The 48th edition of OBUV, Russian footwear major fair, took place at Moscow Expocentre on October 24-27. Among exhibitors, several leather goods companies participated as well. There we go with highlights: buyers who turned up at the exhibition showed some interest, still their purchasing, with regard both to footwear and bags, was not that remarkable. “Russia is no longer a paradise as it used to be a few years ago. Buyers are pretty demanding as they reward interesting collections, and fair prices”, says Alessandro Porto from Jeannot shoe factory, based in Puglia. Likewise Eros Pennacchioni, sales director at Giudi Pelletterie, whose manufacturing is mostly headed for the Russian market, points out: “Customers who showed up at the fair have not bought a lot as they paid most attention to price. Speaking my mind, I was expecting something more”. On the other hand shoe manufacturer Marino Fabiani, from The Marche, emphasizes that “audits carried out by Russian banks have become more frequent and that makes payments more complicated. Buyers want to pay cash, but suppliers can’t accept it owing to lack of traceability. One additional problem for us”. On that note Andrea Brotini from Pakerson: “On the one hand, mindset is changing as consumer wants to spend less and looks for cheaper articles rather than demanding for luxury; on the other hand some luxury buyers are likely to go for purchase differently. As for OBUV, I consider this edition to be more successful than the previous summer one, not so good as last year though”.
In Moscow price rules over. At OBUV Russia is coming back, with little money though
