news


Inhorgenta europe 2009 - Jewelry and watch retailers report positive holiday business

January 2009


German retailers are extremely satisfied with their 2008 holiday business, especially in the jewelry and watch segment. According to preliminary findings by the Federal Statistical Office, the nominal sales growth for specialty retailers was at 2.7 percent and effective sales growth at 4.2 percent compared to the prior year. The big sellers were expensive jewelry and high-quality watches in particular, according to the federal Association of German Retailers.

Sabine Hartmann, CEO of the Retail Association of Baden-Württemberg, confirms the positive results reported by jewelry and watch retailers: “We received only positive feedback from jewelry and watch stores, especially for the higher price levels. A number of jewelers even doubled their sales compared to last year. The results in the mid-price segment, however, are not comparable, with sales figures similar to 2007. The reason might be the current trend of investing in solid valuables instead of stocks.” The final fiscal reports will be published in March of 2009; yet at this time it is already quite clear that in 2008 Santa Claus worked very hard to keep jewelry and watch retailers happy. (www.einzelhandel.de,
www.destatis.de)

Industry feedback to inhorgenta europe 2009
How important is inhorgenta europe, especially during the current difficult economic period? For Christian Coenen, Vice President of Sales Germany and Member of General Management Fossil, the trade fair's appeal remains as positive as ever: “We decided to increase our booth size once again by 140 square meters compared to last year. This shows what high level of priority inhorgenta europe has for us as a German retail exposition. Our emphasis is definitely on meeting specialty retailers and creating and managing contacts. The event allows us to talk about potential, suggestions, requirements, and troubleshooting directly with our clients. The economic crisis will most likely also impact the jewelry and watch industry, but be felt more in the higher price segment. We expect a difficult but good year, because we are located in a very attractive price segment.” Traditional watch brand Raymond Weil considers the trade fair the most important contact exchange for German retail, as Norbert Jensen explains: “inhorgenta europe is very important for us, because it allows us direct contact to German specialty retailers. These retailers often do not have the time to travel to Basel, or they don’t see any of their customers' requirements reflected in the brands offered there. Last year we were able to gain 20 new customers here at this event..”

Source: Inhorgenta
More information on www.inhorgenta.com
Contact:[email protected]

(Please credit europastar.com)