What: The department store launched a reforestation programme located 40 km from Galeries Lafayette in Nantes.

Why it is important: Faithful to its social responsibilities, the group wants to participate in the collective effort to increase the French forest areas.

This program should generate a climate benefit over 800 tonnes of CO2 over 30 years. A dedicated platform will give regular achievement updates.

Galeries Lafayette further commits to sustainability

What: Savemore launches a new retail format, Savemore Express, with a smaller surface than regular stores.

Why it is important: During lockdowns, neighbourhood food stores have served as the essential destination for people, especially with home cooking as the only option. The new Savemore Express addresses this shift by providing the weekly grocery needs and offering an expanded line of fresh merchandise, essential food, personal care, and household products.

With a regular Savemore store typically covering 1,500 to 2,500 sqm. in floor area, the new format's smaller size makes it more versatile in delivering basic essentials to customers.

SM Markets (umbrella brand for SM Supermarket, SM Hypermarket, and Savemore) and its sister company, Alfamart, has over 1,500 stores; 206 Savemore stores, 9 Savemore Express stores, 60 SM Supermarket stores, 53 SM Hypermarket stores, and 1,201 Alfamarts.

SM Markets' Savemore introduces new store format

What: The Mall Group teams up with a Japanese company to receive introductions to interesting Japanese brands.

Why it is important: The Mall Group gains at the same time access to new brands for the Thai market but also information about their actual potential given JR West's available data.

JR West, the Japanese company operating railroads and shopping centers in Japan, has concluded a partnership with The Mall Group to provide information about its Japanese tenants and help them building relationship with the Thai operator. Within working relationship, the first of its own, The Mall Group will review proposals from JR West about brands to introduce in the EmSphere mall in Bangkok for potential openings in Q4 2023.

JR West unit inks partnership with Thailand's Mall Group

What: Christian Dior has expanded its retail footprint in Mexico with the opening of its fourth store, a new boutique at El Palacio de Hierro in Guadalajara (following locations in Artz, Santa Fe and Polanco).

Why it is important:  El Palacio de Hierro secures and expands its partnership with Dior.

The Guadalajara store resembles a curved light box with two entrances. Women's and men's collections are displayed in the centre. Product is cross-merchandised following a new concept started at the brand's massive Paris Champs-Élysées boutique opened in 2019.

El Palacio de Hierro opens a new dior store

What: El Corte Inglés Group posted a positive EBITDA of EUR 234 million, a EUR 416 million year-on-year increase on the same period last year (March-August).

Why it is important: Despite the absence of tourism and the restrictions still in place throughout the period, retail revenue is USD 5.42 billion, in line with 2019.

The Group's sales performance was driven mainly by retail, led by a strong recovery in fashion. Management improvements in the Group allowed to improve the gross margin by 2.7 points, to 30.2%.

El Corte Inglés posts a positive EBITDA

What: SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), one of the leading integrated property developers in Southeast Asia, reported a 9% increase in consolidated net income to PHP 15.6 billion in the first nine months of 2021 from PHP 14.4 billion in the same period last year. Consolidated revenue recorded PHP 56.8 billion, 6% lower from PHP 60.7 billion in the same period being reviewed.

Why it is important: SM Prime's Philippine mall business, which accounts for 28% of the Company's consolidated revenues, recorded a 14% lower revenue vs last year's in the first three quarters of 2021. A stricter community quarantine from August 2021 has affected the operation of the mall business, limiting the operation of non-essential shops. Meanwhile, SM Prime's China mall business has reported a 28% increase in revenue.

"SM Prime continues to develop new ways and solutions in its businesses by developing sustainable programs that provide safe and secure environment for all of its stakeholders. This is in line with our anticipation of welcoming more people in our establishments, primarily in our malls and other commercial facilities, where thousands of our partner-tenants can showcase their products and services this coming Holidays Season," said Jeffrey C. Lim, SM Prime President.

