoe businesses, fit in the department store category as used herein, because they sell mostly private label bands, and in Sears’ case have considerable self-service shoe areas.) Working with these retailers is not always easy for brands. The stores typically demand a great deal in the way of financial support from the brand wholesaler. This often comes

in the form of allowances and sometimes guaranteed gross margin protection, where the brand has to contribute to the markdowns needed to clear inventory, often by sending a check to the retailer. Not surprisingly, many leading US brands now have their own retail stores, often in malls and/or outlet centers, as a way to maximize the value of the brand at retail, without sharing the margin with or paying the allowances demanded by the department stores. It has been a good strategy for the Nine West brands, Naturalizer, Skechers, Steve Madden, Rockport, and many others.

Summing Up. The US shoe store landscape is like no other in the world. Not only is it dominated by mega store chains with only a modest share for independents, but it is mostly a multi-brand retail environment. US consumers seem to prefer multi-brand formats to mono brand concepts — the former being more ‘destination – oriented’ and more convenient as a consequence. It is also heavily penetrated by self-service shoe retailers, both in mass market low price environments, as well as better grade nationally branded shoes. The latter stands out as a unique US practice and is the fastest growing segment in a highly competitive and constantly shifting sales environment. Remarkably, the powerhouse department stores and the big box self-service sellers of nationally branded shoes have found a modus vivendi. Both now work in harmony — and along with the athletic and non- athletic specialists and the mass market self-service retailers — contribute to the unparalleled choice and value in shoe offerings that are available today to US consumers and as yet, in the world, only to them. ✥ Continued in next issue (Shoe Retailing in China)

Peter T. Mangione For more than 30 years, Mangione has been a leader in the global shoe sector, having served as president of the largest shoe trade association in the US, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America from 1981 to 2009, and now as managing director of Global Footwear Partnerships LLC, an international consulting practice with a wide range of clients in Asia, Latin America, and Europe. A lawyer by training, he has extensive knowledge and experience in most aspects of the shoe business including retailing, sourcing, logistics, factory social responsibility, product safety, customs, labeling, and government regulation of the international shoe trade. He can be reached at ptmangione@gmail.com.

June 2013

SPECIAL REPORT

Rising Wages Blunt Chinese Factories’ Competitive Edge China, the ‘world’s factory’, is losing its shine. And to a great extent this has been the result of the rise in workers’ wages in most major cities. How has this happened?

June 2013

Rising, rising, rising Although the international financial crisis saw a minimal increase in the basic wage in 2009 in China, a wave of big wage increases nevertheless materialized in 2010. The 12th Five-Year Plan emphasized that residents’ income should grow commensurately with economic development and that labor wages should grow commensurately with labor productivity. As a result, many provinces raised the minimum wage for workers. According to basic salary statistics issued by China Labor Consult, 16 provinces raised their minimum wage in the first six months of this year alone, and most of the increases were of over 20%. According to the table below comparing the 16 cities/provinces, Sichuan saw the highest raise, of 38%, a heart-breaking figure for employers, while Shenzhen had the highest basic salary of RMB$1,500 per month, a frightening figure for factory owners. Wage increases are now very much on the corporate agenda as a result of fierce competition for labor. The situation is particular severe in coastal regions where the cost of living is mauch higher than in inland cities. Workers are now less willing to travel a long way to earn what is only enough for their daily necessities. The new industrial regions of the inland cities now also engage in inter-provincial competition for labor, while factories along the coastal strip have been lowering their admission standards for workers simply to recruit more labor. Higher wages of course are another important factor. For example, one Shenzhen company announced it would raise the basic wage by as much as 20%. Some industry experts forecast that wages will increase by 20% or even 30% annually over the next five years. The increases in basic wage have had a major impact on China’s manufacturing sector. According to a study conducted by the China Samsung Economic Research Institute in 2010, for every 20% rise in wages, labor-intensive industries, including stationery, apparel and

footwear, fur, tobacco, furniture and arts and crafts, are being seriously impacted by total production costs rising by more than 1.5%. For capitalintensive manufacturing, such as paper, chemical materials and chemical fibers, etc., as well as technology-intensive manufacturing industries, such as transportation, electrical machinery, communications equipment, and so on, the impact is not quite so great, with total production costs rising by around 1% on average.

The Fading of the ‘Made in China’ Label Quoting data from Business-in-Asia.com released this year, workers’ wages in Burma, Cambodia and Vietnam are far lower than in China – China’s wage is as many as 13 times of Burma’s! This is definitely a very strong pull factor encouraging manufacturers to leave their darling China. In this situation, more and more manufacturers are looking towards Southeast Asia, where labor costs are so low that the break-even point after paying new set-up costs can be easily achieved over the long term. China’s ‘world factory’ honor is gradually fading away, and the “Made in China” label is facing unprecedented challenges. Apparel and footwear are labor-intensive industries, and the laborcost increases in the garment sector have had an adverse effect on the industry’s production distribution. Yue Yuen Group is the world’s largest manufacturer of sports shoes for Nike, Adidas, and other brands and has 50% of its products manufactured in China. The Group abandoned one of its production centers in Dongguan, Guangdong, in 2011, in line with several other shoe-makers who shared the glory and profits in this region a decade ago. ➻

Wage Increases 2010 – 2012 by Province or City ProvInCe/CIty

Shenzhen Beijing Tianjin Xi’an Shanghai Jiangsu Jiangxi Shandong Guangxi Chongqing Sichuan Yunnan Shanxi Gansu Ningxia Xinjiang

year (Unit: rMB$/ Month) 2012

2011

2010

1500 1260 1310 1125 1450 1320 870 1240 1000 1050 1050 1100 1000 980 1100 1340

1320 1160 1160 980 1280 1140 720 1100 820 870 850 950 860 760 900 960

1100 960 920 850 1120 960 720 920 820 680 650 830 760 760 710 960

InCrease

27.00% 23.80% 29.80% 24.40% 22.70% 27.20% 17.20% 25.80% 18.00% 35.20% 38.00% 24.50% 24.00% 22.40% 27.20% 28.30%

