Shoe manufacturer is criticized for discontinuing wholesale sales of Merino Runners
The decision by the Austrian shoe manufacturer Giesswein to no longer sell its “Merino Runners” product group through retailers but only directly from April onwards has led to many reactions from retailers. We present two representative opinions from the trade.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR 1
Dear Mr. Giesswein, I would like to respond to your letter from February 2021. Here you can of course clearly see that your business studies or the management consultant have paid off. I simply translated it into a pure form for myself and would now like to know whether I understood that correctly?
“Dear idiots,
Thank you very much for introducing the “Merino Runners” brand to the market for us and thereby creating a second mainstay for us. Now, of course, we really racked our brains and realized that we no longer need the retail sector for this segment and can therefore make up the increased profit margin ourselves.
All we had to do was create the necessary platform, on which you have diligently supported us over the past years and months. Since this platform now runs flawlessly and the B2C business works excellently, we thought, why don't we just do what the big sporting goods manufacturers do and sell the shoes ourselves, in this case "Merino Runners", and then have them too complete market control over this product!!!
So again for the really stupid ones, in the future you will no longer be able to reorder the shoes that run really well via our B2B platform because we sell them ourselves and earn a lot of money from them. The leftovers will of course be delivered, but after that there will be nothing more.”
If I am correct in this interpretation, please provide a short answer and an explanation as to why you don't write it the same way? To be honest, in my opinion, your cover letter from February 2021 is a slap in the face to every business partner of your company in terms of style and wording. There is this wonderful saying in Austria: Greed makes bull
Hans Lens
Starnberger Schuhhaus, Starnberg
LETTER TO THE EDITOR 2
After consultation with Giesswein, retailers will only receive the Merino Runner at retail. The brand's best-selling product is therefore taken away from the retailer. The product that was advertised by all retailers for years and included in company appearances is gone, and planned sales for 2021 have been canceled. And that during this time of pandemic. A disregard for the advertising and commitment of many Giesswein retailers. The annoyance and anger among everyone is great.
The timing was also well chosen after many people had already placed their orders. I would like to see solidarity here and I believe that if all or very many retailers take Giesswein out of their range, cancel orders, and Giesswein is no longer present in Germany, it will be difficult for the brand. There are equivalents from high-quality manufacturers in the slipper sector.
Marketing the Merino Runner exclusively directly is an anti-retailer act and clearly shows that retailers are having an increasingly difficult time. This is where secure sales for the future are being stolen from retailers.
I will now move the slipper area to other, equivalent brands. Without Merino Runners, Giesswein is no longer an attractive partner. With this business practice, you are no longer a reliable partner.
Hartmut Kempmann
Mehralsschlappen - the other shoe store, Brilon
