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ent from Canada into the Italian market last year.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
The first Expo Riva Middle East show, held in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates in January, proved positive for the 13 Brazilian companies that exhibited at th
onths. AUSTRALIA
K-9 Concepts, Inc. has completed its acquisition of 100% of the outstanding membership interests of Australian casual footwear company Aussie Soles International LLC. The new company intends to build itself into
yor of the city, Jair Foscarini, is analysing the proposal, which includes a request that the city authorities provide premises for the new factory. The company says it would use the new facility to produce footwear for different brands, startin
get for the programme will be around $50 million. The minister said half of this would go into a federal government fund while the other half would be in the hands of state governments throughout the country. He said the most likely use of
r this year remains positive. Currency-adjusted global brand sales grew more than 3% to reach
€2.7 billion, even brand sales in euros fell slightly. Footwear sales climbed 1.9% on a comparable basis to reach
€1,477.9 million.
FRANCE Th
that sat just outside the collection of fashion events known as ‘Paris Capitale de la Création’, which yearly draws around 600,000 buyers. The next time Midec is held, in September, it will form part of this mega-event.
ITALY Sports brand
nce in March. They have predominantly blue uppers to match Italy’s colours, but have an amazing design on the sole. Inspired by the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in The Vatican, the boots depict the creation of mankind from one of Miche
of Le Marche has revealed that it invited the Russian delegation to travel south after the exhibition to attend a special workshop on local footwear offerings in a famous monastery in Fiastra. The Russian market has become one of the mo
h general elections in Spain. The opening day of the fairs, Friday, March 7 attracted 1,500 more visitors than the corresponding day last year. The organisers, Ifema, believe that this pattern repeated itself on the middle day, Saturday, leavin
l picture for the industry looks far from positive. According to the latest figures released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics, year-to-date exports for the first seven months of the fiscal calendar (July 2007 to January 2008) fell 2.3% to 7.9
try. Bata, which currently has 237 retail outlets in Bangladesh, has announced that it will open 40 new stores in the course of this year. And rival Apex Adelchi has said it will open 20 new outlets to add to the 70 it has already.
CHINA W
ong-based Yue Yuen Industrial and owned by Yue Yuen’s parent company, Pou Chen Group of Taiwan—is now around $210 a month. The average footwear worker’s monthly wage in the area is $135. There are 27,000 people working at t
w selling our footwear to Costco, this is untrue,” said Ron Snyder, Crocs president and chief executive, in a statement. “We have not sold Crocs-branded products to Costco nor have we authorised any of our customers to sell our product
a, with leather footwear—along with wine—leading factors in the growth east-to-west. The government office said the two nations traded goods worth ?5.6 billion in 2007, an increase of 12.4% on the year before. Canadian imports of Ital
e United Arab Emirates in January, proved positive for the 13 Brazilian companies that exhibited at the event, generating a possible $8 million-worth of business. According to a report published by the Arab Brazilian News Agency (ANBA)
sual footwear company Aussie Soles International LLC. The new company intends to build itself into a “globally known brand of footwear and accessories for the fashion, surf, travel, and medical industries”.
BRAZIL A footwear manuf
factory. The company says it would use the new facility to produce footwear for different brands, starting with 1000 pairs per day and 200 workers.
MEXICO Mexico’s economy minister, Eduardo Sojo, has confirmed in a radio interview th
her half would be in the hands of state governments throughout the country. He said the most likely use of the money would be to construct modern business parks to house new and existing manufacturing firms.
GERMANY
German athle
os fell slightly. Footwear sales climbed 1.9% on a comparable basis to reach
€1,477.9 million.
FRANCE The new organisers of the Midec footwear event in Paris have declared themselves satisfied with the latest edition of the Paris event i
yers. The next time Midec is held, in September, it will form part of this mega-event.
ITALY Sports brand Le Coq Sportif has designed a new boot for the captain of Italy’s national rugby team, Sergio Parisse. The Number 8, who was act
y the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in The Vatican, the boots depict the creation of mankind from one of Michelangelo’s paintings there.
RUSSIA The impressive delegation of Russian footwear buyers attending the Micam exhibition in Mila
on local footwear offerings in a famous monastery in Fiastra. The Russian market has become one of the most important for high-end Italian leather shoes in recent years.
SPAIN The organisers of the spring edition of Madrid’s leather an
g day last year. The organisers, Ifema, believe that this pattern repeated itself on the middle day, Saturday, leaving lower numbers on Sunday as buyers from Spain wanted to be at home to vote.