June 2013

SPECIAL REPORT

CoUnTRy

LEgAL DAiLy MiniMUM WAgE (US$)

Cambodia

2.03-2.05

Burma

0.58

Vietnam

3.20-3.76

China (Shanghai)

4.00-7.90

Small and medium-size factories have suffered most from the flood of wage increases, and there have been many reports of factories closing in the Pearl River Delta region. Some apparel manufacturers in the region told local newspapers that as many as 30% of these factories had been driven out of business by high labor costs and exceptionally low profit margins in 2011. This compares with their profit margin of over 20% during the 1990s. The same situation applies to the sourcing and production departments of retailers. Coach has announced it would reduce the ratio of its China-made products from 85% to below 50% within five years by moving production lines to Vietnam and India to offset high labor costs, according to Lew Frankfort, Chairman and CEO of Coach, in 2011. Coach obviously is not the only one. In the Global Retail Manufacturers and Importers Survey by the US-based financial consultancy firm Capital Business Credit (CBC) published last quarter in 2012, about 40% of interviewed companies considered moving away from China.

The Return of ‘Made in Europe’ and ‘Made in the USA’

The German Toy Industry Association noted recently that some German toy manufacturers had begun to relocate their production back to Germany or other European countries in recent years. The reason is simply the labor shortages and higher wages, as well as increased raw material costs and energy prices, in China. The Steiff Company, well known for its classical teddy bears, started its factories in China in 2004, but withdrew back to Germany in 2009. Marklin, a famous model-train brand, has already moved its production lines to Eastern Europe to save on transportation costs and to counter the labor shortage in China.

June 2013

In 2011, the Boston Consulting Group even forecast that, over the next five years, with the gradually closing wage gap between the US and China, offshoring would become a less attractive option and more goods tagged “Made in the USA” would probably be seen in North American stores. While further wage hikes look inevitable, what are buyers going to do with their production plants or suppliers in China? They had better start working on their calculators and world maps before the next wave of wage rises surges in. Or will China devise some means of remaining attractive compared with her new international competitors? ✥ This article is provided by Tradegood, a B2B community connecting responsible buyers with trusted suppliers.

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2013 TRADE SHOWS CALEN DATE

EVENT

LOCATION

Dallas Apparel & Accessories Market

Dallas, TX

2-4

Denver Apparel & Accessory Market

Denver, CO

2-4

Chicago Apparel & Accessories Market

Chicago, IL

5-7

The New York Shoe Expo (FFANY)

New York, NY

6-9

Atlanta Apparel Market

Atlanta, GA

6-9

Premiere Classe

Paris, France

6-9

FAME

Paris, France

6-9

Mr & Mrs Brown

Paris, France

6-9

Private

Paris, France

6-9

Le Cube

10-12

July

June

May 30-June 2

June 2013

Paris, France

SELECT- The Contemporary Trade Show

Los Angeles, CA

10-12

Transit- The Los Angeles Shoe Show

Los Angeles, CA

10-13

LA KIDS MARKET

Los Angeles, CA

12-13

The Atlanta Fashion Shoe & Accessory Market

Atlanta, GA

15-18

Expo Riva Schuh

Riva del Garda, Italy

17-18

The Metropolitan New York Shoe, Apparel & Accessories Market (B&STA)

18-21

X X

X X X

Secaucus, NJ

Pitti Imagine Uomo

Florence, Italy

18-21

Pitti W Woman

Florence, Italy

22-26

Milano Moda Uomo

Milan, Italy

Fashion Show

23-25

Shoe Market of the Americas (SMOTA)

Fort Lauderdale, FL

27-29

Pitti Immagine Bimbo

Florence, Italy

1-4

Mode à Paris- Haute Couture

Paris, France

2-4

Bread & Butter

Berlin, Germany

2-4

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Berlin, Germany

8-11

Hong Kong Fashion Week

Hong Kong, China

9-12

Francal

Sao Paulo, Brazil

17-19

JFW-International Fashion Fair

Tokyo, Japan

18-22

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim

Miami, FL

19-22

Premium Order

Duesseldorf, Germany

19-22

Beijing International Jewellery Fair

Beijing, China

20-23

SwimShow

Miami, FL

21-23

MRket New York

New York, NY

21-23

Project

New York, NY

26-29

ISPO Munich

Munich, Germany

Outdoor Retailer

Salt Lake City, UT

31- Aug 3

M W C

X X

Fashion Show X

Fashion Show

X X

Fashion Show X

X X

NDAR JUNE - JULY

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(786) 331-9000

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39 05536931

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www.senken-ex.com

N/A

(212) 489-8300

www.mbfashionweek.com

+49 (0)30-629-085-78

www.premiumexhibitions.com

N/A

(852) 2561-5566

www.newayfairs.com

N/A

(305) 596- 7889

www.swimshow.com

N/A

(212) 686-4412

www.mrketshow.com

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(877) 554-4834

www.projectshow.com

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+49-89-949-21473

www.ispo.com

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(949) 226-5794

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N/A Not Available

Show dates and locations were accurate at the time of printing and subject to change without notice. Please contact venues directly for the latest information.

FFR’s ratings are based on reports from our correspondents, contributors, vendors and retailers who attended these events. Ratings reflect people’s opinion of show organization, traffic, convenience and value for attending/participating businesses. © FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

June 2013

LEGAL MAT TERS

Who Owns the Design? A glance at works for hire and independent contractor relationships under U.S. Copyright laws. by Mona Qureshi-Hart, Hart IP Law & Strategies LLC

Show week! Months of sweat and lots of money invested later, your new pieces are ready for their reveal. The unique and trendsetting print fabric featured in your collection – including blouses, skirts, and even scarves – is magazine cover perfect! And then, you learn, a competitor is debuting the exact same print fabric in their new collection. What? It is your fabric after all; you purchased the print design from a local artist who created it for you! Or is it? In this scenario, if the artist is not employed by your company and there is no written agreement indicating the pattern is only yours – or at least, only yours to reproduce, it might be a costly and challenging scenario to claim the pattern.

