What: Harrods is continuing the fast rollout of its H Beauty chain and opened its latest branch, in Bristol. It’s the fourth standalone for the chain in the UK.

Why it is important: Coming in the same week that Farfetch and Browns launched their own giant beauty offers, it underlines the importance of the category to premium and luxury retailers.

The new store is in the The Mall Cribbs Causeway and covers 25,300 sq ft. The space includes a diverse portfolio of products and services from over 86 international beauty brands. The store is an experiential playground, where beauty novices and experts alike can discover some of the industry’s most forward-thinking and vibrant brands as well as stock up on their favourite product.

There’s also “blow-dry product and salon phenomenon” Drybar, make-up demonstrations and experiential product testing, bespoke skincare consultations and treatments. And it has a 34-seat Champagne Bar with a menu of cocktails and patisseries created by Harrods’ food and beverage team.

Keeping up with H Beauty store openings 

What: Neiman Marcus Group CEO, Geoffroy van Raemdonck, honored at the Fashion Scholarship Fund (FSF) Live Event supporting the next generation of industry leaders.

Why is it important: CEO, Geoffroy van Raemdonck, was honored at the Fashion Scholarship Fund 85th Annual Awards Celebration: FSF LIVE for his support of The Heart of Neiman Marcus Foundation's partnership with the FSF, dedicated to promoting diversity in the fashion industry by mentoring and preparing the next generation of industry talent.

As a long-standing partner of the FSF, NMG donated over USD 550,000 to the organization with funds raised through the generosity of corporate giving, brand partners, technology and marketing partners, and customers. Additionally, NMG hosted this year's FSF Scholars for programming at the Bergdorf Goodman flagship in New York City.

Neiman Marcus CEO honored at the FSF event 

What: Products that play on their scarcity both in the metaverse and the real world.

Why it is important: Such an approach could be interesting for department stores when designing special collaborations with brands, or even for their own private labels.

Luxury Italian brand Another-1 has launched a limited edition pair of sneakers that can be worn in the metaverse (under the form of a NFT) or in real life. 5,555 pairs will be made available and are available in 34 colour combinations.

When customers are buying the NFT, they do not get to chose the design, but they can swap the colour for another one on a dedicated platform. This project aims to make the most of the collection frenzy that has been hitting the sneakers market, with many customers buying and never wearing their products, in order to let them grow in terms of value.

An Italian luxury brand releases sneakers wearable both in the metaverse or IRL 

What: Harrods introduces a late-night dining service in its dining hall.

Why is it important: The hour change will see restaurants such as Harrods Social, and the Tiffany Blue Box Cafe remain open after the rest of the store closes. The new opening hours apply to all six restaurants in the dining hall. Most will serve dinner until 11pm from Tuesday to Saturday.

There will also be a range of post-dinner drinks and cocktails on offer at Baccarat Bar.

Harrods launches late-night dining

What: This will be the first time in Europe that it has housed the mega-sized fashion basics brand Uniqlo and the more upscale Theory label in the same location.

Why is it important: Uniqlo will be relocating from its nearby site on the opposite side of Regent Street to the new 1,900 sq m store that’s spread across three floors.

Regent Street has been a must-be-there location for many international brands in recent years and it seems to have bounced back from the pandemic much faster than Oxford Street has.

Uniqlo-Theory combo store to open in London

What: 86% of respondents said a delayed delivery was acceptable if it meant it was a more sustainable delivery.

Why is it important: A study shows 29% are willing to delay deliveries up to five days and 28% are willing to delay a week or more.

The pandemic has impacted the sustainable habits of shoppers with 44% of those polled saying their interest in shopping sustainably has increased since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. 81% of those polled are recycling boxes and bags from shopping online and in a store half the time while 53% recycle between 75 and 100% of the time. 64% of respondents “are willing to spend more on sustainable packaging, with 44 percent willing to spend up to 5 percent more.”

