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Email News for the traveler
community
Issue 31 - January 24, 2008
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Board of
Directors Approves New Name And Logo for Association
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 To more accurately reflect the growing number of lines
and products members represent, and also to eliminate any lingering
confusion between the WSA Show and the World Shoe Travelers
Association (WSTA), WSTA's Board of Directors voted formally to
change the Association's name to Shoe & Accessory Travelers
Association (SATA).
A
name change had been under consideration for several months,
according to Executive Director Shelley Shannon. "For shoe
travelers, expanding into accessories is a natural growth opportunity,
and we're seeing more and more members who are willing to expand the
lines they offer their retailers," says Shannon.
"We've also been approached by accessories travelers who are
looking for a professional 'home,' an association that can offer them
the kinds of benefits we provide."
Association
president Gary Morgan says the change is forward-looking.
"Over the past two years, we've created a new association
and expanded the services we offer our members. In the process,
we've learned that a lot of people have confused the WSA Show with
WSTA. After due deliberation, the Board believed it would be in
the best interests of our membership to recognize that we are in fact
the Association that represents shoe and accessories travelers.
Although we are global in our outlook, our name should reflect what
our members actually do, not the world in which they do it."
Shannon
says the SATA logo will be modified in accordance with the name
change, as will its website and other physical products.
"We'll incorporate the visual modifications over the next
several months," she explains. "There's no great
rush. Our primary focus is still providing services, and we'll
be unveiling our new look gradually over the course of the coming
year."
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WSTA Seminar Series Kicks Off at
B&STA
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 Tony Knapp, widely
respected speaker and trainer in the footwear industry, addressed the
traveler/exhibitors at the B&STA NY shoe show in Edison, NJ on
Wednesday, January 23. This was a seminar produced by WSTA on
Sales and Service Strategies for Success.
On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being a "Wow" for seminar meeting
the objectives, the seminar scored a 4.8. On the question of
overall how would you rate the speaker, the score was 4.9.
"Outstanding
seminar! Kept me interested and motivated for the entire
time" stated Tom Brack, traveler from Pittsburgh, PA.
"Valuable info, timely and beneficial," added Steve Conn,
traveler from Plainsboro, NJ.
Shelley
Shannon, Executive Director of WSTA, told the group that this was the
beginning of two projects in WSTA's education program for 2008.
The first part will be a series of live seminars at various regional
markets this spring and fall. The second part will be the development
and launch of educational programs available online at WSTA's
website. "In the educational survey completed last year, 93%
of our members stated they would participate in educational programs
that were helpful to their job and career," Shannon noted.
Danny
Lakin, chairperson of the B&STA NY show committee and WSTA board
member, stated he was pleased to have been the first market to host and
help launch the WSTA seminar series. "This was a great value
to our exhibitors," Lakin said. "I urge other regional
markets to work with WSTA, to host the program for their markets."
"My
discussions with these reps reinforced my opinion that today's rep has
to have more knowledge and newer skills to be successful," said
Knapp, who has been in the fotwear industry, including being a shoe
traveler, for many years. "I look forward to working with
WSTA to develop an educational program that will meet the new needs of
today's rep."
Tony's
next seminar presentation will be at the BSTA show in Manchester, NH in
March. Look for details in the next issue of WSTA Online.
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Two Ten
Scholarship Application Deadline and Other Two Ten Updates
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 The deadline for submitting Two Ten scholarship
applications is February 15, 2008. Even if this doesn't apply to
you this year, tell your customers and fellow reps. Applications
are available online at www.twoten.org.
Last week, Soles4Souls donated $1 million to establish a Soles4Souls
Relief Fund endowment at Two Ten. According to Two Ten President
Peggy Meill, the money is needed more than ever, as requests for
assistance have increased dramatically over the years. In 2001,
Two Ten gave $237,000 in relief payments; by 2003, the amount had grown
to over $400,000. With the help of the Soles4Souls and other
gifts, Two Ten expects to provide $800,000 in financial support in 2008.
As WSTA members are aware, WSTA set up a Two Ten Relief Fund endowment
specifically to help shoe travelers with a donation of $32,000 last
December. With your donations toward this endowment, we hope to
grow this to $50,000 within one or two years. Click here to make your donation to the WSTA Relief
Fund. Please indicate The Shoe Travelers Association Relief
Fund in the box marked "in the name of," so that your
gift can be directed to the Relief Fund. This fund is only
for the benefit of shoe travelers.
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WSTA Website Was
Busy The Last Quarter of 2007
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With close to 7.000 hits, the WSTA website was busy
during the 4th quarter of 2007. On average, 131 people opened one
of more pages on our website each day. On the heaviest day, the
website was view by 275 people and the lowest day, it was viewed by
68. A summary of the greatest hits per page for the 4th quarter
were
- Employment services - 3,300 hits
- Shoe shows - 1,700 hits
- Membership - 1,600 hits
(representing a high usage of the website for renewals)
The
staff is working with the website committee and over the next several
months will be upgrading the website to make it more user-friendly as
well as provide more services for you.
