Retail and POP industry together again

The EuroShop exhibition in Dusseldorf is the world’s largest Retail and POP themed event, which is why everyone from every continent gathers here at this time. This year, several hindering factors made life difficult for exhibitors and visitors. During the event, which started on Sunday, February 26 and ended on Thursday, March 2, there was a strike at the airport on Monday and a strike affecting all public transport on Tuesday.

Old and new pillars

POPAI and Shop are traditionally organized here. a meeting of leaders of local organizations, the Global Leader Meeting. The last such face-to-face meeting took place in 2017, with the participation of the bravest in 2020, and since then only online consultations have taken place. Old and new alike jumped into the discussions on the agenda with great vigor and enthusiasm. The host and leader of the day is Leo van de Polder SCP, MaRC, Shop! He was Global Development Director. The moderator recalled the vicissitudes of the covid years and emphasized that many gaps had to be made up. The nearly 50 participants consisted of representatives of local organizations from Argentina, Australia, Benelux, Brazil, Britain, Czech Republic, South Africa, North America, France, Ireland, China, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, and New Zealand. The Chilean, Russian and Spanish colleagues sent their presentations online.

The same columns appeared in the country summaries, with different emphasis and operational details. Local and central Awards and Global Awards competitions, including student competitions, are designed to recognize and encourage professional excellence. And the ceremonial award ceremonies are areas of networking, relationship building and communication. Research, studies, reports, and publications also play a significant role. Events continue to be the organization’s flagships and generators of success. Sustainability is also an increasingly important area in the life of every chapter, for which both the UK and French organizations offer POP specific tools.

Hungarians go for it

POPAI and Shop! a surprise that was not on the agenda of the management meeting was that international development director Leo van de Polder presented a certificate of appreciation to the secretary general of the Hungarian organization. Ildikó Kátai at POPAI and Shop! received this international recognition for his 20 years of persistent and dedicated work for the cause. As part of the surprise, Zsuzsanna Hermann, a member of the management board of POPAI Hungary, also arrived for the handover, who congratulated the general secretary on behalf of the Hungarian organization.

Among the nearly 2,000 exhibitors, 8 Hungarian stands – AISS Technologies, Kende Retail, Laurel, Megaholz, Novo Digital, Scan Sign, Shopguard, Tor Ter e-Design – and many international companies with Hungarian interests are waiting for those interested. The word Hungarian is also common among visitors, Máté Szilvia, the Hungarian representative of Messe Düsseldorf, was happy to confirm.