End-of-year message from rogier uivel

2025 is approaching, and it promises to be another challenging year. We observe geopolitical developments, such as the potential return of Trump, which may either stabilize the world stage – or not. Meanwhile, we face our own challenges. The path that PW Markets has chosen to open locations in multiple countries is a strategic challenge that we want to address together with you. This isn’t just about profit, although that’s always welcome. This is about strategic importance: together we must protect and define our markets.

Together we face major competitors, such as TEMU, Shein, and established retail giants like Action. These parties have no real need to work with us, even though I know some of you profit from these parties, but the reality is: “eat or be eaten.” Together, we must take control of the supply chain within our segment.

This also means that we at TICA embrace initiatives from places like India, even if that’s sometimes difficult to understand. Under the motto “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,” we must ensure that we as marketplaces serve the market in such a way that these players must work with us. Give them no option to bypass us! Especially not in our mid-high segment.

In short, we must continue building a qualitative gateway to micro-distribution, which we will continue to develop together. You can do this by focusing on innovation, beautiful products, and medium to high-end segment collections. We will facilitate this with locations, online platforms, social media, and a customer journey that ensures TICA members continue to see us as both a necessity and an inspiration point for starting their business. It’s up to you to handle the bigger fish and serve them through your wholesale operations. That’s where the win-win lies.