In the fashion industry, unique two-dimensional artwork such as those found on fabric prints, are a featured and now heavily federally copyrighted intellectual property right. Yet, there are instances that companies do not realize that once payment is passed to an artist for this kind of design it is not necessarily theirs. Often, we think, like a pair of shoes at the store, if we paid for it, it is ours. Yet copyright is a different type of property, and the way this property is passed is also different. In this scenario, an independent contractor who develops a twodimensional artwork – for example a design, pattern or drawing for use on a garment or accessory – is not creating the work as a work for hire. The rights provided by copyright must be assigned or licensed to the company seeking to use it since under US copyright law, the copyright remains with the artist who originated the work until there is some transfer of rights. On the other hand, if there is an employer-employee relationship between the company and the artist, the artwork could be a work for hire and belong to the company employer if it is performed within the scope of employment and there is an employer-employee relationship existing under the laws of the respective state. Each state has rules pertaining to what exactly comprises an employer-employee relationship, including factors such as regular payments, benefits, and job description. The law is pretty explicit about when work may also be considered a work for hire when performed by an independent contractor, however: The hiring party must specially order or commission the work, and this is done prior to the initiation or production of the work; The hiring party and the independent contractor must explicitly agree in writing that this work will be created as a work for hire; and the work must fall under one of nine categories listed in the Copyright Act: (1) a contribution to a collective work, (2) a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, (3) a translation, (4) a supplementary work, (5) a compilation, (6) an instructional text, (7) a test, (8) answer material for a test, or (9) an atlas. It is clear from this list under requirement number 3 that twodimensional visual works like patterns and designs on fabrics are generally not works for hire when performed by an independent contractor, even if there is an oral agreement and some payment or other compensation has passed. A famous copyright case did manage to create some room to recognize what on the surface appears as an independent contractor relationship as one instead as being an employer-employee relationship. Even where companies and organizations do not recognize that an employer-employee relationship exists, it is possible that one might exist under agency laws and a twodimensional work may be a work for hire by virtue of an employer-employee relationship after all by looking at: • The hiring party’s right to control the manner and means to prepare the work; • Skill required; • Where the tools and items to create the work came from; • Where it was created; • How long the hiring party and artist have worked together; • Can the hiring party request more projects from the artist;

June 2013

D N U O R A Y E U K R N O M O T Y N O E D

V F A T I H E T W F C E

R E P

WH Y U S E P R O F I T A B L E S O L U T I O N S E X E C U T I V E S E A R C H ?

F o o t we ar&F as h i o I ndus t rI ns i de r B2 BNe t wo r I’ gr e ap l actmar key o u r s e l f o ry o u r c o mp an f r e, wh i ln e t wo r ki n di r e c t lwi t t h o u s an do f y o u ri n du s t rp r o f e s s i o n alwo r l dwi d.

www. f oot we a r a n df a s h i on . c om DESI GN BY VI SUALREALM

• How much the artist can control over their time and way of working on the project; • How the artist is paid by the hiring party; • If the artist can hire their own assistants to help; • If employee benefits are provided to the artist; and • Tax treatment of the hired party. However, the Supreme Court in this case also indicated that these factors are not the only ones to determine the nature of a relationship. With these factors in mind, for example, if a company hires an independent contractor to perform work, but also has control over how the work is done and it is done on site at the company or using the company computer, and/or if there is a regular set of payments to the contractor and an ongoing relationship to produce, it is possible that a work can be a work for hire because it could be established that an employer-employee relationship exists. This will present other matters for the company hiring the contractor such as tax and benefit considerations and the company may wish to evaluate these concerns before attempting to label a work for hire scenario. A cautionary tale for sure, no one wants to be the one who promotes a new pattern in a product line only to find someone else also has it after investing time and money. And it is far less costly in the long run to take precautionary measures such as a written agreement up front, regardless of how friendly the relationship may be. A written mutual agreement passing the rights to the company can help ensure that the company owns the copyright, or that at least, that the parties know what rights they own and will clarify for the courts in the event of a dispute the intentions of the parties. An agreement can come in the form of © FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

Wek now t hepr of essi onal sandunder st andt heuni quedemands ofy ouri ndust r yf r om ani nsi der ’ spoi ntofv i ew.Wepr ov i deaone ononecust omi z ed appr oachspeci f i ct oy ourcompanyneeds.

THEFASHI ON, FOOTWEAR & OUTDOOR TALENTSPECI ALI STS

S U S A N P R O F F I T T Sus an@j obwi s h. net

7 2 7 9 3 8 1 1 7 7 a limited license or a full assignment of rights such as the rights to reproduce, sell, and display. Proactive, proactive, proactive! While often curable, it is best to take a proactive approach and not have such issues arise at all with an intellectual property plan in place at your business. Consulting an intellectual property attorney as one sets out with a new business, or meeting on a regular basis if you are an established company, to identify company intellectual property and goals, helps to assure that a company’s intellectual property is properly protected, maintained, and enforced in this and other highly competitive industries. ✥ This article is not intended or offered as legal advice. These materials have been prepared for educational and information purposes only. They are not legal advice or legal opinions on any specific matters. Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, a lawyer-client relationship between this article, the author(s), or the publisher, and you or any other reader. Readers should not act, or fail to act, upon this information without seeking professional counsel. No person should act or fail to act on any legal matter based on the contents of this site. Unless expressly stated otherwise, do not assume that an attorney licensed to practice in your state prepared this article. This article is not intended as advertising or solicitation in any jurisdiction where it would be so characterized and fail to comply with all applicable laws and ethical rules of that jurisdiction.

