What: El Corte Inglés, Enagás and Ilunion launch a sustainable logistics project with social impact.

Why it is important: This collaboration will materialize through Llewo, a company owned by Enagás and Ilunion, which is specialized in social and eco-sustainable logistics management in Spain.

Llewo will assume the last mile logistics of El Corte Inglés in a series of selected locations, and will progressively expand the distribution coverage to the entire national territory. Thanks to this alliance, more than 150 direct jobs will be generated, among people dedicated to distribution and warehouse management.

El Corte Inglés is committed to both sustainable logistics and the diversity and employability of disadvantaged groups. This alliance is a first step in a long-term collaboration for both companies.

The goal is to work together to evolve and grow the last mile from a sustainable and social point of view.

These types of alliances are framed within the policy of commitment to society developed by El Corte Inglés, and in the spirit of closeness that it maintains with the concerns of citizens.

El Corte Inglés launches a sustainable logistics project 

What: Falabella continues to bet on the development of the business in Latin America, as the Chilean company declared that it will finance the expansion of Pismo, the Brazilian payment processing startup, "through participation in a round of capital raising."

Why it is important: This new investment is part of the fund that Falabella set to invest in different ventures in 2021. The Chilean company plans to continue deepening and creating alliances with technological start-ups to improve its value proposition.

Pismo is a company that has a presence in Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United States and with the collection of USD 108 million from Falabella the company estimates to expand its operations in the other parts of Latin America.

Falabella buys Brazilian payment start-up 

What: SM Markets, the supermarket business of SM, is ''Here to Serve' the needs of the local economy as it increases support for food businesses carried in its stores.

Why it is important: Restaurants remained closed due to the long and strict lockdowns. SM supports the community by carrying its partner restaurants' products in its stores (ready-to-cook or ready-to-eat meals).

SM Markets supported its micro, small and medium (MSME) suppliers' operations. It worked closely with its supply chain partners as well to keep its shelves stocked and enhanced its product range to provide essential items for its customers.

SM Markets' "Here to Serve"

What: As of 1 December 2021, Prof. Michael Cesarz will be appointed as the new Chief Real Estate Officer of the Breuninger Management Board. He replaces Ulrich Wölfer, who is leaving the company at his own request.

Why it is important: The new executive will be in charge of the operation and further development of all Breuninger locations including the Breuninger Shopping malls, the Breuninger sales outlets and the Dorotheen Quartier. In addition, there is the planning and implementation of new major projects, such as the Goldbach Quartier in Sindelfingen, the Mobility Hub in Stuttgart or the expansion of the Breuninger logistics center in Sachsenheim.

With Prof. Michael Cesarz, who completed his architectural studies at RWTH Aachen University, Breuninger was able to win over a proven real estate expert. Prof. Cesarz has many years of experience in the field of real estate and has held leading positions at Metro Group and Majid Al Futtaim in Dubai, among others. Most recently, he was CEO of thyssenkrupp -MULTI®-, a company of Thyssenkrupp Elevator AG.

As of December 1, 2021, the Breuninger Executive Board will thus consist of Holger Blecker (Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board), Marcus Weller (Chief Financial Officer), Sandra Hartmann (Chief Merchandising Officer), Benjamin Fuest (Chief Sales Officer), Dr. Frank Postel (Chief Technology Officer), Dr. Felix Kreyer (Chief Customer Officer) and now Prof. Michael Cesarz (Chief Real Estate Officer).

Change in the Breuninger management

What: Reinaldo Solari, the former president of the retailer, has died at the age of 96. Undoubtedly, an outstanding professional who helped Falabella to take off internationally.

Why it is important: The executive assumed the direction of the group with his nephew, Juan Cúneo Solari in 1980. Both launched CMR, Falabella's credit card, and boosted international expansion in Peru, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.

Reinaldo Solari from Falabella dies

What: Galeries Lafayette will install a free roller dance track with cult music from Disney+.

Why it is important: Galeries Lafayette extends their Christmas celebration inviting customers to enjoy a wacky toy adventure in the heart of a cosmic Christmas village.

The roller-skating track will be installed on the 4th floor of the Paris Haussmann location. The area will be a life-sized playground inviting visitors of all ages to dance and roller skate to music from Disney+ films and series.

Galeries Lafayette Haussmann to install a free roller-skate dance track

What: The retailer creates an experiential showroom where professionals will be shown El Corte Inglés' toys as well as the latest trends. The immersive showroom will then be replicated this Christmas in some stores.

