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Germany
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Colloseum relinquishes Tack locations
Colloseum Handels- und Beteiligungs GmbH in Berlin is to withdraw from 19 of its 45 Tack branches. The stores affected are all on prime sites in German towns and cities. The reason given by Colloseum managing director Klaus Hofmann are the high rents for these sites which are unaffordable with the Tack concept. Hofmann stresses "We are not separating from Tack. Restructuring would be a more apt term". Operations would continue in central positions and sites with affordable rents. On aggregate Colloseum intends to grow by two branches each month. Accordingly the 400 Tack staff affected are to be re-assigned as far as possible.
Dosenbach-Ochsner preparing for a leadership change
On 31 December 2009, after 40 years´ service, Antoine Fölmi, managing director of Dosenbach-Ochsner AG, will be retiring from the firm. This has been announced by the company, headquartered in Dietikon, and the partners, owners of the Deichmann Group headquartered in Essen. He will be succeeded by Stefan Ruggle, currently CEO of Intersport Switzerland. Ruggle will join the Dosenbach-Ochsner management on 1 October 2008. On 1 January 2009 he will first take over as head of the Dosenbach section. Effective 1 January 2010 he will become management chairman of Dosenbach-Ochsner AG. The company, market leader in the Swiss footwear retail trade, achieved a double-digit increase in turnover and in the number of shoe pairs sold in 2007. The company as a whole sold 10.9 million pairs of shoes in Switzerland in 2007, an increase of 13.5%. Turnover grew 13.8% to 782 Swiss francs (roughly 494 million Euro).
Footwear and leather fair in Poznan
According to the organizers, the last leather and footwear fair in Poznan, Poland from 4 to 6 March drew more than 9 000 visitors, more than the previous fair in the autumn. Besides footwear and leather goods, the fair again also exhibited precursor products for the respective industries such as leather, components and machinery. The next Poznan fair will be held from 2 to 4 September.
Victory on points for Adidas in the stripe battle
In the long drawn-out battle surrounding the three-stripe identifying mark of German sportsgoods manufacturer Adidas, the company has scored a major success before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In its leading decision pronounced on 11 April in Luxemburg the ECJ reinforced the protection accorded to trademarks to include single marks as well. On the contentious issue of whether Adidas´ rivals in the Netherlands can offer their garments with two parallel stripes, the court found for Adidas.
Though, like Adidas, the ECJ judges saw the danger of confusion, they leave the final decision to the national courts. In the Netherland Adidas had taken legal action against firms including Marca Mode, H&M, C&A and Vendex that had introduced sports wear with two stripes into their stores. Their counterargument was that stripes and stripe designs are not protected but freely available. The courts in the Netherlands must look into a complicated state of affairs, namely whether at the sight of two stripes consumers will automatically think of the three-stripe producer.
Modeurop in the internet
Modeurop, the fashion pool section of the DSI Footwear Institute, now also has an internet website which provides information about leather, footwear and bags accompanied by photographs, press releases and trend reports. A newsletter available by e-mail gives website updates and a diary of important events.
Micam 2009 again in March
Next year again the Micam spring fair will precede GDS, according to an announcement by the Italian Footwear Producers? Association Anci. Thus Micam will run in spring from 4 to 7 March and in autumn from 16 to 19 September. Following protests from many exhibitors who were dissatisfied with the plan to bring the fair forward two weeks this year to run from Tuesday to Friday in February, a compromise has been reached to include Saturday as a fair day and thereby, according to Anci, to better accommodate market needs. Visitor numbers in February were down by 4 000 on a year ago. Next spring GDS will open its doors from 13 to 15 March 2009, one week later than Micam.
Shoe Fashion Group increases sales
Sales by Austrian footwear manufacturer Shoe Fashion Group based in Taufkirchen rose in the last financial year by 16 percent to 73 million Euro with all three brands Högl, Hassia and Ganter contributing. The financial results also reflected double-digit growth. The group has more than 1 000 employees, 180 at the Austrian headquarters and 650 at the main production facility in Hungary. Over and above the stores in Russia, which have existed for the last few years, eleven new flagship stores have been opened in the last few months in China, Hungary, Slovakia and Hamburg (a full report will appear in our next issue) and are run as partner-stores by local specialist dealers.
Geox to launch "breathing" sports shoes
Italian footwear manufacturer Geox is to start producing sports shoes. In Milan the firm presented its first sports shoes line, Geox Net, featuring breathability conferred by a patented technology. The new shoes will be launched first and immediately on the Italian market. They will be introduced internationally in January 2009.
Record year for Ecco
Danish shoe manufacturer Ecco AS achieved record results in 2007. Sales jumped 16.8 percent, earning roughly 700 million Euro. The brand sold 16.9 million pairs of shoes, 14.5 percent more than the year before. Profit before tax rose by 6.5 percent to 101 million Euro. Particularly strong performers were children´s shoes, up 20 percent, and performance shoes, up 49 percent. Accessories grew more than 50 percent.
This year the group will invest substantially more than in the past with plans for big investments in concept selling. Currently there are 687 Ecco stores worldwide, 113 being run on the firm?s own account. Investments are currently pending in China, Thailand and Indonesia. The firm´s employee count totals 15 000 worldwide.
Management change at Gabor
Martin Hofmann will become the new financial and administration manager at Gabor Shoes AG in July. He will take over from Werner Nirschl, who retires on 31 December 2008.
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