Mona Qureshi-Hart is the owner of Hart IP Law & Strategies LLC in Golden, Colorado. Ms. Qureshi-Hart is licensed in Washington State and is not licensed to practice in the State of Colorado except where permitted by federal law. The author’s practice is limited to federal and international intellectual property practice. June 2013

RETAIL 101

rom Design Concept to the final sale of a garment, merchandising is an important aspect, which is often not fully understood. Before a line is developed, merchandised and produced, the target market should be thoroughly analyzed. Market analysis involves studying the current market trends and anticipated needs for the forthcoming seasons. New fashions usually evolve gradually, the processes by which fashions rise, peak, and decline take several seasons. Once women would do anything to be fashionable and to wear the correct and dictated styles, now for the first time in history, women are able to wear whatever suits their own personal style. From long skirts to short skirts, full pants to slim pants, it’s all acceptable. Merchandising correctly, and with added seasonal detailing and accessories, clothing styles can look brand new and stylish. These trend choices that we have now make the manufacturers’ life very difficult because they have to cover all their bases and design for everyone’s needs. Creating a new fashion trend that is then adopted is a difficult challenge. It will be important that a merchandiser understands this and does a thorough investigation and even more importantly have a sixth sense for trends and an understanding of the market niche. There is no universal group of customers so investigate your demographics! Are they from the city, suburban, or rural; there is young or not so young; there is blue-collar or white-collar background; there is the middle-income or well to do; there is the conservative or the avant-garde, 30

June 2013

and so on. With a specific customer group in mind, the next principle is to collect all the facts to fully comprehend a chosen niche. Most clothes are purchased from the following types of store (Approx %): Mass Merchants, e.g. Target, Costco, Wal-Mart, Kmart

26%

Specialty Stores, e.g. Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Ann Taylor, Gap

19%

Department stores, e.g. Bloomingdale’s, May Co., Macy’s

18%

Chain Stores, e.g. Sears, JC Penney

10%

Online, e.g. Lands’ End, L.L. Bean, Abercrombie & Fitch

15% +

Off Price Stores

Factory Outlets

Catalog sales are slowing down due to the increase of online sales. They both have the same problems with returns and sizing issues. Merchandising encompasses every department of an apparel business.

• • • • •

Line development Time and action plans Planning volume Costing & Budgets Merchandising calendar detailing key dates for planning, selling, and producing multiple lines. © FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

•

Each stage will have an impact on the successful retail sales of the garments.

Merchandising/Designing Choosing Fabrication: The first things a customer will notice are: the color of the garment, then what type of fabric: plain colored, prints and or the graphics. The “hand” of the fabric will also be an important aspect. Choosing a fabric suitable for a particular style is probably the most important aspect of designing/merchandising a line. Next it will be equally important to merchandise the fabric choice to fall within groups to relate other fabrics, trims, stitching or colors. The design/merchandising process usually will begin with a “Story Board” which will outline:

• • • • • • •

Seasons Color Fabrics – Plain or Print Trims Styles Target market Groups within the collection

The storyboard is often made up of magazine tear sheets, fabric swatches and other sources of inspiration. The board would also include styling, colors, textiles, trims, stitching detailing and even accessories suggestions, which will influence or direct the new collection.

Merchandising Groups within the Collection/Line A line is usually subdivided into groups. Each group has a specific theme based on the fabric, color, or a particular fashion direction. Sometimes the design for one garment may

inspire a whole group. The styling within each group should have variety yet carry out the “central theme”. To present a visually pleasing group of “dresses,” the line needs only to include a few elements in common, such as fabric or a color story. Often a manufacturer emphasizes only a few silhouettes (called “bodies or styles” in the trade), interpreting each of them in several prints; or it will feature one print in a variety of styles. Within the group, the dresses should offer a variety of silhouettes, sleeve treatments, necklines, trims, or they could have certain continuity in stitching details and finishing of the garment. Or a dress style could be merchandised in a variety of different lengths. Or the same style could be sleeveless or have sleeves added. The objective is to merchandise the individual styles so they can match and be interchangeably. There should be a variety of coordinating skirts, pants, jackets, shirts or blouses, and tops in each group. There should still be consistency of theme, with color, fabric, line, or detailing to tie the whole group together. Designers and merchandisers work on two or more lines at once, designing a future line while solving problems of the line that is in production, or about to be shipped. Usually, work on new collections begins approximately six to eight months before the selling season for the larger companies and sometimes, the lead time could be even longer. The big advantage of the smaller manufacturers is that they are able to work nearer to shipping deadlines, and often show samples on a monthly basis. They are more nimble and so able to react to trends more quickly than their larger counterparts, who have the disadvantage of having more departments involved to develop and produce a line. This in turn, lengthens the time it takes to produce the line. However most companies produce at least five or six seasonal lines a year:

Spring 1, Spring 2, Summer, Transition, Fall 1, Fall 2 and Holiday or maybe Resort. These divisions are becoming less distinct; as more manufactures try to fill in their lines with new items, shipping to stores almost monthly. This method of manufacturing and selling, allows the manufacturer to produce consistently and to invoice monthly. The retailers also win because they can plan their merchandising closer to the moment, and cater to their customers’ demands. So instead of complete new lines, seasonally fresh items are produced monthly for presentation to retailers and for more frequent new orders. This is ideal for the start-up manufacturer, who should spread out production costs more evenly through the year.

Merchandising for Display Purposes Whether you are displaying at a booth at a trade show or a retailer displaying goods in a store it will be important to spend the time to fine-tune the art of merchandising a product. All displayed merchandise must relate and be simple enough to be understood. It is important not to over merchandise, (or over crowd) either a store or a trade show booth. You need the buyer to:

• • •

Connect Relate Buy!

