What:  Central Group gets control over a network of 19 malls in Thailand.

Why it is important:  Central is significantly increasing its reach and retail footprint in the country by consolidating activities and stores since the beginning of the pandemic.

Central Group has taken a 52,15% controlling stake in Siam Future Development, a real estate company operating 19 malls in Thailand including the Mega Bangna flagship and smaller units mixing entertainment, dining and convenience stores.

Central Group takes control of Bangkok's Mega Bangna parent 

What:  Through a licensing agreement with Lasonic Limited, the brand plans to reopen a Tmall flagship and physical stores across China.

Why it is important:  After 2 failed attempts, the company is pressing reboot in China for the third time.

The brand said it has reentered major e-commerce platforms like Vip.com and Pinduoduo, and is planning to open a flagship on Alibaba’s Tmall, and physical stores across major cities in China.

The brand was bought out of bankruptcy by Simon Property Group, Authentic Brands Group and Brookfield Property Partners for USD 81 million in February 2020. Its international business is being handled by licensing specialist ABG.

Lasonic Limited is a Hong Kong-based electrical, electronics and lighting products manufacturer. It also does business in intellectual property licensing, event planning and merchandising. In addition to Forever 21, Lasonic manages the licensing business of IPs like emoji, Hello Kitty, Little Twin Stars, Spongebob and Pepsi.

Forever 21 to Reboot in China, Again

What: John Lewis was named by the government as an employer that pays staff below the legal minimum wage.

Why it is important: John Lewis claims that they disagree with the allegations as they just tried to help employees budget so they offered hourly workers a monthly rate, which would sometimes result in more or less pay per hour depending on the month. They claim that the average minimum hourly pay has never fallen below the minimum wage.

The list of offenders and their infractions are either larger organizations, like John Lewis, where a large amount of staff were impacted involving relatively small sums of money, or smaller organizations with few staff members involving much bigger losses.

John Lewis on ‘named and shamed’ list for breaching minimum wage 

What: Pre-loved Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton accessories will be available at Neighborhood Goods stores.

Why it is important: Neighborhood Goods said success for the long-term partnership will be measured in terms of new customers, sales and in identifying new brands and products that resonate with its core customer markets.

The retailer, carving a hyper-localized, rotating assortment of contemporary brands, counts three stores in Austin and Plano, Texas, as well as in New York City. Fashionphile marks the latest chapter of growth, following Neighborhood Goods’ launch of The Marketplace, which sports a hand-picked selection of consumer packaged goods like trendy plant-based meats and sparkling water.

According to Sarah Davis, Fashionphile founder and president, the physical retail space has its perks for Fashionphile sellers. “As more and more brands compete for the same customers online, organic reach becomes more difficult and hashtags less effective. All of that competition drives the cost of digital acquisition up, so we are motivated to get creative,” she said.

Noting Fashionphile customers love the “ease of coming in to sell, process returns or pick up online orders,” Davis said the company strategically operates eight selling studios in “nontraditional” retail settings. Neiman Marcus is one such physical touchpoint that materializes just some of the 45,000 unique items on Fashionphile’s website.

Pre-loved Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton En Route to Neighborhood Goods 

What: There is a difference in traffic and turnover whether health pass is mandatory or not for customers to enter.

Why it is important: To date, the stores under such restrictions record a drop in traffic between -15 and -25%, and a drop in turnover of between -15 and -20% compared to other centers not subject to health pass.

Since 16 August, about 150 shopping centers of more than 20,000 sqm in France have gradually introduced the control of visitors’ sanitary pass at the entrance. The measure is enforced where Covid cases exceed 200 out of 100,000 persons.

In the clothing sector (brands and department stores), the Trade Alliance notes an average turnover differential of around 18 points between points of sale subject to the health pass, (during the week of 16 August).

The impact is less negative in very urban centers, targeting high revenue customers, than in more popular areas.

Health pass consequences for French retailers

What: The online retailer wants a larger retail presence to sell clothing and household items, and facilitate exchanges.

