Shots team in red

Oscar Heijnen on the upcoming Sales Week and the big Shots Party

On July 18, Shots will kick off their Sales Week, and it is going to culminate on July 22 at the annual Shots Party. To get some advance information on the unique event, EAN invited Oscar Heijnen for an interview, and judging from his statements, Shots have once again gone out of their way to offer a great experience to the visitors of the Sales Week. As far as the Shots Party is concerned, Oscar kept his cards close to the chest, but the visitors can rest assured that they are in for a unique and unforgettable event.


 

Oscar Heijnen
Oscar Heijnen

Let’s begin with the Sales Week from July 18th to 21st. What can your customers expect?
Oscar Heijnen: The customers can expect mind-blowing sales offers. We are clearing out absolutely everything that is selling slower, and we are offering it far, far below cost price because we need to make room for products that will also be introduced at the show: the full assortment of Falcon, Belami, Master Series, Zeus Electrosex, Tom of Finland, Lovebotz, and all other sublabels from XR Brands (plus more).

The majority of these offers are only available to visitors, and a small part will be offered online too. Also, customers can expect hundreds of new releases from among our own brands Ouch, Sono, Touché, Shots Toys, Pharmquest, and many more. This year, we will also be the first to show the new releases of Pipedream, Doc Johnson, Swiss Navy, Bathmate, ElectraStim, XR Brands, Wicked, Male Power Lingerie, Icon Brands, Sportsheets, and many more. We basically present the ANME releases to the European market, almost before they can be seen in the USA. In total, we’ll have 600 new products from the US!

And on top of all of this, customers get a 10% discount in addition to their current discount if they place the order during this show in person – and that even goes for all the new releases! We can’t wait to see you all from 18 to 21 July in our large showrooms.

Will there be representatives from your suppliers?
For sure! Like every year, all our suppliers are sending over their representatives to explain and demonstrate the latest products!

Some people might think that a sales event during summer – a season which is usually a slow time when it comes to sales – might not be the best idea. Why does Shots think otherwise?
It is exactly for that reason that we have initiated this event in July. When people think of June, they think of holidays, especially people with children, because that is when most schools are out.

For most companies such as ours, this month is quite slow. We are already having this event for the 12th time. In the beginning, I had to sort of beg friends and family to come by and ramp up attendance in order to give the party some importance. Now, 12 years later, these same friends and family are begging for a ticket while we only have about 10 tickets to spare. Fortunately, they all understand, and most of them are okay with coming to the after party.

The thing that makes me particularly proud is that customers and suppliers are moving their holidays around to attend this spectacle every year! As a matter of fact, there will be dozens of customers who will either skip ANME in LA or cut their visit short to come to our event, because for the first time, that show almost coincides with ours. Today, we can say that this unique event has rooted deep into our industry!

On Friday, the Shots Party will mark the grand finale of the Sales Week. Did you implement any changes compared to last year?
The location and the space will be the same like last year, just before the finish of the 4 Day Marches in the centre of Nijmegen. However, the catering, performers, and theme will be totally different. I like surprises so I want to keep a few things up my sleeve to make it even more special for our esteemed guests.

We will not choose one charity this year but several. This way, we can help more people.”

How many people will attend your party this year?
We have a maximum capacity of 175 guests for our Party on Friday. Every year, we have a ‘sold out’ house and this year the venue is going to be filled to the brim with representatives from various American companies who were invited by Shots America.

The EAN team would really like to see Ronnie Ruysdael perform again. Is there any chance this dream might be fulfilled? What other musicians can visitors expect?
Hahaha, Ronnie is your typical performer from Nijmegen, and he has scored some big national hits by now. Loads of people from Nijmegen know him because he occasionally performs his songs from the centre spot in the home stadium of my favourite soccer team, NEC. Last year, he tore the roof down and all guest were absolutely ecstatic about his performance. We have never had a performer come back the next year, but maybe we have to start an online vote because he was very good indeed!

This year’s performers have not been confirmed at the time of this interview. However, I have learned from a good friend of mine, Stan van den Dobbelsteen of ‘Feestteam’, who organises that event every year, that you can book the best performers very close to the event. Even just a week before it’s all going to happen! Rest assured that we will have well-known performers. You will just have to wait to find out who they are!

Every year, you keep raising the bar with your party. Isn’t it getting hard for your team to surpass the previous party time and time again?
You’re absolutely right! But as the company is growing year by year and due to the fact that our loyal sponsors always support us, the budget is growing. You could see this last year in the quality of our performers and the addition of the limo-bus and also the unique location of the after party.

I am more than proud of our main sponsors: Pipedream, Doc Johnson, Bathmate, Swiss Navy, Wicked and XR Brands. But even our smaller sponsors are always there for us and deserve a big THANK YOU: Clearfrights – our container transportation company – Pharmquest, Male Power, ElectraStim, Sportsheets, Signa and our best sponsor of them all: EAN!

Gladiola-web

Like every year, the Shots Party will take place during the Four Day Marches of Nijmegen. This year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Marches. What does this mean for your event and the atmosphere in Nijmegen?
It means that Nijmegen will probably be one of the busiest places on this planet at that time. The highlight of this event is on Friday when the Shots Party also takes place, so this an extra challenge for the Shots Team. There will be loads of activities in the city and for those who want more information, I recommend you go to the 4 Day Marche website: www.4daagse.nl

The Shots Party would not be the Shots Party if there weren’t any donations for charity. Which charity will get your support this year?
The first year we raised money for charity, we ended up with an amount of nearly € 1.000. For that time, it wasn’t a bad result. Last year, thanks to the aforementioned sponsors and our loyal customers, we reached a staggering € 14.000!! That was absolutely overwhelming in every sense.

It made us think and we established an official foundation that will publicise its figures. This way, people can see that all the donated money will go 100% to small organisations that work with volunteers and are not headquartered in expensive real estate with even more money going to some director.

That is what is most important for me! Apart from that, we will not choose one charity this year but several. This way, we can help more people and we will be more active on that front with the foundation.

Shots published some great-looking pictures on their Facebook page which grant some insights into the 12 year history of the Shots party. What is going through your head when you look at the pictures?
How good did I look 12 years ago! All joking aside, it has been a tremendous history, and we have all written it together. I am looking forward toa bright future with this club of unique people! Who would have thought 12 year ago that this ‘wild bunch’ would double the size of the company by entering into the American market? And that’s only the beginning. So let’s see what’s next.