Businesses can do more to implement practices that reduce waste and help the environment, companies are in a unique position “to start making smarter decisions that consider not only profit but the environment and humankind.”

Consumers say sustainable delays are OK

What: Hudson's Bay closed its massive Winnipeg flagship in November 2020 and has donated it to Canada's First Nations in an act of reclamation and reconciliation.

Why is it important: The Hudson’s Bay Co. has come up with a meaningful solution for a major piece of unused real estate. The Toronto-based HBC has donated its six-level, 655,000-square-foot former flagship store in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, to the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, which will transform the historic building into a mixed-use site for affordable housing; a health clinic embracing Western and traditional medical practices; a childcare center; a museum, and a living art gallery where the First Nations will tell its story.

There will also be a restaurant and a café with a take on First Nations cuisine, an atrium brightened by skylights, and a rooftop garden where children in the care center can plant their own garden, and residents and employees can get some fresh air.

Through the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the First Nations people suffered disproportionate economic, health and social hardships. Officials said the Winnipeg project will create more than a million working hours during the construction phase, putting people back to work after the pandemic.

HBC donates a flagship to Canada’s indigenous people

What: Rent the Runway’s revenue is up from last year, with the number of active subscribers more than doubling, but both figures remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Why is it important: Despite improvement from 2020, Rent the Runway has yet to recover sales and active user count to pre-pandemic levels. Still, the platform expects to break even by the end of next year. Consumers have been slow to embrace rental over resale and fast fashion, two cheaper and easier alternatives.

Rent the Runway reported USD 203.3 million in sales for 2021, up 29% from the previous year, although still below its peak of USD 257 million in 2019. Active, those paying up to USD 149 a month to rent clothes, more than doubled to 115,240, but also remained below 2019 levels. The company fell deeper into the red, reporting a net loss of USD 211.8 million in 2021, compared to USD 157 million in 2019.

Even if there are enough shoppers looking for new outfits on a weekly basis, rental services have faced increased competition from resale sites, which similarly promise an endless wardrobe at a relatively affordable price. Shein and other online fast-fashion retailers offer complete outfits for under $20, cheap enough to be worn once and thrown out.

On a rental service, customers only have access to what’s available, and they must also return every piece they borrow. That means customers are spending hours perusing the website and visiting UPS about to drop off returns.

If Rent the Runway can continue to grow its membership while decreasing its cost of operation, it has a future. Rental can be a nice, niche business, not a billion-dollar business.

Rent the Runway’s journey to profitability

What: From quick-selling product collaborations to long-form content formats, beauty is headed for the small screen.

Why is it important: A departure for brands that have relied heavily on bite-sized social media content to spur sales in recent years. Now, with entertainment collaborations, brands are creating long-form content of their own.

Pat McGrath Labs, Sephora, and Neutrogena are among the big beauty names that are embracing entertainment as the newest means of engagement.

The opportunities in the space are myriad. For Neutrogena, for example, putting muscle behind entertainment was a no-brainer, given the complexity of its messaging. Its first film, which debuted last year on YouTube, was called “In the Sun,” and its goal was to educate on the need for sun care in skin cancer prevention.

Other brands are taking the entertainment route. Chief creative officer and founder of Too Faced is in the editing phase of a behind-the-scenes documentary of day-to-day life running a cosmetics brand and is also toying with the idea of a reality TV show.

In an age of product and brand proliferation, creating that kind of emotional connection is a key component of success. Brand awareness is one of the most significant goals of entertainment partnerships as well as product collaborations are key to keeping a brand relevant.

Beauty bets on entertainment

What: Live shopping is among the most popular sales techniques during the pandemic, which allows the buyer to interact directly with the seller-influencer and encourages impulse purchases.

hy is it important: With the lockdowns after two years of Covid 19, different digital sales formats emerged highly prized by the youngest consumers. Especially rooted in China, is beginning to develop in Europe, notably in french department stores, with varying degrees of success.