If your booth has all the pieces from your line make sure it does not end up with a swap meet effect. Merchandising your end product (DISPLAY) will be as important as merchandising and designing the line. Your buyers will not connect or understand your merchandising if the display is overcrowded. You have one chance to get their attention. Approx – 3 seconds - Booth or a retailers windows must be inviting and create an impact

June 2013

quickly! Knowing what to use to connect with your buyer will be critical to sales. A booth should be merchandised and displayed as if it were a store window. You want the buyers, and the customer to buy all your merchandise! Your graphics should communicate your brand. Make it easy for people to get in and out of the booth or store. Make sure that whoever is working in the booth is friendly and outgoing. Do not chew gum, drink or eat while selling. A good idea is to give away small items with your company’s name, to remind the customer of your product. Merchandising your booth and marketing is an important part of the sale of your product, and ultimately the success of your business and your brand!

RETAIL 101

Retail Visual Display/Merchandising The arrangement and presentation of merchandise both on the floor

and in the windows is critical to keeping the store looking fresh and will be an important factor in attracting return customers. Why would shoppers return to buy if the stock is old and the window display is the same and not change regularly? When everything begins to look alike, customers become disenchanted. The longer a customer spends in a store, the more likely there will be a sale. Coordinating and accessorized outfits should be displayed to help customers assemble their own wardrobes.

Website Merchandising As with a retail window a website needs to be merchandised often. It must to be easy to navigate and have a message as to what it is the site is selling. Does it have?

• • • •

Visual connection? Is it fresh and new with new products? How often is the merchandise changed? Does it have continuity, which is part of brand recognition? Remember something needs to be seen at least six times before a brand has recognition.

Self-Identity - Merchandising Who We Are – Each morning we consider what we should wear for our planned daily activities. This is an obvious intimate example of merchandising ourselves and who we choose to be that day. Whether on the beach or working in an office environment we consider and choose appropriately for our activities. At the same time we add our own twist of who we are by how we choose to merchandise ourselves. How we choose to do this will in some ways effect how others relate to us. We are telling a story about who we are and at the same time branding ourselves with what we choose to wear and do! Branding is always part of the merchandising story! Merchandising encompasses everything around us. Sometimes successful and others times not so thoughtfully planned! Frances Harder is the founder/President of the Fashion Business Incorporated (FBI), which provides vital business development and job retraining programs to the US apparel industry Fashionbizinc.org. She has self-published a series of books dealing with starting a fashion business. Fashion for Profit is an extensive text that covers the A to Z of starting an apparel company, this book along with her other publications address valuable information to assist when starting an apparel related venture. www.fashionforprofit. com. Frances is also a United Nations consultant to women owned businesses producing Alpaca products in Peru. She consults on product development, branding, merchandising, production and entering the US market. Frances often serves as an industry expert in legal disputes. Frances is a faculty adjunct professor at Woodbury University and Cal Poly Pomona, a member of the Southern California District Export Council (SCDEC), Business Incubation Network (BINS).

June 2013

JUNE 5–7 WEDNESDAY–FRIDAY

New York Hilton Midtown & Member Showrooms

Download FFANY’s iPad App to view the show directory on May 22 2013 SAVE THE DATES: Opening Night Industry Party Wednesday, June 5th: China Grill August 5–7, Monday–Wednesday December 4–6, Wednesday–Friday

FFANY.ORG

@ffanyshoeshow

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH

5 Marketing Lessons From

Lady GaGa by Dave Kerpen

You may love Lady Gaga. You may hate her. But no matter what, it’s hard not to respect what she’s done as an artist. With 23 million albums sold, five Grammy Awards, and Forbes’ distinction as one of the world’s most powerful celebrities, at age 27, Lady Gaga is one of the most well-known pop artists in the world. Known as much for her voice as for her over-the-top wardrobe, few people recognize Lady Gaga for her business acumen. And yet, Gaga has cultivated legions of loyal fans worldwide — fans who are eager to buy her music, concert tickets, and products. Her social networking prowess is off the charts with 36 million Twitter followers and 57 million “likes” on Facebook. Not only has she created a brand but she has built a fanatical group of consumers, known as her “Little Monsters,” who will follow her for decades to come.

June 2013

Jackie Huba is author of the new book Monster Loyalty; How Lady Gaga Turns Followers Into Fanatics. I asked Jackie what we can all learn from Lady Gaga about marketing in leading our own teams, companies, organizations and communities. Here are five brand marketing lessons from Huba - and Gaga - for building loyalty in any organization:

1 Focus on Your One Percenters

Lady Gaga spends much of her effort on just one percent of her audience- the highly engaged superfans who drive word of mouth. Despite her tens of millions of followers in social media, she focuses more on the die-hard fans that make up a small but valuable part of the fan base. It’s these fans who will truly evangelize for her and bring new fans into the fold. Who are your one percenters- your most passionate customers and fans, who are willing to go the extra mile to sing your praises to their friends and community?

2 Lead with Values

5 Give Them Something to Talk About

Gaga differs from many of her contemporaries by standing up for issues that she cares about and for sharing her values. She champions those in society who feel marginalized and bullied for being different and that has drawn many people to her. Customers feel a deep emotional connection to you when they can identity with your values or causes that you care about.

Lady Gaga is the queen of word-of-mouth marketing. She understands that you must continually give your One Percenters - and everyone - things to comment about so that they have reasons to talk to others about you. From popping out of an “egg” at the Grammys to lighting her piano on fire, to the famous meat dress, one thing nobody can dispute is that Gaga gets people talking.

Leading with values is not easy - and may lead to some people, who disagree with your values, not wanting to do business with you. But when done with integrity and commitment, some customers will also go out of the way to reward you with their loyalty.

You don’t need to wear a meat dress to get people talking. But you should think about what you can say and do to get your customers and fans talking about you in a positive way. Whether it’s a VIP club, surprising and delighting customers, a color that really stands out, or something else entirely, in general, the more you give people to talk about, the better.

