Karl-Heinz Müller, Director of Bread & Butter tradeshow GmbH & Co. KG, in the hall of former airport Tempelhof in Berlin
Little over a week ago, Karl-Heinz Müller held a meeting at the business club of former airport Tempelhof in Berlin with 40 prospective exhibitors, decision-makers of big brands, trade- and PR-agencies, Bread & Butter's insolvency administrator Christian Graf Brockdorff, and the representative of the lessor, Tempelhof Projekt GmbH, Pascal Thirion. We reported on the points that were made at the meeting last Wednesday. Now we were able to get Karl-Heinz Müller to speak to us in an exclusive interview about his plans for the future and his learnings from the past.
How are you?
I’d say not bad. Actually no, I’m good. Last Friday we had a meeting with 40 potential exhibitors, agencies, the insolvency administrator and the representative of our lessor, Tempelhof. It went well and I’m satisfied with the outcome. Now we have to work on getting even more exhibitors on board.
That’s good news, right? Bread & Butter will take place and it will take place in Tempelhof. Can you tell us the process it took to get to this decision?
I had to ask myself in the past months: Do I want to do this again? Is there still a necessity for it? Selling umbrellas in the Sahara desert doesn’t help anyone. The industry is changing. But I think that in our section of the industry - ‘Modern Urban Lifeestyle’, I’d call it - we need Berlin and we need Tempelhof and we all need an emotional meeting point. Pitti is great for menswear. That works beautifully in Italy. Copenhagen and Amsterdam are relatively regional. Paris is good for womenswear, in terms of prêt-á-porter and haute couture but definitely not for urbanwear. Only Berlin remains for that. So, where in Berlin? We still have a lease for Tempelhof, which says that if the event doesn’t take place twice in a row, the contract can be terminated by the city of Berlin, whether we pay the rent or not. But to this point, we have the contract for for four more years, with and additional option for ten more. And then I asked myself: Can I do it? And the answer is yes, I have to. We’re holding the lease and we have the financial means through our lenders, and we have the team that’s highly motivated. We want to do it, we can do it and we have to do it for the industry, so that Berlin and Tempelhof remain as tradeshow locations.
The press release of last Friday’s meeting suggests there are already 120 ‘early bird’ sign-ups of exhibitors, can you name a few?
We’re in talks with many exhibitors. There are many smaller, new labels, that have signed up already, but also well-known names like K.O.I, Merz b. Schwanen, Herrlicher, Cinque, Cotton Knowledge Apparel, Naketano and Mavi. Many are undecided and are waiting to see what will happen. On one hand, they all miss Bread & Butter, on the other they are afraid it might be canceled again. But I’m saying it again, and clearly: the fair will take place. But of course we still need more good exhibitors.
Is it difficult to rebuild the exhibitors’ trust?
Yes. The meeting was a first step. We need to send a sign of life and communicate very clearly that we’re still here, and that Bread & Butter will take place in July. Everybody knows that we were the best at what we were doing. We don’t want a formal tradefair. At the same time, good business can be expected at our fair. Many labels and brands were built with the help of Bread & Butter. The fragmentation of the tradeshow landscape in Berlin helps no one, quite the opposite: it leads to refusal. Many labels are reacting to the situation by not wanting to exhibit at all. That is a negative development for retail, press and all others involved. I still believe that it is important that people are able meet personally, and talk face to face. We need a meeting point for the urbanwear industry. We’ll do a good event and we’re still hoping for more brands to respond. Then we’ll build on that for January and July 2016.
The new concept is, in brief, ‘no concept’. What can we expect?
Exactly as we’ve said: no concept, no clusters. Whether it’s a Drykorn suit, an Adidas Sneaker, a Bretonshirt by Amor Lux or jeans by K.O.I, everything will end up in the same wardrobe. There’s no need to place shoes next to shoes and suits next to suits, there will be a jeans brand in between. That way buyers can discover new brands and labels better. Of course, that’s only possible because we will by far not be as big as we used to be. We have 20.000 square meters, with clearly laid out halls and only one theme: modern urban lifestyle.
You’re planning a so-called ‘Bread & Butter Start-Up Area instead of what used to be called Urban Base, what is the target group here?
That’s very open. I don’t want to exclude any options here. Everything creative. It may be a food concept or a coffee brewery, an IT-developer for e-commerce, young designers or someone who’s doing some health-related business. We want to create a playground for young creative people, of whom there are plenty in Berlin and the rest of the world, who don’t have a platform yet. The area is also supposed to be there for the retailers, who see things there that they usually wouldn’t.
‘No more solitary decisions’ – that sounds grounded. What are your learnings from the last years? ?
There were three big decisions I took in the last seasons.
First, I decided to admit only labels and brands that had their own, Bread & Butter befitting message. I think that any club is only as good as its doorman. We had a lot of top brands on board, and then more and more ‘me too-brands’ came. These ‘late followers’, that wanted to ride in the wave of the strong brands. Of course there were conflicts. I’m not opposed to these brands. But I wanted a crystal clear Bread & Butter tradeshow for selected brands.
Second, I said out loud that the consumers become more and more important and we need to do something for them in order to address this development. As a small label, it’s not so easy to reach the consumer, even if you meet their taste perdectly. That is why we wanted to open the show for the consumer on the last two days and failed terribly with this idea. Now we have a clear consumer-driven market, the consumer is the boss. The opening was the right thought, almost everybody now tells me that, two years later. But I should have gotten a mandate by the most important brands and I failed to do so.
Third, I suggested a change of location between summer and winter, in order to cover all of Europe with our tradeshow. I was asking too much, especially now that fairs are getting more and more regional. Many exhibitors were alienated by that and decided instead to opt for a more boring but safe alternative. I don’t thing that these decisions will be successful in the long run.
My learning from all this is: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush – although I have problems acting against my better knowledge. In the future, I will include my top exhibitors into my decisions and refrain from solitary decisions. But in the end I have to decide what is the right step. No one else carries my risk.
Multibrand-retail faces vast challenges in this ever-changing market, but that also creates chances. Bread & Butter has to be able to develop, and it has to be able to lead the way. That is the job of a leading trade show.
In retrospect – what was the best Bread & Butter for you?
That’s really difficult to say. I do have a few highlights, however.
The very first event in Cologne was very small, only 50 brands. It cost a lot of energy, almost like the situation today. I had to fight. Everybody was asking: who else is in? It was exasperating. But then, a few brave ones found their courage and it was a wonderful event. There were also few really good events at Kabelwerk and especially in Barcelona. But we reached the peak in 2011/12, when the whole industry travelled to Berlin. We had 80.-90.000 visitors. That, for sure, was the best time for us, the industry and retail. We were able to afford great events – and we’re aiming to get there again.