China live shopping has experienced unprecedented growth in the country, around 280% per year until 2020. It weighed more than USD 300 billion in 2021 against half in 2020 and should reach USD 423 billion this year, with 900 dedicated platforms and more than 500 million followers.

It is mainly cosmetics brands, multi-brand stores, and merchant sites that have ventured into the field for the moment. Like the French platform of luxury accessories Monnier Paris, which is a pioneer, resolutely committed to this path for two years. For the vice-president of the Ecommerce Europe confederation, live shopping is nonetheless a new symbol of digital transformation, it's not just videos, it's interactive so you have the best of both worlds.

Monnier Paris organized a few sessions with online payment specialist Klarna in the US. The one made in December around the theme of Christmas worked particularly well. The important thing is the way in which the brand or company presents itself and manages the event, where two levels of communication are superimposed. The first is like a classic ad, where the company addresses a large audience by presenting its product as it sees fit via a monologue prepared and thought out by its communication teams. The second generates a direct dialogue with a customer, as happens in a store, where you must know how to communicate and react very quickly.

It took several attempts at Printemps to find the right formula and the right tone. In short, the right balance between a classic format of teleshopping and a moment of entertainment, friendly and playful capable of seducing the Internet user. Since the department store launched its live shopping format "En mode Printemps" last June, broadcast every other Wednesday evening, it has produced around twenty episodes, each around thirty minutes and a theme.

Printemps has chosen the Swedish start-up Bambuser as its service provider. Beyond the site, they broadcast live shopping sessions on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Contrary to popular belief, the main results in terms of sales or appointments are made after the live broadcast.

Galeries Lafayette is in the consideration phase for live shopping. Finding the right equation in terms of return on investment is essential for fashion and luxury players because, despite its apparent simplicity, live shopping requires resources. They chose to focus on the "one to one" video sale initiated from the first confinement. The pandemic has accelerated this distance-selling format, which was struggling to materialise, ultimately proving to be very successful for premium and luxury brands, as well as for designer brands.

Live shopping is also slowly attracting some retailers and big brands since the onset of the pandemic. Particularly in France where the practice of live streaming has crossed the symbolic bar of one million daily visitors on the Twitch platform.

China’s live shopping phenomenon is rising in Europe

What: George has partnered with the streaming giant Netflix for a major product tie-up, an interesting partnership for this private label.

Why is it important: The partnership in 50 George at Asda locations and online under the ‘George x Netflix’ banner. It includes a wide range of fashion and lifestyle products. As part of the initial collaboration, 12 Asda stores will offer a wide range of clothing and general merchandise products and a further 38 will stock Netflix clothing and accessories.

The partnership will also see George launch a number of exclusive Netflix ranges throughout the year.

There will be a ‘flagship’ concession within Asda’s Milton Keynes store too, where George has worked with Netflix to offer customers a more immersive experience. This includes branded changing rooms, dedicated product areas, and access to the full range of licensed products.

George at Asda sells Netflix merchandise

What: Investors seemed to wonder about the upside to the $200 million minority investment that Farfetch plans to make in Neiman Marcus.

Why it is important: This deal gives Farfetch a much stronger footing in the key U.S. market and an opportunity to push more goods through its platform.

Farfetch has, at times, been a tough company for investors to understand however analysts have estimated that the partnership with NMG would contribute about $20 million in profits to Farfetch in fiscal 2023 and about $100 million over the medium term.

The partnership will start with the “re-platforming” of Neiman Marcus’ Bergdorf Goodman website and app. But the deal will eventually also bring Farfetch’s high-tech approach to Bergdorf’s New York flagship and plug the whole Neiman Marcus business into the Farfetch ecosystem.

Analysts are trying to get their head around Farfetch-Neiman Marcus Deal 

What: Walmart is making moves to expand its roster of private label brands and announced the launch of Love & Sports, its new activewear and swim brand created in partnership with designer Michelle Smith and cycling instructor Stacey Griffith. Starting with activewear, the collection is rolling out 1,500 Walmart stores, with swim slated to arrive in the next few days and footwear and accessories slated for the fall. All items in the collection are priced between USD $12 and USD $42.