3 Build Community

Gaga knows that connecting One Percenters to each other strengthens their bonds not only with each other, but with her and her brand. So she built her own social network for the die-hard fans called LittleMonsters.com. Fans set up profiles, post fan art and photos, message each other, and find links to concert dates. They even get their own LittleMonsters.com e-mail address, linking their online identity to Gaga. The pop star is on the site weekly, posting special messages to fans, “liking” and commenting on their fan art, and participating in chat discussions. Now, you many not have a strong enough brand to merit its’ own social network, but surely you can cultivate community online amongst your most loyal customers, employees, friends and partners.

4 Give Fans a Name

Lady Gaga has set the standard for brand marketing through engendering loyalty, standing for strong values, building community, and word of mouth marketing. The good news is, you don’t need to be a pop star, or even wear outlandish outfits, to reap the rewards of the lessons Gaga teaches us. ✥

Now it’s your turn. What do you think of Lady Gaga’s music — and business acumen? Which of these five lessons resonates most with you and your organization? Who are your One Percenters and how are you giving them a chance to connect to each other and to your organization? What are your company values or special causes, and how have you shared those with your customers? What do you call your loyal customers? And what have you given your fans to talk about lately?

Creating a name for your One Percenters, like Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters, assigns them an identity. With that identity comes a set of recognizable behavioral or personal characteristics that everyone with that name shares. In essence, a name gives your fans something further to join, to be part of, and to feel connected to. The simple act of referring to themselves by the name gives customers a strong sense of belonging. Maker’s Mark has the Maker’s Ambassadors. Fiskars scissors has the Fiskateers. I’m proud to be a member of Just Salad’s exclusive VIP Pink-Bowlers. What can you name your community of your most loyal customers?

Dave Kerpen is a Lady Gaga fan and the founder and CEO of Likeable Local, the cofounder and Chairman of Likeable Media, and the New York Times bestselling author of Likeable Social Media and Likeable Business. To read more from Dave on LinkedIn, please click the follow button above or below.

June 2013

Actress Raquel Welch attends the Montblanc Vanity Fair Party celebrating the Collection Princesse Grace de Monaco at Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, CA 36

June 2013

From the Red Carpets

Actress/Singer Jennifer Lopez is wearing EFFY Jewelry’s Signature Two Tone Ring at a promotional event in New York, January 2013

Actress Eva Mendes and TV Personality Terry Seymour at the party celebrating the launch of new SS 13 line of Vogue eyewear in Beverly Hills, CA. March 2013

Musician Katy Perry is wearing EFFY Jewelry’s Jardin Bloom Sapphire, Ruby and Diamond Ring at the 2012 Billboard Women in Music Luncheon in New York, November 2012

Actors Bruce Willis and Dwayne The Rock Johnson arrive at the Premiere of Paramount Pictures’ G.I. Joe Retaliation on March 28, 2013 in Hollywood, CA.

Australian DJ Duo, Nervo wearing GUESS sunglasses at South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX, March 2013

June 2013

Nominee Quvenzhane Wallis is the youngest actress to ever receive a nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” For this seminal red carpet moment, Giorgio Armani has collaborated with the young actress to produce two custom Armani Junior gowns. Outfitting Wallis marks Giorgio Armani’s first red carpet appearance featuring his Armani Junior collection. She will wear a custom midnight blue gown, encrusted with iridescent black, navy and silver jewels scattered across the multi-layered tulle skirt. The back of the dress is accentuated with a large black and navy tulle bow that billows into the voluminous skirt, creating an ethereal effect. For the Oscar after parties, she wore a custom soft pink gown featuring iridescent rhinestones circling the bodice and cascading in embellished stripes down the multi-layered full tulle skirt. The gown also features wide tulle shoulder straps and a sequined rosette accentuating the waistline.

iorgio Armani dressed select nominees, presenters and attendees at the 85th Annual Academy Awards, as well as guests at various events surrounding the Oscars. The show took place on Sunday evening, February 24th at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Nominee Jessica Chastain wore a custom Giorgio Armani copper-toned silk satin strapless gown. The mermaid silhouette is highlighted by a fitted bodice and abbreviated train. The dress features a geometric, latticepatterned mesh overlay of shimmering white sequins and Swarovski crystals. Chastain is nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in “Zero Dark Thirty.”

June 2013

Nominee and presenter George Clooney wore a classic Giorgio Armani tuxedo. He is an executive producer of the film “Argo,” which was nominated for Best Picture. © FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

Nominee Naomi Watts wore a custom Giorgio Armani gown fully enveloped in layered gunmetal grey sequins. The other worldly gown features galactic cap sleeves and an abstract triangle cut out in the front. The fitted bodice cascades into a slightly pooling train creating an architectural silhouette. Watts is nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in “The Impossible.”

Nominee Anne Hathaway made a special Oscar performance wearing a custom Giorgio Armani beige-hued silk mesh gown. The shimmering ethereal dress features multiple cascading tiers that are detailed with scattered rhinestones clustering around soft bluedipped edges, creating a diaphanous, romantic silhouette. Hathaway was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in “Les Miserables.”

Presenter Richard Gere wore a Giorgio Armani two-button notch lapel tuxedo with a classic white evening shirt and a black neck tie.

June 2013

PR & Mark e ting

10 Tips for Successful

Email Marketing By Rieva Lesonsky

Did you know that email is still the most costeffective digital marketing method around? According to data compiled by iContact, the average ROI on email marketing is $44.25 for every $1 spent, making email up to 20 times more cost-effective than other marketing methods. Not only is it cost-effective, it’s just plain effective: Consumers who receive email marketing messages from businesses spend 83% more when shopping and order 28% more frequently than those who don’t. To make the most of email marketing, try these 10 tips.

June 2013

1. Get Help

Email marketing service such as Constant Contact, iContact and MailChimp automate delivery and provide templates to simplify the technical aspects of sending email.

