Las Vegas Review-Journal

LOSING THEIR VERY SOLES

Crowds sparse at twice-a-year shoe convention

Sparse foot traffic this week in the Las Vegas Convention Center suggests fewer people than usual made tracks to town for one of the shoe industry's biggest conventions.

Thanks to an economic kick in the shins from increased manufacturing costs and decreased consumer spending, folks flogging footwear this week at the World Shoe Association Show say it's unlikely the 35,000 or so people who typically attend the semiannual event made the trip this time.

People who did make it say they weren't surprised attendance is down because manufacturers and retail buyers - especially small, specialty companies - are finding it hard to make ends meet.

"Customers owe money to their suppliers. They don't want to run into them," said Neal Marks of Hazan Shoes Inc., maker of affordable, stylized dress shoes sold in stores such as Mastroianni Fashion in the Las Vegas Valley.

Marks said he has attended the show regularly for about 20 years and expected fewer people would make the trip to Las Vegas for the event, which ran Monday through Wednesday at the convention center and The Venetian.

"The little guy is not here," said Marks, who estimated it cost his company about $20,000 for space, hardware and other expenses related to exhibiting at the show.

Others suspect larger firms are cutting costs by sending fewer people to conventions. If that's the case, shoe manufacturers might still write enough orders to make the show a success, but there will be fewer people spending on hotel rooms, restaurant meals and other building blocks of the Las Vegas economy.

"It only takes a couple of orders to pan through and a slow show becomes a great show," said Ken Struss, West Coast sales representative for Goorin Bros. Inc., a San Francisco-based retailer.

Struss was pushing products from Goorin's 1333 Minna brand, a line of hats styled by artists and aimed at younger buyers. In Las Vegas, the line is available at Stash Clothing stores, he said. "For the big guys it is status quo," Struss said. "For the other, smaller, exhibitors it seems to be pretty slow."

It isn't just the shoes, either.

Through May, the number of convention visitors to Las Vegas is flat compared to 2007 at about 3.3 million. But the number of conventions and trade shows is down almost 3 percent and the amount of money conventioneers spend in Las Vegas is down nearly 5 percent.

"Flat is good in this type of economy," said Chris Meyer, vice president of convention sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The authority, which runs the convention center and boosts conventions at resorts throughout Las Vegas, is trying to juice attendance with increased marketing.