Why it is important: It’s not clear that Amazon has the skills to master this kind of retail store. The e-tailer is excellent at selling commodities and its logistics efficiency gives it an advantage. But selling fashion and true discretionary products that involve creativity is different.

Amazon plans to open several large physical retail locations in the U.S. that will operate akin to department stores, a step to help the company extend its reach in sales of clothing, household items, electronics and other areas. The first department stores are expected to be located in Ohio and California. The new retail spaces will be around 30,000 square feet, smaller than most department stores, which typically occupy about 100,000 square feet.

It is unclear what brands Amazon will offer in the stores, although the company’s private-label goods are expected to feature prominently. The company has invested more in building out its fashion business and giving shoppers increased alternatives regarding the purchase of apparel. Amazon has had a tougher time breaking into high-end fashion.

Besides, Amazon is not known for its merchandising skills. It has not demonstrated that it has the ability to help a consumer pick the right dress for an event, as an example. It does not have content that gives consumers inspiration to enable discovery the way you might find on Net-A-Porter.com. The experience of walking into a store and finding something at a high price that you don’t need but fall in love with is not part of the Amazon experience. On another hand, the new stores might be able to provide Amazon’s loyal Prime customers with an elevated in-store experience it cannot offer online.

Amazon is pushing into an area that has struggled for decades. Department stores were once big, exciting places to shop, where consumers could find everything from toaster ovens to evening gowns under one roof. But they have lost out to discounters, fast-fashion retailers and online players. A generation ago, department stores comprised 10% of retail sales, excluding automobiles, gas and restaurants, according to estimates by the consulting firm Customer Growth Partners. So far this year, they account for less than 1%. Analysts and industry executives aren’t counting department stores out just yet. Chains including Macy’s Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. are expected to report strong sales.

Amazon’s physical-store sales declined roughly 5% last year as customers shopped more online because of the pandemic. Year-over-year sales for the segment grew 11% during the second quarter this year.

Amazon Plans to Open Large Retail Locations Akin to Department Stores 

Amazon to test department stores in offline expansion 

Amazon’s New Brick-And-Mortar Stores Are Likely To Be More Challenging Than Expected

What: Square will buy out Afterpay, an Australian BNPL provider.

Why it is important: Square and Afterpay have the potential to build a very strong payment network that appeals to the younger generation of shoppers.

According to Matrix Partners, BNPL solutions will displace part of the role of credit card debts. As the younger generation is opposed to debt, BNPL is an interest free option that allows users to pay in installments. Against its competition like Affirm and Klarna, Afterpay has always been able to understand Millennial and GenZ customers the best through the right tone and product offerings.

The merger of Square and Afterpay has a lot of potential to deliver value to both consumers and merchants. Currently, Square has built a merchant payment network and, in its portfolio, CashApp offers a customer payment service, but these lines of business have not been integrated. Afterpay will be able to weave all these services together in a single integrated experience.

Congratulations to Afterpay and Square 

What: The Parisian landmark is marking this delayed milestone with two months of events, a Prada pop-up and cake.

Why it is important: After the pandemic delayed its reopening in 2020, La Samaritaine is celebrating the milestone with a birthday event running from 2 September to 31 October.

Festivities will begin with the unveiling of the windows. On the Rivoli side, displays will feature multicolored neon installations, while four windows on the Pont Neuf will be turned over to Prada. They will showcase a tridimensional trompe-l’oeil inspired by the label’s fall 2021 runway décor. The Prada Glow pop-up will offer an interactive video floor area, connected to a lantern shaped like the Italian brand’s logo that will rise in the middle of the atrium and change colors regularly.

On 4 and 5 September, performers dressed in costumes inspired by vintage La Samaritaine advertising will parade through the store for its anniversary celebration.