SM Prime net income up by 9%

What: Luxury department store chain SKP, which includes the world's most profitable mall SKP Beijing, has become China's first retail group to be certified carbon natural after it was certified by Carbonstop, China's first carbon management software and consulting services provider.

Why it is important: The retailer is creating a new model of carbon neutrality and setting new standards for luxury retail by analysing, measuring, optimizing, and reinventing every aspect of energy consumption within the operation. This includes construction, choice of materials, maintenance, waste management, water consumption, lighting, electrical and mechanical equipment lifecycle to travels.

These disciplines have been applied to all existing SKP stores in Beijing and Xi'an, and is a focus for the stores being built in Chengdu and Wuhan.

SKP is the first Chinese mall to reach carbon neutrality

What: The pop-up at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann will run until 31 December. In addition to the retail space allocated to the brand, the latter is presented at both store entrances. What's more, all the windows along the Boulevard Haussmann have been turned over to the brand, the first time the retailer is giving this much high-visibility space to a brand.

Why it is important:  After a pop-up at Selfridges earlier this year, this is the second foray into physical retail for the direct-to-consumer loungewear label, as part of its new "Pangaia Pact, an initiative designed to highlight how we work with partners across three key pillars — carbon neutrality, circularity and purpose".

In keeping with its mission of being an "Earth-positive business," the company is offsetting the pop-up's entire carbon footprint, with an additional 10% thrown in for good measure, having accounted for factors such as employee commuting, material use and transport, on-site electricity and heating.

In addition, both brand and retailer will be donating 1% each of net sales from the pop-up to the Bee the Change fund, an initiative started by Pangaia in 2020 to support grassroots NGOs working to preserve and protect species such as bees from extinction and supported by transparency-focused donations platform Milkywire.

Galeries Lafayette partners with Pangaia

What: The retailer will show fine jewellery in a special edition of its digital live shopping series. "Shop the Gift" dedicates a virtual tour to the brands BVLGARI, Chopard, TAMARA COMOLLI, TIFFANY & Co. and Wempe.

Why it is important: The brands involved in the live shopping event are available on breuninger.com since this year as part of the marketplace.

As for its digital fashion show last Spring, "Shop the Gift" will present jewelry brands on  December 1 at 7 pm in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. The hosts of the video shopping event are the well-known TV, radio and podcast presenter Hadnet Tesfai and fashion and influencer icon Leonie Hanne.

All the products shown can be bought directly afterwards and already on breuninger.com. In addition, viewers can exchange ideas live with Breuninger's fashion experts via a chat function.

Breuninger launches distant shopping for fine jewellery

What: Much simpler, adapted to the digitalisation of the business, the new incentive system will affect 42,000 people and will allow workers to know their sales commissions easily.

Why it is important: At a time when it's difficult to attract and retain retail staff, retailers are evolving their bonus schemes. The IADS Operation Meeting dedicated to the 'attract and retain talent' topic will be held on 2 December.

With this new system, progress is made in the transparency and simplicity, so that each employee will be able to regularly know the percentage that will be paid each month through the corporate intranet. The system will take into consideration the working hours of each worker and will generate an incentive from the first sale carried out. In addition, the system will take digitalization into consideration.

Staff from supermarkets and gourmet stores staff (including fishmongers, butchers...) will be added to the employees entitled to receive incentives.

El Corte Inglés' new incentive programme 

Agreement at El Corte Inglés for the new incentive system for the workforce

What: The expansion will go through Sodimac, Falabella's DIY and home improvement chain.

Why it is important: The retailer benefits from a strong momentum in the home improvement business in Brazil and will develop from its existing Sodimac-Dicico and Sodimac Homecenter networks.

Falabella to accelerate expansion in Brazil

What: The British real estate company Stokemont.com compiled a core list of 47 of the best-known department stores and recorded the number of Instagram hashtags, TikTok views, and average global search data to put together a ranking list of the most popular department stores worldwide.