Why it is important: The launch into women’s activewear marks Walmart’s latest effort to expand its roster of private label brands, an increasingly popular move among major retailers.

Women’s private label activewear brands made up 40% of the market in 2021, according to Matt Powell, NDP’s VP and senior industry advisor for sports. And private label activewear was 28% of the activewear market, representing the largest share in this category.

Walmart launches activewear collection 

What: Between 40,000 and 50,000 shops could be shuttered over the next five years.

Why is it important: The outlook is slightly better than during the pandemic when 80,000 stores were expected to close, but the high number of retail closures is primarily expected to hit the fashion and accessories industry, which will see nearly half of all closures, in addition to home furnishings and electronics store closures.

Business is expected to boom for general merchandise stores such as Target and Walmart. However, brick-and-mortar shops have served a critical role for retailers during the Covid pandemic, and retail sales growth has remained strong. This all promises well for the future of physical stores.

Traditional shopping malls remain at higher risk for closures than neighborhood strip centers due to shoppers’ increased preference to shop locally.

50,000 U.S. retail stores to close in the next five years

What: Selfridges is teaming with Jacquemus on a takeover project titled “Le Bleu” ahead of the summer.

Why is it important: Selfridges’ The Corner Shop space will be turned into a surrealist retail concept inspired by Simon Porte Jacquemus’ own bathroom.

Jacquemus will be the first fashion brand to take over the Selfridges Mews, which is located behind the store, for the brand’s Jacquemus 24/24 vending machine installation. Different from previous editions in Milan and Paris, the London version will be stocked with the Chiquito and Bambino bags in colorways exclusive to Selfridges.

The old Selfridges Hotel on top of the food hall right next to the mews will host the immersive experience concept “Le Vestiaire,” a continuation of the concept “Le Bleu.” Customers will be transported through a surrealist interpretation of a swimming pool with locker rooms and several different rooms which will have different sensory elements.

Selfridges teams up with Jacquemus 

What: Facing slow traffic and sales, Inno has decided to benefit from the government measures put in place to deal with the health crisis. However, the entire network, owned by the German group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, keeps all its points of sale open.

Why it is important: Inno has not experienced a post-Covid recovery and is now facing another crisis with the war in Ukraine having an impact on inflation, oil prices and energy. As a result, Belgian consumers are rather cautious.

Half of the sales staff and a quarter of executives (altogether roughly 700 people) are affected by temporary leave until the end of June, except for the week of May 2, during which the 125th anniversary of the department store will be celebrated. Unemployed employees will be paid 70% of their salary.

Half of Belgian department store's Inno staff on temporary leave (French)

What: Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management have pooled their resources to bid USD 68 per share for Kohl’s, which would value the department store at some $8.6 billion.

Why is it important: Simon and Brookfield have teamed up previously, buying Kohl’s rival J.C. Penney and fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 in 2020, and teen retailer Aeropostale in 2016, all out of bankruptcy.

Brookfield two years ago announced it aims to put USD 5 billion toward revitalizing struggling retailers, focused on those with USD 250 million or more in normalized revenues.

Simon Property Group CEO David Simon has previously touted those investments as an opportunity to rescue retailers that would otherwise fade from the landscape.

The plan would have one entity run both J.C. Penney and Kohl’s, capitalizing on synergies that would help reach a goal of slashing USD 1 billion in expenses at Kohl’s, according to the Post’s report.

Kohl’s is mainly found at strip centers, so it’s possible that these mall REITs are interested in expanding their reach in those locations, and they would benefit from moving Kohl’s to fill empty spaces at their indoor malls.

J.C. Penney owners prepared to buy Kohl’s for USD8.6B

What: Retail veteran Walter Loeb on the latest Macy’s CFO announcements at the JP Morgan Retail Roundup.