A 2-meter-tall cake will be exhibited on the ground floor of the building on Rue de Rivoli. Imagined by French artist Elsa Muse, its design was inspired by an early animation device called a zoetrope, which had its heyday around La Samaritaine’s 1870 birth date. Miniature versions will also be available for purchase, made by cake makers Bogato.

In the digital world, art historian Margaux Brugvin will take over the department store’s YouTube channel for episodes focusing on surprising moments in the store’s history.

A wheel of fortune, located near the concierge service and activated by bar codes found on receipts, will give customers the opportunity to win gifts, ranging from bicycles in the store’s yellow and gray livery — available on its e-commerce for 790 euros — to copies of the Assouline book tracing its history.

La Samaritaine to Celebrate Turning 150+1 

What: IKEA's shopping malls business has kicked off the sales process for some 500 flats at its first-ever mixed-use retail and residential development in southern China.

Why it is important: With housing, it is testing yet another income leg, banking on the rapid urbanisation in China.

Ingka Centres has 45 malls anchored by IKEA furniture stores across Europe, Russia, and China (under the brand Livat). The company has shifted towards more entertainment and social spaces in its developments as consumers, in China in particular, increasingly shop online while visiting malls more for food or movies.

The Livat Changsha residential building offers flats, common living, and work spaces, designed by IKEA. The hope is to appeal to people working from home. Residents should start moving in by March 2022.

EXCLUSIVE IKEA's malls arm branches out into housing with new centre in China 

What: A new initiative in terms of circular economy.

Why it is important: An option to buy back second hand products and grant customers store credits could be an interesting initiative to look at by department stores.

Ikea has launched a new service, allowing customers to re-sell their used pieces of furniture to the company. This test is part of a series of initiatives towards circularity as Ikea aims to be carbon positive by the end of the decade.

This service is proposed in several countries (US, UK, Singapore) and Ikea has launched a pilot store in the US where second-hand units will be resold.

The process is simple: customers have to fill in a form describing the state of the product (only some categories are for the moment covered), then the product is checked when brought in the store. If it is accepted, the customer receives a store credit and Ikea will refurbish the returned piece (to make sure it is safe to be sold, excluding any cosmetic repairs) and sell it ‘as is’.

The US store will serve as a testing ground for seemingly simple questions, such as to know if second hand products should be sold assembled or in flat packs like new products.

Ikea is launching a furniture buyback program

What: The department store unveiled two new spaces dedicated to sneakers, one located in the men's section on the basement, and the other one for women on the second floor (women’s shoe and luxury RTW floor).

Why it is important: With the massive casualization started even before Covid, sneakers are a key part of the shoe business. Galeries Lafayette also recently unveiled a significant sneakers section within its new women’s shoe floor.

The women’s offer mixes brands such as Converse, Nike or New Balance and young labels. A corner is dedicated to the eco-responsible, vegan or recycled sneakers, with brands such as Amrose, New Lab and Caval. The sustainable brand Allbirds has installed a four-month pop-up in which it presents its collection made from merino wool, FSC-certified eucalyptus and sugar cane.

The men’s sneakers space is 250 sqm and gathers a selection of international designers such as Givenchy and Margiela, and creative labels such as National Standard and Filling Pieces. New models, exclusive collaborations and drops will also be presented. Presented by, a reference in streetwear and collector's sneakers, also offers rare pieces in limited editions. A 22 sqm pop-up store will highlight new labels.

Le-Bon-Marche-Rive-Gauche highlights sneakers

What: Outstanding performances for the Chinese e-tailer during the second quarter of 2021

Why it is important: The growth of its user base (+28%) makes it impermeant to the recent Chinese government crackdown on Tech.

JD.com went beyond analysts’ expectations for Q2 2021 results in spite of the recent Chinese government crackdown on the tech industry. The net revenue of the online retailer grew by +26% to USD 39.14 bn and added 32 million new users (+28%) to 531.9 million.

During that quarter, JD.Com also expanded its operations with LVMH’s Bvlgari, Berluti and Guerlain, as well as brands from Estee Lauder companies and L’Oreal.

