THE ARCHIVE

He was quoted as saying that Barcelona was the only other European city apart from Berlin able to offer exactly what they needed—at the first conference held in that summer, 45,000 visitors came through the gates. During the four years that Bread & Butter was held at the Fira, the independent and urban clothing show attracted a total of over 600,000 people, garnering international press coverage and encouraging a large amount of off-shoot events, parties and other promotions.

However, although deemed a success by both sides, Heinz-Müller speaking at the press conference earlier this year explained that the reasons behind the show’s return to Berlin were of a strictly marketing nature, and not because Barcelona had somehow failed to accommodate his globally recognised event. “The desire of the market for a new change was strongly tangible,” he said. The last Barcelona B&B was held in January; over 800 different fashion brands took part and the organisers saw a record attendance of 79,942 people.

Whatever the reasons behind the move, the estimated €200 million gap that Bread & Butter leaves in the Fira’s calendar is an important deficit. On the same day that B&B announced its departure, Agustín Cordón, CEO of the Fira, along with Barcelona mayor Jordi Hereu, were spotted at meetings with major Catalan fashion brands such as Custo, Armand Bassi and Sita Murt, sparking rumours of a replacement fashion trade fair to take the place of B&B. By mid-March, those rumours were confirmed with the announcement that ‘Brandery’—an homage to brands—would be held in July, a week after Berlin’s Bread & Butter. Organisers confirmed that brands like Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Custo and Levi’s had already confirmed, and said they hoped for a total of 250 exhibitors. That would go some way toward filling the hotel rooms that B&B’s departure will leave empty.

Filling hotel rooms is an ever-growing concern. In February, Jordi Clos estimated that for the first half of 2009, occupation rates in hotels will be six percent lower than for the same period in 2008, saying that the numbers for January were “pretty bad”. As detailed in El Pais, Clos announced a new plan in February, offering event organisers discounts ranging from 20 to 50 percent of hotel room rates in order to entice new business into the city.

The value placed on ensuring the continuing presence of high-profile trade shows, and the measures taken to ensure their existence, was evident during the negotiations over the 90th edition of the Salon del Automóvil de Barcelona, which takes place this month. Organisers had been predicting low attendance figures and were considering the possibility of axing the event all together, but the Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Trucks (ANFAC) scored a dramatic turn-around and signed up a record number of car brands and manufacturers to exhibit. The cost to exhibitors was reduced, and additional sponsors obtained, after the Spanish Congress declared the motor show an event of “exceptional public interest”, making tax incentives available for potential sponsors, and deals were shortly signed with La Caixa and Agbar among others.