Why it is important: El Corte Inglés has completed the reorganization of its own brand of toys, which went from several labels to a single brand, "El Corte Inglés". In addition, the packaging and design of these toys has been renewed following current trends.

All products can be found in store and some additional ones are only available on the web and app. This year new categories are added such as children's scientific toys, crochet stuffed animals, rag dolls... Toy references are reviewed every year and production is based on trends and new developments that exist in the market. A review process in which the areas of quality, creativity, marketing and purchasing work together.

With an eye on sustainability, the company pays special attention to the production of toys. El Corte Inglés has an extensive development in sustainable toys of its own brand, which has become a key pillar in this year's strategy.

El Corte Inglés toys' private brand

What: The "Valentino: Re-Signify Part Two Beijing" interactive experience, which follows a first event in Shanghai, will be unveiled on 16 October and will be open to the public until 7 November at SKP in Beijing.

Why it is important: In addition to the interactive experience covering a 43,200 square feet space, Valentino is also launching an excluisve SKP capsule collection.

For the event at SKP, the curators worked to showcase three Valentino pillars, the V logo, the atelier and the signature stud. Clothes from the Act Collection, the couture and the archive will be on display with the art creating "an optical illusion, a reflection, a mirage," said Valentino, playing with "light, shadows, darkness and the way in which the light interacts with materials and with the surfaces."

The curators worked with 18 artists, including, in addition to Zhen and Amaro, Cao Fei; Liu Shiyuan; Cheng Ran; Shen Xin; Xu Wenkai/Aaajiao; Wu Rui; Azuma Makoto; Yeesookyung; Robby Müller; Robert Del Naja; Nick Knight; Pajama; Jacopo Benassi; Jonas Mekas, and Alessandro Teoldi and Caroline Hu, who created two dresses together with Piccioli, developing the flower theme dear to the Italian designer.

In Mainland China there are 27 Valentino directly operated stores and five franchised units. The brand sees new opportunities in China in cities such as Shenzhen in 2022; Wuhan in 2023, and Guangzhou.

SKP & Valentino

What: The Retail Design Institute has named 25 winners in its 50th annual design competition.

Why it is important: Retail projects opened in 2020 (January 1 through December 31) were competing and represent design achievement in categories ranging from pop-up stores to fine dining. This year's competition attracted submissions from 62 retail teams around the globe.

The winning projects make up the Institute's "Class of 2020" — projects represent the "best of the best" stores opened in 2020. The Institute's annual "class" represents the best of the best regardless of store format or retail merchandise/service classification.

El Palacio de Hierro renovated Perisur store

Institute's 50th International Design Competition Winners Announced

What: SM Prime Holdings, one of the leading integrated property developers in Southeast Asia, opens SM City Daet on 15 October, its newest and first mall in Daet (Province of Camarines) Norte. This is also the Company's third mall in the Bicol Region, which will add 47,000 square meters (sqm.) of gross floor area (GFA) in its mall portfolio.

Why it is important: SM City Daet will have three levels of shopping, dining and entertainment destinations and opens with more than 70% of space leased.

SM City Daet will also have SM Foodcourt, Cyberzone, wellness, specialty, sports and hobbies shops to offer further selections to its diners and shoppers. This new mall will also provide parking space for various types of vehicles for enhanced mall experience. Meanwhile, the SM Cinema and other amusement centres will be open to the public once allowed to operate.

SM Prime to open new mall

What: From 28 September, the shapewear and lingerie direct-to-consumer brand will be available in Haussmann store.

Why it is important: After Kylie Cosmetics in Galeries Lafayette Champs-Elysées, the department store nailed a second Kardashian powerful DNVB. It is Skims' second physical location in Europe after Selfridges.

Skims launches pop-up in Paris

What: IADS members have been nominated on various shortlists at World Retail Congress' World Retail Awards.

Why it is important: The awards spotlight individuals, teams, and brands that excelled in 2020, despite the difficult situation.

Check out the nominees and their categories below.

World Retail Awards Shortlist

What: The retailer unveiled the first store in Cusco.

Why it is important:  Such opening required a USD 6.5 million investment and offer a total surface of 5,826 square meters.

This store includes led screens, self-checkout counters, kiosks for consumers to get the best online shopping experience. Sales associates will be equipped with mobile devices, which will help them to offer a faster and more personalized experience to customers.

