What: brand cooperation to dress an already existing F&B space at Selfridges.

Why it is important: Could that be an idea for department stores to be more attractive to top tier luxury brands?

Selfridges has proposed Fendi to dress up its champagne bar, located in the middle of the luxury handbag section. Fendi has decided to review the décor according to its seasonal colours, to put its logo, and to propose selected and made to measure delicacies (cocktails, coffee…)

At a moment when department stores are rethinking the way to improve space productivity (an IADS meeting is organised on 28-29 January on this topic), when IADS members are refurbishing their spaces (Palacio de Hierro), this move is interesting for 2 reasons:

• BtoC: It smartly uses the brand appeal to market space and gives customers reasons to come and spend time.
• BtoB: for the department store, being able to propose such a partnership goes beyond the typical negotiation on rent and commission rate and allows the brand to explore new boundaries it might not be able to do outside of the store (for obvious real estate costs reasons).

Fendi Caffe Pops Up in Selfridges