Why it is important: Overall, the study shows that European department stores are known and popular worldwide. El Corté Inglés is 9th and Breuninger is 21st in the ranking list.

Macy's in New York is the most popular department store in the world with a final score of 9.65, with 118.3 million TikTok views (#1 in the category) and 14.2 million average monthly searches worldwide (#1 in the category) and 1.23 million (#3 in the category) for Instagram hashtags. Macy's is closely followed by Nordstrom in Seattle with a final score of 9.58 and Selfridges in London (8.96). Places 4 to 10 were occupied by Harrods in London (8.89), Bloomingdale's in New York (8.68), Saks Fifth Avenue in New York (8.61), Galeries Lafayette in Paris (8.47), David Jones in Melbourne (8.33), El Corte Ingles in Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon (8.26) and Beymen in Istanbul (7.64).

Galeries Lafayette is the 7th most popular department stores worldwide

What: Reached profits of USD 226 million, a notable acceleration compared to the USD 5.4 million in profits recorded in the same 2020 period.

Why it is important: Falabella sees an acceleration of profits in Q3 as business recovers.

From the period of July through September, Falabella's consolidated revenues closed at USD 3,572 million which represents an increase of 16.7% compared to the 3rd quarter of the previous year.

Gross profit also ended the period with double-digit increases of 38.2% compared to the same period of 2020 and reaching USD 1,266 million.

Consolidated gross operating profit (Ebitda) reached a total of USD 480 million between July 1 and September 30, rising to 117.5% compared to the same period in 2020.

Going forward, the retailer is focused on building its physical-digital ecosystem.

Falabella soars its profits in the third quarter

Falabella's Q3 results

What: Five years ago, the retailer signed an agreement with Soriana, the Mexican second largest supermarket chain. Falabella has concrete plans to further increase its presence in the country, also including the financial business.

Why it is important:  Although Falabella's focus is on digital sales, the retailer will open its ninth location in Mexico. The country is considered as the most attractive in terms of growth opportunities in Latin America.

To supply supermarkets, Falabella already has 3 distribution centres in Mexico. The company accounts for 2,000 workers. Sodimac  and Linio will have an omnichannel deployment while Falaballa will develop financial services through Soriana supermarket chain.

Falabella expands in Mexico

What: A new 300 sqm restaurant run by renowned French chefs Pourcel brothers opens on the Haussmann store first floor.

Why it is important: Culinary experiences are more and more important in department stores. This time, the department store bets on upscale chefs.

The restaurant will display a nature-inspired decor with a huge sculpture tree spreading its branches throughout the restaurant. The food will be Mediterranean, and a small gourmet store completes the restaurant.

Galeries Lafayette expands its restaurant offer

What: The extended product catalogue will be available to all customers in any El Corte Inglés' store. The expert consultation service will offer an immediate online advice from a specialized seller through chat, telephone or video call.

The Expert Consultation service is designed to lift any customer's doubt, knowing that 74% of the people who send queries about a product, buy that same day. With this service, the online customer is offered an expert advice as if he was shopping in the store. The client chooses his favourite channel whether it's through a phone call, video call or chat.

The Extended Catalogue allows the client to access all articles from stores having the most complete offer and from the entire website. The service is provided by a sales associate using different devices and tools: PDA systems, sales terminals and, in some stores, large screens.

With this system, the customer will have access to the flagship store offer, to categories or brands that do not have a presence in their local store. It will also allow them to access the entire catalogue of a brand with a smaller presence in the local store.

El Corte Inglés launches extended services to customers 

What: "Diseño Latino" is the name of Falabella's new multiple collaboration. The Chilean chain selected six designers from three countries - Chile, Colombia and Peru - to design a capsule collection.

Why it is important: At a time when customers are favouring locally-made products, Falabella is the first multi-Latino retailer offering a transversal collaboration in the region, with talent and local workforce.