The store plans to create 150 jobs directly and more than 100 jobs indirectly.

Falabella opens its 31st store in Peru

What: In addition to contactless payments through a QR code, Fpay will allow consumers to make free money transfers to cell phone contacts. Users of the application will also be able to manage debit and credit cards from the app, providing flexibility to organize payments and purchases.

Why it is important: Fpay will allows users to make purchases with a QR code in physical and online stores of the Falabella Group (Falabella, Tottus, Sodimac, Linio, Fazil and Sodimac.com) and associated stores, such as Passline, Amphora and Footlose, among others.

The application is available for free on the App Store & Google Play, and users can accumulate extra CMR points while using it. Fpay is also available in Chile and soon in Colombia.

Falabella's digital wallet adds new features in Peru

What: Galeries Lafayette unveils their (RE)STORE, a floor of more than 500m2 entirely dedicated to second hand and circular fashion, at the heart of women's fashion.

Why is it important: During the pandemic, the department store took advantage of the situation to reinvent itself for the greater good.

IADS attended the event, read the details below.

Panel discussion on responsible fashion at GL

Galeries+Lafayette inaugurates le (RE)STORE

What: Three weeks after the presentation of the renewed site, the marketplace has seen growth in the main categories, construction, security and gardening being the most successful ones, with a 200% growth in sales.

Why it is important: The new e-commerce platform has experienced exponential growth in both sales and visits.

The categories that has increased its sales the most are construction and hardware, with a growth of 294% in sales, followed by security (242%) and gardening (238%). Food and beverages grew 179%, pets 108%.

Fiscal support with the three withdrawals from pension funds allowed by the Chillean government and the end of quarantines are support the overall consumption. During the second quarter of the year, Falabella achieved the highest online sales in its history, with a GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) of USD 1,212 million and an annual growth of 38%, which translates into almost 10 million home delivery orders in the region. For its part, during the same period of time, the marketplace reached USD 238 million, equivalent to a growth of 15% per year. The GMV of the company reaches USD 4.1 billion in the last 12 months.

The renewal of Falabella.com: What are the best-selling categories?

What: A robot developed by Intel will be the electronics department's new advisor at El Palacio de Hierro's Polanco store located in Mexico City.

Why it is important: Combining artificial intelligence with the internet of things and cloud services, the robot is equipped with a camera allowing him to observe his surroundings and capture data in real time. It will be able to create a profile of each customer and know how many people are walking through his sales floor.

The robot has the ability to answer common questions through its voice interaction, as well as profile what each user will need and move to the correct counter to show the customer the product.

A robot to help customers at El Palacio de Hierro

What: Fitch has changed the rating outlook to Stable from Negative. The change in outlook reflects the strong improvement in the company's operational results due to the reopening of Chile´s economy that has resulted in strong domestic demand.

Why it is important: The improved rating is also reflecting the favourable evolution of Falabella's omni-channel strategy and geographic footprint. The company's business profile is differentiated from its retail peers due to its presence in several consumer segments, namely food and non-food retail, department stores, shopping malls and financial services.

Falabella has successfully managed challenges presented by the pandemic. The company limited its inventory purchases and reduced its capex and dividend payments. The rating incorporates its leading business position in the region, which is reflected in a strong multiformat retail omnichannel model. Falabella's adjusted EBITDAR has rebounded sharply. Fitch's base case scenario estimates 2021 adjusted EBITDAR to be +53% and +26% when compared to 2020 and 2019, respectively. The latter is consistent with the positive Chilean consumer trends.

Falabella's rating remains constrained by lower profitability trend exhibited during the last five years due to tough competition in Chile and Peru and changing consumer behaviour, combined with higher technology and logistic expenses related to the development of its digital channel. Fitch positively incorporates the company's strategic vision of its business model, combining retail, financial and real estate operations with a digital and physical platform.

Fitch raises Falabella´s outlook 

What: Sandra Weber has been named as Director of Strategy and Development.

Why it is important: The role will be charged with identifying growth vectors and opportunities for development at a challenging time for French department stores.

Weber is replacing Olivier Bron, who left to become chief executive officer of Central Group' s Central and Robinson department stores in Thailand. She reports to executive chairman Philippe Houzé.

Weber is an expert in corporate finance and strategic management who began her career at Goldman Sachs. She has also held positions at Go Sport and Casino.

