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In This Issue
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Inside
WSTA
Show
News
Industry
News
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Inside WSTA
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Renew Your WSTA Membership By November 30, And You’ll
Be Eligible For One Of Two $50 AmEx Gift Cards
All members have received or will be receiving their renewal notice
via email by November 15. If you
renew by November 30, you are automatically entered into a contest to win
one of two AmEx $50 Gift Cards.
“We are very pleased with this year’s renewal response,” says Shelley
Shannon, WSTA Executive Director. “To date 29% of the members have already
renewed. With the membership
renewal fee remaining at just $30 and with the growth of all of our great
programs, we are projecting a 90% renewal by the deadline of December 31.”
WSTA again apologizes for the early problems experienced by some members
with the online renewal process. We
are now sending out renewals in metered amounts, which is
eliminating most of the glitches. We
recommend, on a very temporary basis, that when renewing your membership,
you do not make any changes to your lines or territories at the same
time. We are exploring why, but it
appears that making changes in the lines and territories is slowing down
the database server, causing many of the glitches. During this renewal time, feel free to
email your lines/territory changes to info@shoetravelers.org.
If you haven’t done so already, click here
to go ahead and renew online now and be eligible to win an AmEx gift card.
If you continue to have a problem renewing online, please call us at
866-724-9501, and we will gladly take your renewal over the phone.
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Board Elects WSTA Officer For The
New Year
 At the recent fall meeting of the WSTA
Board of Directors the following officers were elected to one-year terms:
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President
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Gary Morgan
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Vice President
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Tom Armbruster
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Treasurer
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Chuck Conroy
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Secretary
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Terry Bastis
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Past President
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Gina Berman
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“I’m both thrilled and excited to be elected president of WSTA,” stated Gary. “In the short time WSTA has been in operation,
we have accomplished a lot, thanks to the leadership of my predecessor Gina
Berman. With the support of the
Board and members I plan on building on our successes during my term.”
 The Board acknowledged Gina both for her
leadership and for the time and effort she gave to WSTA during its first 18
months. “She set the tone of a
hardworking well-run association that serves it members to the fullest,”
noted Shelley Shannon, WSTA Executive
Director.
Shelley
Shannon
Promoted To Executive Director Of WSTA
 Association Service Corp (ASC), the
management company for WSTA, and the WSTA Board of Directors made a joint
announcement on November 12, 2007
that Shelley Shannon has been promoted to
Executive Director of WSTA. She
replaces Bill Boettge, who will remain in
a part-time capacity working primarily in the development of WSTA’s Employment Services and Educational programs.
“In the four months since Shelley joined WSTA as deputy executive director,
she has done a remarkable job of learning not just the workings of the
Association, but also its role and its members’ roles within the larger
footwear industry,” says Chuck Schuyler,
president of ASC. “She has gotten to
know the Board and their goals for the Association, and she has worked hard
to prepare herself to implement their vision. I am confident that WSTA’s
newest executive director will give the Association her very best, and I
look forward to working with Shelley on WSTA’s
behalf.”
WSTA Establishes Endowment At Two Ten
 When WSTA became the administrator of the
member’s life insurance benefit, we learned that in past years the premium
calculation was incorrect and the premium was overpaid. The insurance company refunded $32,000 to
WSTA without liability.
The WSTA Board of Directors at its recent fall meeting voted to place the
money in an Endowment Fund with Two Ten for the purpose of financial aid
for shoe travelers in financial crisis.
Gina Berman, past president of WSTA, stated, “The Board felt that this
money should go for a special purpose and not just be spent on normal WSTA
business expenses. For over 60 years
Two Ten has been helping shoe people including shoe travelers, not only at
time of financial crisis but also with scholarships for their children (see
next story). Two Ten agreed to set up an endowment with these
funds, from which shoe travelers could apply for help in the time of need.
One provision of this endowment is that the members and WSTA can contribute
additional funds to it over the years so even more shoe travelers can be
helped. Those of you now doing your
renewals, if you specify WSTA Two Ten Endowment on your Two Ten gift, the money will go toward building this
Endowment.
The money will be formally presented to Two
Ten by Shelley Shannon and
members of the Board at Two Ten’s Board meeting this coming December. Additional information and forms to
request financial aid will be announced over the next two months.
Two Ten Scholarship Application Now Ready
The application for Two Ten Scholarships for the 2008-2009
academic year is now available online.
Click here
to go directly to the site. In addition
to considering members of your family, please pass on this information to
your retail customers as many are not aware of this benefit which is just
for shoe people. Deadline for
application filing is February 15,
2008.