PAKISTAN
Although Pakistan’s footwear
, year-to-date exports for the first seven months of the fiscal calendar (July 2007 to January 2008) fell 2.3% to 7.9 million pairs worth $ 63.4 million, down from 8.6 million pairs worth $64.9 million in same period of the previous year.
BAN
f this year. And rival Apex Adelchi has said it will open 20 new outlets to add to the 70 it has already.
CHINA Workers in a factory in southern China who make footwear for Nike have been given a big increase in their salaries. According
onth. The average footwear worker’s monthly wage in the area is $135. There are 27,000 people working at the site, producing 14 million pairs of Nike shoes a year.
UNITED STATES
The maker of colourful plastic shoe brand Crocs has
ve not sold Crocs-branded products to Costco nor have we authorised any of our customers to sell our products to Costco ” He added that when Crocs had found instances of resellers supplying it had ended its relationship with those cus
WF NEWS KEEP UP-TO-DATE, EVERYDAY AT WWW.FOOTWEARBIZ.COM
2 WORLD FOOTWEAR | JULY/AUGUST 2012
News
UNITED KINGDOM The
owners of iconic footwear
brand Dr Martens are hoping
the brand will attract takeover
bids of up to £200 million
($313.7 million). The Griggs
family put the company up for
sale earlier this year and
second-round bids now due.
Private equity firm Electra
Partners is among the
prospective purchasers.
The company reported
underlying profits of £22 million
for the year to March 2012,
driven by growing sales in more
than 60 countries.
ZIMBABWE Almost 700 workers at
Bata shoe manufacturing company in
Gweru are believed to have formed a
new Zimbabwe Footwear Tanning and
Allied Workers’ Union (ZFTAWU). They
were previously part of the Zimbabwe
Leather Shoe and Allied Workers’
Union (ZLSAWU) but have alleged that
the union had not been transparent
about its use of funds.
ZFTAWU spokesperson Martin
Tazvivinga told News Day Zimbabwe:
“Six hundred and ninety-seven Bata
employees have resigned their
membership with ZLSAWU to join
ZFTAWU. This is literally almost the
whole of Bata and we are not going
back as we intend to expand to other
leather-related industries countrywide
in a membership recruitment drive."
ITALY The Italian footwear industry
increased its exports by 12.7% in value in
2011 and by 3.4% in volume, despite a
substantial slow-down in the fourth
quarter. This generated export figures for
the year of €7.4 billion in value and an
export volume of 229 million pairs of shoes.
An increase in value of 12.7%, following a
rise of 13.7% in 2010, took footwear exports
within touching distance of the levels the
country achieved before the economic
downturn of 2008. Footwear manufacturers’
association ANCI pointed out that few areas
of the Italian manufacturing sector could
make a similar claim.
INDIA Footwear manufacturer
and retailer Bata India
announced at its 2012 annual
general meeting in Kolkata at the
end of May 30 that it will invest
$12.5 million this year opening at
least 100 new retail outlets
across India. In addition, it would
invest more than $2.5 million in
each of the next three years in
modernisation and expansion
projects at its footwear factories
in Patna, Batanagar and
Bangalore, designed to increase
capacity by about 20%. Bata
expects the share of women’s
and children’s shoes among its
total sales in India to go up from
around 22% at present to around
30% by the end of 2012.
PORTUGAL Industry association
APICCAPS has stated that shoe
manufacturers in the country
increased export revenues in 2011 by
16% to reach €1.55 billion. Shoes
made in Portugal are currently
exported to 160 countries, but
APICCAPS has made it clear the
markets in neighbouring European
countries are still the most important.
Manuel Carlos, the association’s
director general, said diversifying into
new markets was important, but
maintaining a strong position in
markets in which Portuguese brands
have already had success was a good
way to stay strong, especially as the
reputation and average price of
Portuguese shoes are increasing.
SPAIN Employers’ organisations and trade
union representatives in the Spanish footwear
industry have agreed a collective pay deal for
2012, 2013 and 2014. With high levels of
unemployment across the country and many
footwear jobs vanishing during the current
economic crisis, workers have agreed to small
pay rises, 0.5% this year, and 0.6% in the
following two years.
The deal will affect around 22,000 workers at
1,400 footwear manufacturing firms. Workers
are also in line to receive a bonus payment of
€160 each before the end of 2012 to compensate
for rises in the cost of living. “It’s a strange deal,
just like the times we are all living in at the
moment,” said a UGT union spokesman.
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