Francisca Larrain and Lupe Gajardo from Chile, Sisterly Style and Maygel Coronel of Colombia, and Amaro Casanova and Anis Samanez from Peru were selected by the Chilean giant on this occasion. In total, 61 references for women, with prices between USD 30 and 85.

Falabella bets on regional fashion

What: Falabella was the only Chilean company selected to join the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), which unites leading international listed companies by their sustainability performance.

Why it is important: The company was ranked fifth worldwide in the retail category and within the top 2%, as it achieved the highest score for social reporting, which evaluates the transparency, quality and scope of this information.

Falabella included in the Dow jones sustainability index

What: Consolidated net income has grown 79% since the same period last year.

Why it is important: Due to the group's various activities (Retail, Property, and Banking), consolidated net income has seen 79% growth compared to the January to September period last year.

SM Investments Corporation reported a consolidated net income of EUR 473 million in the January to September period, higher by 79% from EUR 263 million in the same period last year.

Consolidated revenues rose 5% to EUR 5 trillion in the first nine months from EUR 4.8 trillion in the same period last year.

Banking accounted for 60% of SM's reported net earnings from core businesses, followed by property at 27% and retail at 13%. Total assets were at EUR 23 billion. Gearing ratio stood at 40% net debt to 60% equity.

In the third quarter the SM group made significant commitments towards sustainability and climate change. SM Investments and SM Prime Holdings Inc. both formally joined as signatories in support of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), demonstrating their commitment to safeguarding against climate risk through better disclosures.

SM Prime announced that it will target for more than 50% of electricity use across its businesses to come from renewable sources by the end of 2022, a commitment in support of the Philippine national goal of 35% renewable energy supply by 2030.

SM Investments net income grows 79% to EUR 473 million in nine-month period

During the 62nd General Assembly, IADS members elected the Association's new President, Holger Blecker (Breuninger), new Vice President, Kamshim Lau (Lifestyle International), as well as the new Executive Committee, composed of Juan Carlos Esbribano (El Palacio de Hierro), Nicolas Houzé (Galeries Lafayette) and Peter King (Magasin du Nord). A press release will be issued in the coming weeks.

IADS Who's Who

What: Manor partnered with ad agency BETC to imagine two different TV ads which will be broadcasted from next week on Swiss television channels.

Why it is important: The humoristic ad campaign relies on the importance of family, as well as finding the perfect gift (at Manor for sure!).

TV campaign 1

Tv campaign 2

What: Since 2017 Falabella has been working on the development of one of its most ambitious projects.

Why it is important: The store, located within the Parque Arauco complex in the exclusive neighbourhood of Las Condes, will cover 25,000 square meters and 4 levels. It will include competitive sections such as a 1800 square meters dedicated to women's footwear (with a storage capacity of up to 30,000 pairs), and a 1570 square meters perfumery area, the largest in the country.

It will also host a multi-brand space with the presence of international firms such as Liu-Jo, Michel Kors, Brownie and Adolfo Domínguez, among others. In addition, the mega store will bet on omnichannel, giving continuity to the projects of the Chilean company to be a leader in digital.

Falabella to open its largest store

Falabella construction record video (in Spanish)

New Falabella Testimonials video (in Spanish)

Press Tour & Breakfast video (in Spanish)

What: The pop-up store, set in the Atrium of SKP in Beijing, will feature an exclusive selection of Prada's gold jewellery.

Why it is important: SKP is the first department store to welcome Prada's jewellery collection which is based on the famous triangle logo.

Prada Triangolo pop-up store at SKP

What: Lafayette Gourmet, the Galerie Lafayette gourmet store, is now offering a wide product offer online, including fresh products such as fruit or vegetable baskets, fish and dairy.

Why it is important: Called "Le Gourmet", the e-store probably gathers the largest gourmet offer for home delivery in Paris.

The e-store is organised by product categories: "artisans", sweets and pastries, dry groceries, wine and spirits, gift ideas.

Same day click & collect is proposed as well as same day delivery service, only available in Paris.

Lafayette Gourmets' online store