Preview: EuroShop

Get out your walking shoes – the sprawling triennial retail trade fair known as EuroShop will open its doors Feb. 23, 2008, at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany, for five days of exhibits, conferences and forums.

The show’s producer, Messe Düsseldorf, says the event will feature more than 1600 exhibitors from 50 countries spread out over 15 pavilions and 2.1 million square feet. The show will be divided again into four main themed areas: EuroConcept (store fixtures and equipment, lighting technology, refrigeration equipment and building technology); EuroSales (visual merchandising, sales promotion and p-o-p marketing); EuroCIS (communications, information and security technology); and EuroExpo (exhibit construction and design and special events).

The show’s last rendition, in 2005, featured the debut of a “Designer Village,” which provided retail design firms with a central locale to display their capabilities. That venue is being repeated (and expanded) in the upcoming show, with more than 20 firms signed up to take part. The show will also have a pavilion dedicated to housing North American-based exhibitors, organized by Messe Düsseldorf North America, the Chicago-based subsidiary of the German trade fair organizers.

The conference will offer a full complement of congresses and forums, organized by the European Retail Institute (EHI). On February 27, VM+SD will present its 2007 Peter Glen Retailer of the Year, Best Buy, at EuroShop’s Innovation Retail Conference. Anne DiNardo, VM+SD senior associate editor, will give a joint presentation with Best Buy’s James Damian, senior vp, experience development group, on the state of the consumer electronics market and how Best Buy is succeeding in this highly competitive arena. 

For more information, go to www.euroshop.de.

Photo courtesy of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany