Cape Town (SA) – ‘Africa is on the Move’. A report from McKinsey & Co. saw African countries being mentioned for the first time in the list of top sourcing destinations for apparel, textiles and footwear. When survey respondents were asked if they plan to increase sourcing from African countries between now and 2020, the list of countries that were mentioned included South Africa, Mauritius, Lesotho, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, Egypt and Swaziland. There is also an increasing demand from African sourcing agents and retailers to source within the region as the benefits of intra-regional trade have become increasingly attractive. So, the timing is perfect to exhibit at Source Africa this year which will take place on 24 & 25 May 2017, CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa.

        Source Africa will be in its 5th year and has become an important trade event in Africa for the footwear, apparel and textile industries. It is rapidly becoming the ‘go-to’ event for international and regional buyers and industry professionals. Says William Scalco, Organiser of Source Africa, ‘We are marketing the event extensively to international and regional buyers from chain stores, independent retailers, mini-chains, sourcing agents, importers, distributors, production and factory managers and other important industry decision makers. Exhibitors already include country Pavilions from Mauritius (Enterprise Mauritius), Lesotho (Lesotho National Development Corporation), South Africa (TIKZN), Kenya (International Trade Centre and Trade Mark East Africa), Botswana (BITC) and individual participating from South Africa, Tanzania, Madagascar, Turkey, India, Lithuania, Poland to mention a few.

Source Africa Programme as @ 30 March 2017
Tuesday, 23 May 17:30pm – 20:00pm: Cocktail Reception
The who’s who in the industry will be attending including exhibitors, media, buyers, Trade Organisations and Industry Associations.

 Wednesday, 24 May 08:30am - 10:30am: Technology Sessions Presented by –
Jürgen Brockmann, Director, Thies GmbH & Co. KG, Germany
Bruno Caffieri, Sales Manager, Picanol, Belgium
Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Germany
10:00am - 17:00pm: Source Africa Trade Show
11:00am - 17:00pm: Fashion Walks, Industry Presentations, Exhibitor Promotions

Thursday, 25 May 08:30am - 10:30am: WGSN Trendtalk Seminar: Menswear/Women’s Wear Spring/Summer 2018 Buyers’ Briefing
Presented by Sara Maggioni, Director of Retail, WGSN, United Kingdom
10:00am - 17:00: Source Africa Trade Show
11:00am - 17:00pm: Fashion Walks, Industry Presentations, Exhibitor Promotions

For more information, contact the Organisers, Lte – leaders in trade exhibitions, Tel: +27 21 790 5849, Email: william@sourceafrica.co.za. To EXHIBIT or VISIT, register online at www.sourceafrica.co.za.

Cape Town (SA) – Triple M Group founders Marius and Sue Mostert sold the business to undisclosed buyers as of March 1, and have retired.

        The wholesale division and retail brands Shoerama, Next Step and Shoeline fall under the umbrella of newly formed parent, Triple M Footwear Company.

        Jarene Boshoff, who spent 16 years with Ackermans in various merchandise portfolios, is CEO. She said all staff had remained.

        The group has 21 stores, with Shoerama the biggest footprint, “and we have plans to grow and expand our footprint and offer of ladies’ branded and unbranded footwear”. – [+27 (0)21 981 6030, Jboshoff1@tripm.co.za]

Ludwigshafen (Germany) – BASF and Stahl signed an agreement on Wednesday, March 22, 2017 to combine BASF’s leather chemicals business with Stahl Group. The transaction is subject to approval by the relevant authorities and the closing is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2017.

        Under the terms of the agreement, BASF will receive a 16% minority stake in the Stahl Group. Furthermore, BASF will supply significant volumes of leather chemicals to Stahl under mid to long-term supply agreements. The transaction comprises BASF’s global leather chemicals business, as well as the leather chemicals production site in L’Hospitalet, Spain. Around 210 positions globally are in the scope of the transaction, of which about 110 are in Asia.

        “This partnership is the right step for BASF’s successful leather chemicals business,” says Michael Heinz, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE. “With complementary strengths, BASF and Stahl are creating a leading company in leather chemicals with a strong focus on innovation.”

        “Our customers will benefit as together we can leverage unparalleled strength in production, technical expertise, innovation and sustainability along the entire leather-making value chain,” says Dr. Christian Fischer, President Performance Chemicals.

According to a report in Business Day on March 23, the House of Busby Group will close all free-standing Nine West and Mango stores by the end of this month.

It quoted head of marketing Leane Adolph as saying the group was altering its portfolio to match domestic needs.

        “The company regularly reviews the portfolio’s performance and relevance to market and decided to move the Mango business into the store-in-store concept within Edgars. Similarly, with Nine West, we will keep a wholesale presence [for handbags] in the SA market through Edgars,” she said.

        The House of Busby owns the exclusive rights to both Mango and Nine West. The Nine West licence was acquired in 1999 and, until recently, had 13 stand-alone stores throughout the country. Nine West sells footwear, handbags, eyewear and accessories.

        The Mango licence was acquired in 2006 and there were nine stand-alone stores in SA. Mango now has 35 store-in-stores in Edgars stores nationwide. Mango sells apparel and accessories. Adolph said that rumours of Busby coming under business rescue were untrue, adding it was not expected that there would be any job losses as a result of the decision to close shop for the brands as affected staff would be accommodated within the group’s structures.

Urgent call to SA visitors to APLF

The feasibility study on the formation of a Leather Research Institute will be officially handed over at the APLF fair in Hong Kong by the Institute for Creative Leather Technology (Northampton University) to the dti, Exotic Leather South Africa and SHALC. Interested industry stakeholders attending the APLF Hong Kong are invited to attend.

        The handover will be at the Northampton University (ICLT) stand within the UK pavilion and the number is Hall 1E-A11/UK.. Date: 29 March 2017, time 4 pm to 5 pm.

        Please let Ernest Heunis @ ernest@leatherite.co.za know if you will be attending.