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The Footwear Industry steps forward for another successful WSA Show.

Business Continued and Many Reported Excellent Results,Despite Off-Cycle Show Dates.

Business moved forward and flourished at The WSA Show in Las Vegas last week. The WSA Show and The Collections at WSA completed another successful marketplace, hosting men's, women's, and kid's shoes, in addition to jewellery and accessories. Materials at WSA made its debut and showcased innovative materials, components, chemical treatments and technology processes, and general suppliers to the industry --making this the only marketplace in the world to offer a 360-degree viewpoint of the entire footwear industry.

A total of 28,700 participants attended, compared to 36,200 from the February 2007 show due to the later show dates, a one-time anomaly. According to WSA chiefoperating officer Diane Stone,"WSA focused on attendance promotion outreach where we could make a difference, with independent specialty retailers and boutiques, and saw a 31 percent increase in new buyers to the show. We anticipated some buying teams would be reduced, or absent, due to their individual needs, because our retail relations team is in constant contact with them."

"While our attendance was off some year-over-year, the buyers in attendance were serious,focused and doing business. Many brands had exceeded their expectations for results at the show. The late dates impacted many companies'planning processes on both the brand and retailer side of the aisle,"Stone continued.

Edelman, Oh deer!, Mia, Eastman, Crocs, Ugg, Steve Madden and Dolce Vita were just a few of the exhibitors who were happily surprised by the February 2008 WSA Show results.They experienced a steady stream of independents and strong international traffic.

Attendees from across America walked the show floor alongside buyers from 79 countries on all continents. As a result of aggressive global retail recruitment efforts, attendance throughout Europe, across to Aruba, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Russia saw increases over previous shows. The global buyer recruitment effort will be strengthened significantly for the upcoming July event since the field offices of the U.S. Department of Commerce will be working on the show's behalf around the world. The WSA Show and The Collections at WSA have been accepted into the Department's International Buyer Program, which accepts only 32 tradeshows per year.

In addition, the introduction of Materials at WSA brought over 1,600 high-level decision makers to Las Vegas in the design, product development and supply chain field for the exhibits and workshop programme. This added a new dimension to the industry gathering that is unparalleled at any other footwear marketplace in the world.

The WSA Show introduced The Box at WSA, a featured destination that provided buyers with a venue in which to view a carefully selected assortment of trend-driven contemporary footwear and accessories collections. This intimate space provided auser-friendly atmosphere for buyers to have a look at fashion-forward products in a fresh, new landscape that included innovative style and design elements and no high walls to block their view.

"We decided The Box was the place for us because it offered a great opportunity to showcase our brand alongside other innovative, quality fashion brands and we were thrilled with the response that we received from the buyers on the show floor,"stated Joe Ponce, president, Velvet Angels.

Known to offer resources above and beyond what is available on the showfloor, The WSA Show also offered visitors The Footwear & Accessories Business Conference, which included nine individual seminars and four workshops designed to suit attendees from all facets of the industry from buying, marketing and merchandising to sourcing, product design and development. Attendance was up year over year.

The WSA Show is gearing up for the next marketplace, which will takeplace under one roof at The Las Vegas Convention Center 28th-30th July 2008. The Collections at WSA will continue to be held in the suites at The Venetian. The date pattern for Materials at WSA will be announced shortly to maximize the overlap opportunity that offers the greatest convenience for this part of the market.

Anticipating an even more successful marketplace in July, brands like Nine West Group have decided to expand their brand offerings and increase their presence on the show floor alongside industry leaders such as Brown Shoe, Skechers, H.H. Brown, Wolverine, White Mountain, Steve Madden, Clarks, Geox, Chinese Laundry, Ugg, and Crocs, among others.

For more information on The WSA Show, The Collections at WSA, andMaterials at WSA, please visit www.wsashow.com.
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Upcoming Show Dates:

THE WSA SHOW ™
28 - 30 July 2008-Las Vegas Convention Center
12-14 February 2009-Mandalay Bay Convention Center&SandsExpo Center
27-29 July 2009 - Las Vegas ConventionCenter

THE COLLECTIONS AT WSA™
28 - 31 July 2008-The Venetian
12 -15 February 2009-The Venetian
27 - 30 July 2009-The Venetian

About The WSA Show
The WSA Show is the world's largest and most comprehensive footwear, handbags, andaccessories marketplace, offering a 360-degree viewpoint of the footwear industry. The twice-yearly event in Las Vegas attracts more than 37,000 participants from 95 countries in 2.1 million square feet of space.The Collections at WSA, an exclusive premium footwear and accessory show within The WSA Show, features hundreds of luxury footwear, handbag and jewellery designersfrom around the globe in an exclusive upscale setting. Materials at WSA, which launched in Las Vegas in February 2008 alongside The WSA Show, further expands the breadth of this industry marketplace to include the supply chain by focusing on materials, design, components, technology and sourcing alongside the finished product, becoming easily accessible to brand and retail leaders. For more details, please visit www.wsashow.com.