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Traveler
Resolutions for 2008
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In
the last WSTA Online, we listed resolutions that retailers
listed for 2008 regarding their merchandise planning for their
stores. It included everything from buying deeper to listening
more to their vendor (reps) for keeping up-to-date on style trends,
etc.
What resolutions did you make for 2008 in regard to your work this
coming year? Click here and give
us your top one or two resolutions for 2008. We will list some of
them in the next issue (no names will be used).
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In Memoriam
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On
our website under the menu item News & Information, we have a page
titled In Memoriam. On this page, we have listed information we
have received regarding travelers who have recently died. If you
become aware of the death of a traveler, please let us know so that we
may inform the network. In each issue of WSTA Online, we
will list any names received in the last two weeks. If you click
on the listed name, it will take you to the information we have been
given.
We regret the loss of Jeff Feinstein.
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Good Reports on
January Shoe Shows
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Between
January 4 and January 7, three regional markets were held in the
upper-Midwest: Chicago Shoe Show, Michigan Shoe Show, and the NW Shoe
Travelers show outside of Minneapolis. We spoke to several reps
who attended these shows, and the majority said they and the reps they
spoke with all had reasonably good shows. Several did say,
however, that economic conditions in MI are especially bad, and it was
reflected in this show. The number one thing retailers were
looking for was at once goods to round out their spring buys. The
snow experienced throughout the area this season has cleaned out the
retailers' boot inventories and given them some open-to-buy.
At the B&STA NY show held this week in Edison, NJ, attended by WSTA
staff, several exhibitors stated they were having very good
shows. All exhibitors we spoke with said the retailers were
looking for at once goods. One exhibitor summed it up, "No
retailer buys more than eight weeks out anymore." Another
exhibitor stated, "Shoe retailing today is an item business.
I happen to have a great item, so I'm having a fantastic show."
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Last Call for Some
Last Vegas Hotel Room Blocks
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 NSRA has advised that their room block at the Tuscany
Hotel expires on Friday, January 25. The special rate is $85 for
Sunday through Thursday and $135 for Friday and Saturday. Call
the Tuscany at 877-887-2261 and use the following price code: 11H58K.
In
addition, don't forget to check special discount rates using the WSTA
program with CLC. They have 12 hotels listed in the Last Vegas
area. Click here if you are not a member of CLC.
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The Slowdown in
The Economy Is Becoming A Bigger Factor
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 Holiday retail sales were sluggish, including the
upscale sector which had been bucking the trend. However, Coach,
Saks Fifth Ave. and Nordstrom all report that sales slowed over the
holidays. Nordstrom reported a same store decline of 4% while
Macy's had a same store decline of 7.9% for December.
The slowdown of U.S. consumer spending at virtually all income levels
indicates an unusual cutback in consumption, the first such decline
since 1991, The New York Times reported. Retailers ranging
from Tiffany & Co. and Nordstrom to Target and J.C. Penney are all
reporting slowing sales. (NRF SmartBrief January 14 and FN
January 14)
The NRF forecasts that retail sales will rise by only 3.5% in 2008 with
a continued slow pace lasting until the second half of the year. Kiplinger
Letter states retail sales will only grow by 2.5%, slowing from
about 3.5% in 2007. They expect the hardest hit to include
specialty apparel, furniture and home improvement, and state that
high-end stores will only grow by 7% in 2008 compared to 9% in
2007. (FN Online January 15 and Kiplinger Letter
January 4)
Several members cautioned that the traveler and the retailer shouldn't
get into negative mode, which would make the slowdown a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
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Trends Affecting
Your Business
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Two
emerging trends that will impact your business are
- Sale of gift cards
continues to grow dramatically and will reach $52 billion by 2012,
states market-research company Packaged Facts. Almost 35% of
consumers who bought gift cards this year stated they will spend
more on gift cards this coming year (NRF SmartBrief January
11).
For apparel and shoes which require sizing, this is especially
good news as the purchaser doesn't need to know size when making
the gift purchase. Do all your retail accounts offer nicely
designed and packaged gift cards? If not, they should.
- Online shopping for the
2007 holiday shopping season totaled $29 billion, up 19% from 2006
(MediaPost January 10).
Are you aware of all the online operations that you could be
calling on for your line/s? Get the WSA buyer list for your territory.
There's no cost for WSTA members. Click here
for details.
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Send Us Your News!
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Do you have news to share with colleagues about
yourself, your business, or your employees?
The WSTA network loves to be in the know. Please send us your
news!
Send announcements to WSTA Online at info@shoetravelers.org, and we'll let the network know.
This email newsletter is provided as a service to members of the World
Shoe Travelers Association. Content does not necessarily reflect the
opinions of WSTA, its members, its Board of Directors, or its
staff. Any use of trademarked names is in an editorial fashion
intended to benefit the trademark owner, with no intention of trademark
interference. For a WSTA membership application, ot to check out
the benefits of membership, please email us at info@shoetravelers.org.
No part of this newsletter may be reproduced in any manner without the
express permission of WSTA.
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World Shoe Travelers
Association | 7150 Columbia Gateway Drive | Suite G | Columbia | MD |
21046
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