Why it is important: All IADS also report the same trend, with customers keeping on spending but directing the money towards other categories or even industries.

Walter Loeb reports Macy’s CFO’s vision for 2022, as he sees this year as a remarkably uncertain one. While there is no doubt that customers plan to spend, the challenge lies in knowing where they will spend (in shopping, experiences, leisure…?) leading to a difficult planning. In order to prepare for this unpredictability, Macy’s plans to:

• Test new product categories thanks to their marketplace,
• Fine-tune CRM to re-engage customers,
• Increase the number of smaller locations (Bloomies, Market by Macy’s, Backstage),
• Use geopricing to give stores more leverage,
• Monetize both real estate and the retail media network,
• Base buying decisions on predictive demand,

These actions are expected to generate a 38% gross margin in 2022 (in spite of a single digit growth) vs. 35% in previous years.

Walter Loeb expresses reserves in his post-scriptum, especially in terms of execution of the plan.

Macy’s prepares for an unpredictable future 

What: The Neiman Marcus Group has reinvented its company culture to drive its technological transformation and revolutionise luxury retail experiences.

Why is it important: NMG is focused on nurturing a growth mindset in all employees across the company to accelerate its digital and cultural transformation. NMG has strategically identified digital investments and enhancements as one of its greatest opportunities, dedicating over USD 600 million to technological, store and supply chain investments.

Following the recent USD 200 million minority common equity investment from Farfetch, NMG has begun adopting the platform’s technologies to power the Bergdorf Goodman website and mobile app. As a result, there has been a focus on upskilling its employees to work with in-house digital selling tools, including the “Connect” remote selling platform powered by Stylyze.

An important element of the profitable and sustainable growth strategy is instilling a growth mindset to revolutionise luxury experiences. Fashion is highly volatile, and fast-paced decisions are made every day that gives a chance to better serve the customers, so it’s a journey of constantly being better, learning from mistakes.

NMG is focused on multiplying the right decisions made daily so that each day they better serve customers. They recognise that everyone’s way of working and family needs are different. Therefore, most corporate associates can choose where, when, and how they work. The NMG WOW “our Way of Working” prides itself on recognising the uniqueness of everyone and empowering them to work differently.

Neiman Marcus Group is nurturing a growth mindset 

What: Shanghai’s current lockdown will eventually end but a new outbreak in Beijing and no end to the country’s rigid pandemic strategy suggest retail disruptions are likely elsewhere.

Why is it important: People are feeling both weary and anxious from a lockdown that was initially slated to last just four days. More frustrating for some than the inability to leave home for weeks on end has been the breakdown of logistics and delivery services, leaving people struggling to access food, medicine, and basic necessities. In such an environment, the thought of shopping for fashion has either been impossible or undesirable for many residents.

With consumer spending down, retailers are feeling the pinch. In March, which coincided with a week-long lockdown in China’s tech capital Shenzhen, there was a decline in national retail sales of 3.5% compared to a year earlier. The decline is likely to be even more apparent in the soon-to-be-released April figures as tourists who usually flock to Shanghai from around the country to shop for fashion and other discretionary goods have been unable to do so.

The world’s largest luxury conglomerates and brands reported that the Shanghai lockdown’s closure of stores had dented sales in their China units, though they expect the impact to be short-lived.

Prior to the new round of lockdowns, Euromonitor data showed China’s personal luxury market reached a market value 90.76% higher in 2021 than pre-pandemic levels in 2019, boosted by restored spending from luxury consumers unable to shop abroad, with additional growth of 14.67% tipped for 2022.

If Shanghai’s lockdown lasts for two months, and other large cities are also affected, China’s 2022 GDP growth would slow to 3.8%, and in a worst-case scenario where the economy suffers a similar shock to that experienced in the first quarter of 2020, it would grow by only 1.3% this year.