JD.com Announces 2021 Second Quarter and Interim Results

What: People can get married at Selfridges, and now they can source their pre-loved wedding outfits from the store, too, with the opening of a circular bridal boutique at the Corner Shop.

Why is it important: The new service follows the launch of Selfridges’ wedding services which allow consumers to marry at the Oxford Street store.

There is no question that the pandemic have transformed people’s approach to weddings. Many are feeling a newfound freedom to stage a smaller and more unconventional affair. The past 18 months have also focused people’s attention on the environment and rented clothing, too, and that’s why Selfridges is giving over its Corner Shop to pre-loved wedding outfits and accessories for brides, grooms and guests.

The space, 'Resellfridges: The Wedding' dovetails with the store’s growing enthusiasm for rental and resale services, part of its Project Earth sustainability commitments. The selection will include designer dresses, upcycled men’s wear suits, vintage wedding rings and pre-loved accessories, as well as rental. For instance, a dress, by Greek designer Christos Costarellos, costs GBP 2,870 to buy, and GBP 45 per day to rent.

Pre-Loved Wedding Dress From Selfridges

What: Retailers and brands are struggling to manage surging customer demand as the supply chain has yet to fully recover from COVID disruptions.

Why it is important: The demand for goods has come before shippers and carriers were ready, causing bottlenecks in the supply chain. This can cause major issues as brands and retailers prepare for the holiday season.

Although retailers believed they were making a comeback as the vaccine was rolled out and consumers were spending their stimulus checks, but there lie major problems in the supply chain that directly hit their bottom line. The economy is booming, but there are lots of factors causing roadblocks in the supply of goods. There have been raw material shortages, labor shortages, shipping container shortages, freight space shortages and facility closures.

Retailers will either have to pay more to get shipments in sooner, not necessarily on time, or they will have to simply wait and expect delays. Freights are estimated to cost 50% to 100% more compared to the year before. The shipping crisis is forcing retailers to pay steep prices as well as make supply chain decisions to ensure that they can stock their shelves with products.

Large players like Walmart have the leverage to buy up space on container ships, which leaves little to no room for smaller players that can’t afford it. Some retailers have even turned to air freight to avoid ports altogether.

'You can pay or you can wait': How retailers are navigating a shipping crisis

What: The e-commerce giant has teamed up with a group of brands to offer shoppers a chance to secure in-demand items before they hit the market.

Why it is important: The move is a new step to further differentiate Farfetch’s platform from competitors.

Ten brands have signed on for the launch, including Balenciaga, Khaite, Nanushka, Palm Angels, Oscar de la Renta and Farfetch-owned Off-White. Customers can preview and order looks four weeks before they hit the broader market. New previews of upcoming seasons will launch monthly.

The idea is to develop a “true pre-production proposition,” providing brands with a way to help manage inventory and minimize waste within the industry, said Jamie Freed, global vice president of Farfetch’s private client division.

In the meantime, the service gives customers access to the new season products before they appear anywhere else — something Farfetch’s private clientele had already been asking for. Brands also benefit from access to pre-order data, which can help identify potential bestsellers and inform re-orders earlier than usual.

Farfetch Teams with Brands For Launch of Pre-Order Service 

What: Soho Home Studio will stock the private club's homeware collection and offer a series of workshops and interior design services.

Why it is important: While the home goods business has grown due to Covid, Soho House ventures into physical retail for the first time.

Post-IPO Soho House is in expansion mode, with members’ clubs opening soon in Rome, Tel Aviv and Paris, new co-working spaces across London.

The private members’ club will open its first flagship store on King’s Road, in London’s Chelsea area in September. Soho Home Studio will stock the label’s full homeware collection and also offer interior design services, a program of workshops and events, and a rotating gallery of member collaborations.

Soho Home Opens First Flagship Store in London’s Chelsea

What: While the assortment is available online, customers will be able to shop Toys"R"Us in more than 400 Macy’s stores next year.