Two Ten has awarded more than $12.5
million in scholarships to 5,400 deserving students from the footwear
industry since the program began in 1969.
This year alone, more than 500 students are being helped with Two Ten scholarships. Scholarships are based on financial need,
academic ability and personal promise.
Members
Save Money On WSTA Benefit Programs
 Below
are excerpts from member Jim Potter’s email about the new FedExKinko discount program:
Shelley,
I wanted to tell you how excited I am about my FedExKinko
discount card. I’m always printing
line sheets and power point presentations.
I even print all of the lines sheets for the WSA Show using their
online printing service and picking up the sheets when I arrive in Vegas.
This new 20% discount will save me well over $100 over the course of the
year.
Keep the savings coming!
Jim Potter
If you have not already done so, click
here and sign up now for all the FedExKinko’s
programs.
 Speaking
of money-saving programs, WSTA recently received a call from FN advising us
that over 60 WSTA members responded to our offer for the $40 annual FN
subscription fee available only to WSTA members. The subscription manager was very
impressed with the quick response they received to this offer.
If you don’t yet subscribe to FN, or if your subscription is up for
renewal, click here
and sign up now. Regular price is
$99 and the WSA Show special is $59.
WSTA members get it for $40.
What Concerns You The
Most About 2008?
Please click the "X" beside the one issue which you
think will have the greatest effect on you in 2008:
X Increased
cost of travel
X Loss
of retail accounts because of consildation and GOB at retail
X Increased
competition for retailers' OTB dollars
X Growth
of online footwear retailing
Results will be announced in the November 29th issue of WSTA Online.
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Show News
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Still Time To Nominate Your Retail Customers For VIB
Status At The WSA Show
 What a great opportunity to do something
for your best retail customers…give them V.I.B. (Very Important Buyer)
status at the WSA Show.
It’s easy; just click
here for the form where you can list the names of stores and buyers
to receive this privilege (up to 5 retailers per traveler). Once complete you can email this list to
Celeste Boehm at WSA, cboehm@wsashow.com.
At the show, your best retailers can enjoy the
following:
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Access to private lounge area where they can
relax between appointments
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Complimentary refreshments and snacks
throughout the day
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Free wireless internet connection for their
laptops
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Computer terminals to access their email and
locating exhibitors and brands at the show
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One complimentary seminar from The Footwear
and Accessories Business Conference @ WSA.
In addition, to the first few travelers that submit
names of retailers, WSA is giving lunch passes to the Executive Club for
the February show. Treat yourself
and/or your customer to a first class lunch. Submit names immediately and you may
enjoy this very nice amenity at the WSA show.
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Industry News
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How’s Biz?
From independents to discounters to department store giants, footwear
players are bemoaning a tough retail environment. They blame economic woes, unseasonable
warm weather in the early fall and lack of must-have fashion items. The consumer price index registered its
lowest point in two years.
Financial analysts recently lowered earnings estimates for Shoe Carnival
and Brown Shoe Co (operators of Famous Footwear) and they lowered earnings
estimates twice in one week on DSW.
DSW predicated that comp store sales will be flat to down 2% for
fiscal 2007. (FN Online Nov 5, 2007)
Retailers reported the weakest October sales numbers in 12 years. “We expect the challenging retail
environment to continue for the foreseeable future,” said Myron E. Ullman III, chief executive of J.C. Penney Co. (NY Times Nov 9, 2007
Though the luxury sector is expected to put in another strong performance
this season, the lower end of that market – selling the so-called
affordable luxury -- is starting to feel the pinch of the weak economy as
reflected in Nordstrom’s 2.4% drop in comp-store sales in October. (WSJ Online Nov 9, 2007)
Crocs – Fastest Growing
Footwear Company in Footwear Industry, Ever?
Some analysts say it is probably the fastest growing footwear company
in the history of the footwear industry.
Here are the facts:
2003
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Sales
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$2.3 Million
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2004
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Sales
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$354 Million
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2007
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Expected Sales
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$837 Million
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2008
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Expected Sales
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$1.1 Billion
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The question being debated in the shoe industry is how long will this
fantastic growth continue?
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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 an WSTA membership application, or to check out the
benefits of membership, please email us at info@shoetravelers.org
Mailing Address: WSTA, 7150 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite G, Columbia, MD 21046-1151, Fax 410-381-1167.
No part of this newsletter may be reproduced in any manner without the
express permission of WSTA.
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