How do you digest one of the world’s largest shoe shows? The simple answer is: one hall, aisle, and booth at a time. Of course, at 1,000-plus exhibitors, displaying 1,800 brands, it’s not humanly possible to swallow it entirely in three days—even if Show Director Laura Conwell-O’Brien is opening the show an hour earlier (appointments only) and closing an hour later each day for the upcoming Feb. 15-17 edition.
The fact is that many lesser-known and newer brands exhibiting in the adjacent Renaissance Hotel are hungry for foot traffic. Try as they may (and they must at least try), scheduling appointments in advance is a tall order when many buyers are booked solid with established brand partners. So Conwell-O’Brien, ever the accommodating host, has sweetened the pot with the debut of the “Walk the Floor Challenge.” A sticker will be awarded by each booth a buyer visits. The buyers who accumulate the most stickers on their card will then be entered into a drawing, on the last day, with one winner receiving $500. You don’t have to be present for the drawing.
“It’s long been a challenge to lead buyers over to the Renaissance to shop those exhibitors,” Conwell-O’Brien says, noting that’s despite extensive signage, footprints leading the way, and complementary bar service. “I can’t hand-carry retailers there, but this should incentivize a lot of them to at least see what’s there and maybe they’ll buy something.”
Of course, exhibitors can offer their own incentives to attract traffic. In addition, just looking interested can be a draw. Because the oft-seen brand representative sitting in a booth with their head down, scrolling through a phone, doesn’t exactly scream, come on in!
“Why would anyone show more interest in being in your booth than you do,” proposes Josh Habre, CEO of ERHCo, owners of 14 comfort stores in the Pacific Northwest and distributors of Ziera and Django and Juliette. As relatively new brands to the U.S. market, he says drawing traffic starts before the show. “Call and email prospective retailers, send a line sheet, invite them to come by. Old school works,” Habre says. “And at the show, make it look like you’ve had interest in your products, whether you have or haven’t. Leave a couple of interesting styles on the table as if someone had just laid it out and you are ‘redoing’ the booth.”
Sam Spears, president of Ara North America, also believes in the power of old-school outreach, which should start months in advance of a show. “It’s constant contact with existing customers and prospective ones, be it in person, emails, and phone,” he says. “To be successful, relationship-building happens regularly throughout the year. Then, when you ask for an appointment at a show, the account will be much more willing to make one because you’ve been ever-present getting to know their business better, understanding their needs and their customer, and building a relationship that isn’t simply transactional but, rather, mutually beneficial.”
Marty Rose, distribution manager for All Black, says its outreach efforts start with a target of “must-see” accounts and requests to book appointments in advance ASAP. “We create an appointment calendar with a max of 30 minutes per customer,” he says. “We also book appointments during setup day.” A successful Atlanta show, Rose adds, involves meeting with all key current customers, which is at least 30 to 40 boutique stores and three to four majors. The product must also speak for itself. “We need to wow buyers with styles and constructions never seen before—eye candy that brings in at least three to five new customers into our booth.”
Shopping a show as massive as Atlanta requires commitment and stamina. For Adam Beck, CEO of Beck’s Shoes, a 20-plus store chain in the western U.S., it requires meeting with as many vendors as possible, wherever they may be located. “We must prioritize the relationships we have with all our niche vendors, as well as prepare strategies to communicate to our biggest volume vendor partners,” he explains. “Having a clear path forward with all parties on the same page gives us our best shot at success.” Nonetheless, Beck says there is room for improvement on shopping brands outside the main hall. “We need to make more of an effort to visit these vendors and, at the very least, do a walk by,” he says. “We’re guilty of not doing this enough, which adversely affects our business by not bringing in additional niche brands. We aim to do better as a team this year to accomplish this.”
Habre says his buying team is always on the hunt for fresh or unique product, be it style, color, and technology. The team carves out several hours each show to just walk the aisles and scout for newness. “Oftentimes the smaller, unique brands aren’t in the main hall, so getting out there is very important,” he says. “Maybe we’ll find something that fits into our mix and maybe not, but we have to look.”
Not bothering or claiming to be too busy is a lost opportunity. The next Hoka or Birkenstock could be down one of those aisles. Same goes for attending the show’s complimentary Cocktail Party & Casino Night on the first night, the Two Ten WIFI social the second night in the show lounge, and the NSRA seminars being held the day before (NextGen Leadership Program) and the morning of day two about using AI for everyday business tasks. Networking is critically important.
Spears advises buyers to make a plan and stick to it, noting that the show provides reams of information well in advance to help create a game plan. For comfort buyers, that should include walking the fashion segments. “They need to block off time to walk those areas to see what will be influencing their buys in the coming seasons,” he says, adding that the NSRA seminars and industry parties are also worthwhile. “It’s very easy to find reasons to not do something, but the show is only three days, every 180 days, so work every minute and it’ll be a wonderful investment of your time,” Spears says. “You get out of the show what you put into it.”