2. Follow CAN-SPAM Laws

Email marketing services help you stay up-to-date with the latest regulations regarding email privacy, but the ultimate responsibility for compliance is yours. Read the Bureau of Consumer Protection’s CAN-SPAM Act Compliance Guide.

3. Build Your Own Email List

Create your own list of email addresses from customers and prospects — you’ll get better results than you will by renting lists. Ask customers to sign up for your emails at the point of sale, by collecting business cards, via sign-up sheets at events or on the home page of your website.

4. Make it Simple

Don’t force customers to fill out a lengthy registration form to receive emails. Simply request a name and email address (or even just an email address). If you want more information later, entice customers to provide it by offering a discount, free consultation or something else of value in return.

5. Decide What You’ll Deliver

Will you send notices of sales and special events at your business, news about your company, codes good for discounts and deals, a regular newsletter or all of the above? Start small and add more components as you get comfortable. ➻

PR & Mark e ting

6. Design for Mobile

According to a report by Knotice, more than 40% of emails are opened on a mobile device. Make sure your emails are simply designed, using minimal images that load quickly, so they’re easily readable wherever recipients open them.

7. Time it Right

In general, you’ll want to email at least once a month, or customers may forget about you. An email newsletter can be sent monthly; try sending notices of sales or special offers bimonthly or even weekly.

8. Get Social

Promote your email signups on your social media accounts. Put social sharing tools like Facebook and Twitter buttons in your emails; ask subscribers to forward emails and share them with friends.

9. Maintain Your List

Regularly remove addresses that get bouncebacks; check your list for duplicate addresses or misspellings like “@gamail.com.” If you send too many emails to “dead” addresses, you may get marked as a spammer.

10. Test and Measure

Test to see what subject lines, content, design and frequency get the best results. Your email service provider should provide analytics tools that show you open rates, click-through rates and other measures of success. Use this information to fine-tune your email marketing efforts. ✥

Rieva Lesonsky is founder and President of GrowBiz Media, a media and custom content company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship. Before launching her business, she was Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Magazine. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit her website SmallBizDaily.com to get the scoop on business trends and sign up for free TrendCast reports.

June 2013

Top 5 Annoying Press Release Words, & Why You Should Stop Using Them by Mihaela Lica Butler There is no better way to begin this list, than with David Meerman Scott’s words: Oh jeez, not another flexible, scalable, groundbreaking, industry-standard, cutting-edge product from a market-leading, well positioned company!

5. Leading, and all its suite Someone should slap some sense into every “leading” company out there. Unless you are the absolute top in your industry (and you will need to provide proof of that), you cannot describe yourself as a “leading” company. The same goes for “industry-leading”, “market-leading”, “leader in”, “global leader” (really?) and so on.

4. Excited We are excited to report that if you use “excited” in your press releases we will not be publishing your news. Seriously. Don’t push it.

3. Proud to announce Take a look here: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. Do you know what these are? Well, it may not be a sin to be proud of your accomplishments, but the expression “proud to announce” is annoying enough to make its use in a press release taboo.

2. Groundbreaking and cutting-edge These may not be as used as their predecessors on this list, but they are nevertheless among the top most annoying words to use in a press release.

1. Today announced Press releases are dated, so the winning phrase in the most annoying category is “today announced.” If you don’t publish a press release for something that you announced yesterday (in which case don’t expect much media coverage, as no journalist likes to report yesterday’s news), or something that you will do in the future, “today announced” makes you look like a complete idiot. Stop using it.

trenFORECAST dS TRENDS

ColoUrs & Materials

The next edition of Lineapelle will take place in Bologna, Italy from October 8-10, 2013

www.lineapelle-fair.it

for Spring/Summer 2014 Trade Fair Report: Lineapelle â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Spring 2014 Spring 2014 Leathers & Materials ranged from Quiet Luxury to Loud Fantasies at Lineapelle Lineapelle, the leather and material fair held semi-annually in Bologna still attracts visitors from all over the globe despite many earlier regional leather fairs. Coloured metallics, pale shades as well as a bright colour story, a continuation of graphic black and white, fresh wovens and exotic neutrals were all trends presented a month earlier at Le Cuir a Paris.

Lineapelle confirmed them but added more. The newest exotic prints (or real) were stingray and ring lizard. Two-tone white-wash leathers and brush offs had a laundered, well-worn look to them. Reversible leathers, from a bright or pale shade reversing to a metallic or high contrast colour were an ideal material suggestion for unlined shoes and bags. Animal prints continued with a special emphasis on stencilled hair calf. Metallics, particularly gold, were everywhere, and camouflage, the pattern of the moment, was being shown in anything from mesh to printed suede.

Happy Brights

Popular colour choices in new finishes, from iridescent metallic to bold grains and exotics. Zabri Abip

Meridiana

Stefania

Sirte

Meridiana

Gold Standard

From the palest washed gold to the deepest antique shade, gold endures

Corplast

American Supply

G.B.Leathers

Antiba

Gaiera

Nathalie

Coloured Bling

Metallics go for colourful high-shine Stefania

Stefania 44

June 2013

Pellegrini

Stefania ÂŠ FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

Two for One Reversible leathers are ideal for unlined summer shoes and bags

Cristina

Antiba

Cristina

Antiba

Pretty Pales

Iridescence and shine brighten barely there tints Vecchia Toscana Lloyd

Stefania

Tuscania

Gaiera

Salt Water Taffy Shades

A fresh take on pastels

G.B. Leathers

Meridiana

Stefania

G.B.Leathers

White Wash

Subtle pales, chalky and whitened, can be brushed off

Bologna Retail Solofra

Tempesti

Gaia

Antiba

Two Tone Exotics

Crocs and snakes go bi-colour Fresco Pelle Meridiana ÂŠ FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

