Couromoda: 70 thousand professional visits

The 37th edition of COUROMODA - International Shoes, Sports Goods and Leather Goods Fair - held in São Paulo, from January 18 to 21, 2010 – was a real happening in the Brazilian and Latin American footwear market, with international repercussions.

The final result of COUROMODA showed that the fair hosted in four days 70,000 professional visits (buyers, distributors, manufacturers and opinion makers), representing a 7% increase compared to the 2009 fair.
These visitors came from all over Brazil and from 61 other countries.

The 15 countries with the most significant presence at COUROMODA were: Chile, Bolivia, USA, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, Argentina, Italy, Costa Rica, Spain, Portugal, Uruguay, France and Peru.
It is worth noting that this edition hosted great names of the European retail business among which buyers from major chains of France, Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Austria, Poland and others.
"These buyers came to COUROMODA interested in products with higher added value that are sold in the stores at a price of €150. This quality leap in Brazilian exports is one of the great accomplishments of the footwear industry that is being seen as a producer of shoes of high average price, with design, fashion and added value”, says Francisco Dos Santos, founder and president of COUROMODA.

For international buyers, COUROMODA represents a source of new inspiration! This edition, the show hosted around 1,500 international buyers who came to check the innovations and novelties of the 1,100 exhibitors and more than 3,000 footwear and fashion accessories brands. All of them exclaim how impressed they were by the vitality of the fair, by the considerable marketing investments made by the exhibitors and, naturally, by the sheer diversity and quality of Brazilian products.
In just four days, visitors were able to get a 360-degree view of the entire industry, taking in collections from factories from more than 20 Brazilian states. Moreover, at COUROMODA international buyers met the factory owners, their export managers and their designers, thus benefitting from direct interaction with key business and fashion decision-makers.

For Brazilian retailers COUROMODA is an absolute must. The show introduced new fashion collections at a crucial time for the retail market: 20 days after the Christmas sales. Buyers came from all over the country because they know that at Couromoda they would find collections for all types of consumers and all climates: ranging from popular to ultra-sophisticated fashion and from summer to winter.

COUROMODA exhibitors represented a colossal 90% of all Brazil’s production of footwear, bags, accessories and sports goods. In 2009, Brazil produced 725 million pairs of shoes, of which 600 million were sold on the domestic market.

The footwear retail market plans to grow up to 10% in 2010
The Brazilian footwear industry continues to have the domestic market as its major client, with a yearly consumption of 630 million pairs. The good economic phase of the country had positive results for the industry. Brazilian footwear retailers forecast for 2010 an increase higher than the expansion of the GDP of the country. It is expected that the national economy will grow 5%; but the footwear retail market is already working with a 10% forecast, as a result of the stabilization of the economy, the increased credit offer and the confidence of the consumer. Marconi Leonel Matias dos Santos, President of the Brazilian Footwear and Leather Goods Retailers Association (ABLAC), says: “The economic scenario at the beginning of the year is favorable and should continue over the forthcoming months".

Next edition: COUROMODA 2011
38th International Shoes, Sports Goods and Leather Goods Fair
January, 17 - 20, 2011
Anhembi Exhibition Centre - São Paulo - Brazil