China’s ‘Zero-Covid’ policy poses disruption to luxury

What: Companies like The RealReal and ThredUp promised Wall Street that with scale comes profit but, operational costs and competition have kept them in the red.

Why is it important: Online resale is no longer a nascent industry, yet a decade into its maturity, profits remain elusive among even its biggest players. Lagging technology, growing competition and the constant need for new customers have kept costs sky-high.

In the beginning, the implied proposition was that the companies may be operating in the red today, but once it consolidated the market for secondhand luxury fashion, the economies of scale would kick in.

It turns out, that making money off other people’s clothing is hard. Processing and listing thousands of unique items requires complicated logistics that can’t easily be automated. Consolidation has proven elusive; while a few sites have been acquired or folded, more have launched, including fashion resale ventures from e-commerce giants like Farfetch.

Still, the market opportunity remains significant. In the US alone, the secondhand fashion market could grow 20% between 2020 and 2025 to reach USD 67 bn in size, according to estimates by BoF Insights. The RealReal and Poshmark combined only make up about 9% of the market.

 Is fashion resale a profitable business?

What: Space NK is looking to stand out by partnering on standalone pop-ups with promising brands.

Why is it important: In a crowded and ultra-competitive beauty market, pop-ups are considered an exceptional tool for building connections with new customers. Space NK is making the process of organising a pop-up in a new country much easier, offering both local knowledge and connections as well as a slice of financing.

While brands benefit from the financial support and local expertise, established retail players, such as Space NK, strengthen new business relationships and lock in exclusive deals with buzzy, hard-to-secure brands. Their first pop-up was for Drunk Elephant, helping the Shiseido-owned skincare brand when it entered the UK in 2018. Queues stretched around the block, also in Covent Garden, to visit the pop-up, dubbed The House of Drunk.

Space NK supports its partners with location scouting, staffing, store training and event hosting. They have over 70 retail locations across the UK and Ireland but believe it’s important to host pop-ups separate to its existing stores.

“We are evolving with our customers who are looking for things they’ve not been able to find before. They want more and more innovation when it comes to their products and services, so we are trying to exceed those expectations. The bar keeps getting higher. I think that will only accelerate.”

Space NK emerges pop-ups for emerging beauty brands

What: Lisa Aiken, Neiman Marcus’ fashion and lifestyle director swung by Neiman’s San Francisco flagship for an in-store luncheon for clients on Thursday, complete with a fashion presentation.

Why is it important: Neiman Marcus plans on evolving as a luxury lifestyle platform. Part of that mission is to unite its physical stores, online shopping, and remote sales via its clienteling technology.

Aiken described it as “one business, one ecosystem that our customer lives in,” she has exclusive projects and collaborations that stretch across digital and stores, including an upcoming project for private clients in San Francisco, in collaboration with Prada.

Neiman Marcus’ Lisa Aiken stops by San Francisco

What: A new study suggests virtual malls may bring good news for real ones.

Why is it important: Among those who do spend time in virtual worlds, there’s a healthy appetite for shopping the metaverse for physical products, with virtual malls being of particular interest.

The metaverse survey polled 557 online shoppers of different age groups and, nearly half of the respondents said they hadn’t heard of the term. Less than one-fifth said they were familiar with virtual worlds or participated in them. The researchers drilled down into this group to glean insights into their interests. That’s when they saw that a significant portion want their avatars to hit the mall, particularly older consumers.

The interest breaks down to 29% of 18- to 29-year-olds, 35% of 30- to 39-year-olds, 35% of 40- to 49-year-olds, and 37% of 50- to 59-year-olds. The generational difference could come down to who even remembers the time when the mall was the social and cultural touchstone for communities.

The shopping orientation could be influenced by the nature of this sample as well, as more than half, at 5%, happened to be women. The study also looked at other contexts, inside and outside the metaverse, including virtual events, social commerce, and livestream shopping, the latter of which hasn’t latched onto the mainstream consciousness either.

Can the metaverse save malls?