Zabri

Atema

Zabri June 2013

Exotic Evolution

Smaller grained ring lizard and stingray are newest Meridiana Timbradso Rubio

Meridiana

Tuscania

Tried & True Animal Prints

From small to large scale â&#x20AC;Ś tigers, zebras and leopards continue

Gaia

Italtan

CarbiPel

Gaia

Stefania

Camo Update The military theme evolves for spring

LaGarzarani

AT&T

LaGarzarani

Colortex

CarbiPel

Timbrados Rubios

Op Goes Pop

60s patterns resurface

American Supply Timbrados Rubios Colortex

PellegriniGroup

Atema

Sicerp

Prepared for FFR by Ellen Campuzano, President of the Committee for Colour and Trends Credits: Committee for Colour & Trends The complete forecasting source for shoes and accessories www.colourandtrends.com

Meshing Around

Two tone layers or open...mesh will be a summer staple

Colortex 46

June 2013

Omnipel

Coloutex ÂŠ FFR - Focus On Fashion Retail

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Focus on Fashion Retail is a direct mail business magazine, distributed ONLY to targeted audience. If you have received this copy of FFR with the mail, it’s because your business’ description matched the criteria set by our advertisers. Please fill out the marketing survey below to be included in our database for a consideration to receive FFR occasionally, regularly (or never again) - depending on marketing preferences of our advertisers (US retailers only).

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SUBSCRIPTION Send a check/money order ($30 for USA subscribers) along with your address and contact information to our office. International orders- please contact office for rates. To pay online using your credit card, please send your payment via www.paypal.com to subscription@focusonshoes.com Advice for a FREE SUBSCRIPTION: Ask our advertisers or your vendors to pay for your subscription! If your business is important to them, they may agree to by pay for your subscription from their marketing funds.

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MARKETING SURVEY

Please fill out this form completely, answering ALL questions. Incomplete or inaccurate entries will not be considered. I certify that I am: oA Retailer__________________(signature) / oNot a Retailer

If a retailer, please tell about your store: Specialty: oMen oWomen oChildren

Age Group: oInfants And Kids oTeens o20-30 o30-45 o45+ Retail Price Point: oDiscount oBudget ($20-40) oModerate ($40-70) oUpper Moderate ($70-120) oLower High End ($120-$200) oHigh-End ($200-$400) oLuxury ($400+) Store Type: oIndependent oBoutique oDept. Store oChain Store 1-5 Locations oChain Store 5+ Locations Merchandise:

oShoes Only oApparel Only oAccessories Only oAll

Lifestyle:

oDress oCasual oAthletic oComfort oSpecial Occasions oWestern oDance oUrban oEthic oBeach _ oGothic/Alternative/Other___________________________________________________________________

Best Selling Brands______________________________________________________________________________________ Notes About Your Store___________________________________________________________________________________

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Your Primary Business Sources (describe): o Trade Magazines_ __________________________________________________________________________________ o Consumer Magazines________________________________________________________________________________ o Trade Shows_______________________________________________________________________________________ o Internet oCatalogs How Do You Find New Merchandise?: oAt Trade Shows oResponding To Ads oSellers Contact You At Trade Shows You: o Know Exactly What You Need And Who Sells It o Know Exactly What You Need But Don’t Know Who Sells It o Just Looking How Frequently Do You Purchase Merchandise For Your Store?: o Every Month oEvery 3 Months oEvery 6 Months Your Average Purchase Is: oLess Than $1,000 o$1-5k o$5-10k o$10k+ Your Priorities Are (Please RATE, 1 is most important): oPrice oFashion oBrand o‪Quality oOther_ _____________

RETAILER: Please name your 3 biggest headaches to which you want to find a solution: 1. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Any Suggestions/ Comments to help FFR to become more helpful to your business?___________________________ _ __________________________________________________________________________________________________

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• •

• • • • •

YOUR OPINION COUNTS ! As a service to our worldwide audience, Focus on Fashion Retail regularly conducts surveys to determine satisfaction with the various footwear, apparel and accessories trade shows and to rank our readers’ favorites. Being an independent media outlet not affiliated with any trade show, we believe that peoples’ opinion must be heard, it adds up to the value of our services as well as serves the needs of the industry. As always, in the closing issue of the year (December) we will be announcing and reviewing the TOP 10 TRADE SHOWS of 2013. For that purpose, we will be conducting this survey throughout the year, offering to rate performance of various shows. Events collected the maximum score will make it to the final list.

Show

Organization, Planning, Promotion

Attendance, Traffic

If you have attended any of the shows listedbelow and would like to submit your opinion, please do so according to these rules: • Rate the shows you have attended on the scale of 1 through 10, where 1 is awful and 10 is awesome; • You must identify yourself (see opposite side); • Your opinion must be fair and objective; • You must be an independent observer, not employed by not affiliated with any trade show; • Please rate only those events that you have attended within last 6 months. Upon completion, please send this form to FFR. Your personal information will not be disclosed, nor shared with anybody.

Convenience

Services offered at the show

Cost of attending/ exhibiting

Value for your business

Atlanta Apparel Market Beijing International Jewellery Fair Bread & Butter Chicago Apparel & Accessories Market Dallas Apparel & Accessories Market Denver Apparel & Accessory Market Expo Riva Schuh FAME Francal Hong Kong Fashion Week ISPO Munich JFW-International Fashion Fair LA KIDS MARKET Le Cube Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim Milano Moda Uomo Mode à Paris- Haute Couture Mr & Mrs Brown MRket New York Outdoor Retailer Pitti Imagine Uomo Pitti Immagine Bimbo Pitti W Woman Premiere Classe Premium Order Private Project SELECT- The Contemporary Trade Show Shoe Market of the Americas (SMOTA) SwimShow The Atlanta Fashion Shoe & Accessory Market The Metropolitan New York Shoe, Apparel & Accessories Market (B&STA)

The New York Shoe Expo (FFANY) Transit- The Los Angeles Shoe Show 48

June 2013

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LAS VEGAS - 3377 Las Vegas Blvd - The Shoppes at the Palazzo - LOS ANGELES - 8500 Beverly Blvd