Headlines

Baselworld Opens with 13% Fewer Exhibitors

Published

7 years ago

March 23, 2017

INSTORE Staff

Organizers say they turned away exhibitors.

Baselworld 2017 has opened with 13.3 percent fewer exhibitors compared with last year.

The jewelry and watch trade show in Basel, Switzerland, has about 1,300 exhibitors this year, Forbes contributor Anthony DeMarco writes. That’s down from about 1,500 in 2016.

Baselworld Managing Director Sylvie Ritter said organizers turned away some would-be participants, DeMarco reports.

“We have turned away exhibitors who are not in line with our concept and do not meet the criteria for Baselworld,” Ritter is quoted as saying. She would not be specific about the criteria.

Eric Bertrand, president of the Baselworld Exhibitors’ Committee, “singled out fashion watch brands as those who failed to either meet the criteria or their own sales goals,” according to DeMarco.

In a press release on the opening of the show, Ritter said there’s no reason to dwell on the past 12 months, which have been difficult and “compelled a certain number of players to leave the watch and jewelry industry and therefore not attend Baselworld.” She said that situation is reason to “once again adapt the exhibition concept, to transform Baselworld so that the show continues to reflect the world market.”

The show runs through March 30.

Read more at Forbes

Related Topics: Baselworld trade shows watches

click to Comment(Comment)

Up Next

Diamond Company, Unimpressed by $1B+ Offer, Has Another Suitor

Don't Miss

Jewelry Chain Debuts an Outlet Model

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”