Bielefeld, October 23, 2025
Eus Peters joins the jury of the European Retail Award
Klaus Schmelzeisen steps down after 14 years as a jury member
At the next meeting in spring 2026, his vote will be sought for the first time in the international jury of the European Retail Award (ERA), the successor format to EK Retail’s renowned EK Passion Stars: Eus Peters, managing director of the Dutch Retail Association, joins the independent jury team, succeeding Klaus Schmelzeisen, who has been a member of the panel since 2011.
As managing director of the Dutch Retail Association (Raad Nederlandse Detailhandel, or RND for short), Eus Peters brings an unbiased view of the strengths and challenges of the retail sector and also has extensive expertise in the areas of knowledge management, the customer journey, and management consulting/strategy. Before joining the RND, he held positions of responsibility at organizations such as Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN) and MKB Nederland.
While KHN, as the largest Dutch trade association for the hospitality industry, is committed to ensuring the future viability of the catering sector, MKB Nederland, as the umbrella organization and largest business association in the country, represents the interests of around 150,000 entrepreneurs. The correspondingly good network is another asset that the business administration graduate (MBA) can leverage.
“I am very much looking forward to working with my fellow jury members to honor passionate retailers across Europe as prime examples of committed entrepreneurship,” says Peters, already looking ahead to the next round of the European Retail Award.
One comes, another goes
It is time to say goodbye to Klaus Schmelzeisen: the retail expert from Montabaur, who made a name for himself as a member of the management board at Zwilling Deutschland GmbH, among other things, is stepping down after 14 years on the jury. EK Retail CEO Martin Richrath sums up the importance of the co-founder of the former EK Passion Stars for the further development of the EK Award, which will be presented for the first time in 2025 as the ERA: “His great commitment and belief in the power of independent specialist retailers have helped to make this award what it is today: an industry award whose international appeal has long since extended far beyond the boundaries of our EK dealer community. We are very grateful to Klaus Schmelzeisen for this.”
The application phase for the 2026 award has begun. Interested non-food retailers can apply until March 2026 at Participation | European Retail Award.
Further information is available at: Participation | European Retail Award