The appointment of the role comes at a critical time in French retail as the sector has struggled with sluggish demand and a sharp drop in foreign tourism.

Galeries Lafayette Group Names New Director of Strategy and Development

What: The new logistic centre will help the company reducing its delivery times by 70%, meaning that deliveries in Lima may be in less than 24 hours and 48 hours in the interior of the country.

Why it is important: It has been three years since the Falabella group bought the marketplace Linio.com. Since then, both companies established synergies and reinforced their online power. The goal is to unify all the brands of the group (Sodimac, Tottus, Falabella and Linio) as it's already the case in Chile.

The new 9,200 sqm warehouse will also allow companies selling through falabella.com marketplaces to benefit from logistics facilities, from product storage to national distribution.

According to Linio, it is expected to triple the volume of current shipments and reduce delivery times to the interior of the country by 70%, going from four days on average to only 48 hours. It is also estimated that 85% of deliveries will be made in less than 24 hours in the capital. Until January the marketplace was gathering 1,600 'sellers'. It now accounts for more than 2,000 (in addition to the Falabella brands).

NEWS Linio, part of the Falabella group, opens a new warehouse in Peru

What: El Corte Inglés has allocated EUR 6.8 million for the purchase of two buildings in Goya which it will use to develop a four-star complex with 113 rooms.

Why it is important: The retailer hopes that the complex will generate an additional EUR 2.5 million in income from the operation of the rooms.

The project has the support of the City Council as El Corte Inglés needed special approval to group two residential buildings which will be connected by stairs and corridors.

The new hotel complex will have 1,200 square meters with 113 rooms. The ground and first floors of both properties will retail their commercial use. The calculation of the investment to be profitable is within 20 years.

El Corte Inglés will create its first hotel

What: In order to strengthen the brand strategy, the department store creates a new role and appoints Carsten Hendrich, a former Breuninger's head of marketing.

Why it is important: Breuninger will further advance the marketing topics of brand strategy, creative, content, emotionalization, channel linking and digital brand marketing and will bundle the brand areas of marketing, visual merchandising, event, lifestyle PR and social media even more consistently in the future.

In addition, there will be further reinforcement for the brand: In the future, the entire development of the brand area will be the responsibility of the newly created position of Chief Brand Officer.

Carsten Hendrich will be responsible for Breuninger's brand strategy from 18 October 2021. He has many years of experience in agencies, in stationary and digital retail as well as in the management of international premium brands. For many years, he was responsible for the marketing of Zalando as Vice President Brand Marketing and Bogner. Most recently, the 47-year-old moved from A. Lange & Söhne to the KaDeWe Group, where he was responsible for Brand Strategy, Marketing and Communications. He reports directly to Breuninger CEO Holger Blecker.

Breuninger creates a new position: Chief Brand Officer

What: Second-hand luxury retailer, Monogram, has moved into Galeries Lafayette Haussmann.

Why it is important: Galeries Lafayette is combining luxury and circular fashion to enhance its commitment to responsible fashion while also appealing to its customers.

Second-hand fashion is becoming more popular among consumers. With the Monogram installation at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, shoppers can find a range of second-hand luxury goods ranging from EUR 500 to EUR 4,000, ready-to-wear, shoes and a selection of accessories ranging between EUR 150 and EUR 450 euros.

Monogram Paris moves to Galeries Lafayette Haussmann

What: The concept launches ahead of Beijing Winter Olympics (4 to 20 February 2022). It will also be put on display as a part of the SKP exhibition at the China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing.

Why it important: Sport competitions are a great opportunity to drive additional traffic and turnover in stores thanks to animations and related merchandise. Related to this topic, your association will ask members what they will do for the FIFA Soccer world championship happening end of 2022.

Following a series of outdoor-themed pop-ups with dedicated collections on offer across the world, the brand unveiled its latest "Prada on Ice" pop-up in Beijing's SKP's atrium. It will then be rolled out to other locations across the world.

Mannequins were reconfigured into athletic poses to showcase the special collection, which includes sports accessories like skis, snowboards, sledges and snowshoes; accessories such as ski goggles, ski boot bags and sleeping bags, and performance garments including oversize patterned polyester jackets, double-printed jersey outfits and mountain-inspired cashmere sweaters.

'Prada on Ice' Lands on SKP Ahead of Beijing Winter Olympics