What: Breuninger’s focus on experiential retail, seamless online-offline integration, and curated premium assortments sets it apart as a modern destination for fashion and lifestyle.

Why it is important: Breuninger’s approach exemplifies how legacy retailers can thrive by combining tradition with digital innovation and experiential retail.

Breuninger, established in 1881, has transformed itself into a leading European fashion and lifestyle retailer by harmonizing its historic roots with a commitment to innovation. The company invests continuously in digitalization, design, and service quality, ensuring that customers experience a seamless journey across both physical stores and digital platforms. Breuninger’s stores are more than retail spaces—they are destinations where fashion, gastronomy, and culture intersect, creating vibrant environments that encourage customers to linger and engage. This experiential approach is complemented by a curated selection of premium and luxury products, personal shopping, and made-to-measure services, all designed to inspire and delight. The retailer’s omnichannel strategy allows customers to move effortlessly between online and offline touchpoints, maintaining a consistent standard of excellence. By positioning fashion as a form of personal expression and focusing on individuality, authenticity, and quality, Breuninger continues to set benchmarks for customer experience and loyalty in the premium retail sector.

IADS Notes: Breuninger’s evolution in 2025 is a prime example of how legacy retailers can thrive by blending tradition with innovation. As reported by Fashion United in July 2025, Breuninger achieved 6% growth and €1.6 billion in GMV for 2024, with 60% of sales coming from online channels and profitability across all markets, underscoring the effectiveness of its integrated digital and physical strategy. Retail News in November 2025 highlighted Breuninger’s expansion into Switzerland and the Netherlands with localized e-commerce and loyalty programs, advancing its omnichannel approach and reinforcing its position as a premium European retailer. The April 2025 opening of the Hamburg flagship, covered by Horston, showcased the brand’s commitment to experiential shopping and curated premium assortments within a major urban development. Breuninger’s partnership with Monocle for an immersive campaign event in Zürich (Monocle, September 2025) and the “Read my Style” fashion and literature event in Düsseldorf (Lokal Büro, August 2025) further illustrate its focus on experiential, narrative-driven retail and community engagement. Collectively, these initiatives demonstrate how Breuninger leverages its heritage, digital transformation, and a customer-centric, omnichannel strategy to remain a leader in the evolving European retail landscape.

Breuninger: The Art of Retail

What: Glowbar debuts as Falabella’s innovative beauty format, combining expert advice, interactive experiences, and exclusive global brands in a digitally connected space.

Why it is important: Glowbar’s debut highlights the globalisation of beauty retail and the strategic importance of integrating digital and physical shopping environments.

 Falabella has introduced Glowbar, a new beauty retail concept in Peru that merges expert guidance, interactive product experiences, and a curated selection of over 55 international brands, including several making their debut in the country. The store, located in Real Plaza Salaverry, is designed to encourage exploration, featuring intuitive signage, mini and travel-size sections, and a K-beauty area. Glowbar’s integration of a touchscreen connected to Falabella’s digital ecosystem allows customers to browse and purchase products online, ensuring a seamless omnichannel experience. The brand selection process involved extensive research and collaboration with clients to align with emerging trends in skincare, makeup, and fragrances. Glowbar’s launch is part of Falabella’s broader regional strategy to revamp its beauty category, with plans to expand the concept to additional locations and replicate its offerings online. This initiative positions Falabella at the forefront of experiential and omnichannel retail in the Peruvian beauty market, catering to increasingly sophisticated and exploratory consumers. 

IADS Notes: Falabella’s Glowbar launch reflects a broader industry shift toward specialized, experiential, and omnichannel beauty retail, as seen in department stores like Macy’s and Nordstrom (“Inside US department stores’ big beauty shakeup,” Glossy, November 2025; “Nordstrom overhauls its Beauty space in NYC,” WWD, August 2025). The concept builds on Falabella’s regional innovations, such as Beauty F in Chile (“Falabella launches Beauty F, a new cosmetics and personal care concept,” Perú Retail, November 2025), and parallels Ulta Beauty’s international expansion (“Why Ulta Beauty Scales Internationally with Space NK,” The Robin Report, July 2025) and La Samaritaine’s curated beauty approach (“Samaritaine best on beauty,” Fashion Network, April 2025). These examples underscore the effectiveness of integrating global brands, immersive experiences, and digital connectivity to meet evolving consumer expectations.

Falabella presents Glowbar, its new beauty concept with more than 55 international brands

What: Bloomingdale’s comparable sales were up 8.8% on an owned basis and 9.0% on an O+L+M (owned+licensed+marketplace) basis, the highest in 13 quarters. Bloomingdale’s sustained sales momentum reflects successful investments in customer experience, digital innovation, and luxury brand partnerships.

Why it is important: Bloomingdale’s sustained sales momentum reflects successful investments in customer experience, digital innovation, and luxury brand partnerships. The results reinforce Macy’s multi-brand strategy, showing that targeted investment in Bloomingdale’s supports long-term growth.

Bloomingdale’s has demonstrated remarkable resilience and growth within Macy’s Inc., achieving its fifth consecutive quarter of comparable sales gains in the third quarter of 2025. This sustained momentum is attributed to strategic investments in customer experience, digital innovation, and exclusive luxury partnerships, which have set Bloomingdale’s apart in a competitive retail landscape. Under the leadership of Olivier Bron, the brand has focused on store renovations and immersive retail experiences, such as the high-profile “Happy Together” campaign with Burberry, which have driven both foot traffic and customer loyalty. 

IADS Notes: Bloomingdale’s performance in 2025 reflects a clear trend identified in WWD (May, September, October, and November 2025) and McKinsey (July 2025), where strategic investments in customer experience, digital innovation, and luxury partnerships have driven sustained sales growth and reinforced the brand’s premium positioning within Macy’s Inc.

Bloomingdale’s achieved its fifth consecutive quarter of comparable sales growth