Why it is important: The toy business grew exponentially in the past year, with many families looking to inspire their children’s imagination.

For more than 70 years it has been the most trusted destination for children and parents seeking great toys. Founded by Charles Lazarus, Toys"R"Us became the world's most beloved toy store and a globally recognized household name in the toy category. Today, Toys"R"Us has a business that generates more than USD 2 billion in global retail sales annually through nearly 900 branded global stores outside the U.S. and e-commerce businesses in more than 25 countries.

Macy's partners with Toys"R"Us

What: After a test in Poland, Ikea also runs a test in Shanghai.

Why it is important: The major innovation is the abandonment of the signposted and imposed customer path.

After four months of renovation, Ikea reopened its Shanghai Xuhui store on 12 August. It has been transformed into a Home Experience of Tomorrow. The store includes 30,200 sq.m of sales area spread on two levels, 9,000 products, 63 exhibition spaces, a 700-seat restaurant and a number of play areas for children. Open areas dedicated to the bedroom, the living room, the kitchen and the office, a repair zone dedicated to “makers”, in which customers and employees share their knowledge in a circular economy perspective, plus an event space, and areas dedicated to large families will be available to customers.

If the rooted customer path has been a pillar of Ikea’s concept for years, current consumers expectations in the Covid context have deeply changed. In Europe, Ikea stores in London and Vienna will also adopt the free flow by the end of the year 2021. As a reminder, the end of the arrowed in-store path has already been successfully tested in Poland (in Szczecin) but Ikea has not indicated its impact on the average basket.

Ikea new store concept

What:  British retailer Marks & Spencer is going to add more guest clothing and footwear brands to its website.

Why it is important:  The initial wave of brands increased traffic and attracted new customers.

M&S decided to shift its strategy last year by selling other brands to broaden its appeal.  The early findings on brands driving frequency have been encouraging, with traffic on M&S.com growing and new customers who buy into a guest brand returning to make their second purchase over 10 days sooner than those who don't buy into brands.

Whilst ‘Brands at M&S’ is predominantly an online offer, M&S plans to extend an in-store trial to five stores.

Marks & Spencer Expands Online Platform With More Guest Brands 

What: Shopping malls from France to Indonesia asked customers to show digital vaccination records in order to enter as governments imposed new rules designed to slow the spread of the Delta variant.

Why is it important: Are vaccine mandates good for retailers? Vaccine mandates come with pros and cons.

Retailers are eager to get shoppers back to physical stores where consumers typically spend more per visit than online, often at better margins. And anything that makes shoppers feel safer is likely to help. But despite the benefits, vaccine mandates come with plenty of complications.

For a start, there’s the logistical challenge: many major markets still lack the technology infrastructure for retailers to efficiently check vaccination status.

Vaccines are also highly polarizing, like in the United States (or in France), where the population is deeply divided. The country’s federal and state governments have yet to impose mandates, leaving retailers to contend with the issue alone. This presents a thorny problem for large retail chains with customers on both sides of the political line.

What if consumers resist? With contentious mask mandates, enforcement typically falls to sales associates who lack sufficient training and suffer abuse when asking customers to comply, driving them to quit at a time when retail workers are already in short supply. Vaccine mandates come with similar liabilities.

No Vaccine, No Entry The Pros and Cons for Retailers

What: Gen Z is currently the generation most interested in shopping, but they’re careful about how they spend their money, according to an exclusive survey of 1,300 Vogue and GQ readers ranging from 18 to 65-year-old in the US.

Why it is important: Gen Z seeks out in-store experiences, relevance and newness while shopping. This cohort is engaged with their brands while searching for newness and eager to discover new trends that keep them fashion-forward.

Gen Z is willing to shop across channels, have an appetite for higher-quality items and are eager to stay on top of cultural trends. At the same time, they have some frugal tendencies: 70% of Gen Z said they are monitoring their spending more closely as a result of the pandemic.

Gen Z is a truly omnichannel generation. They are 56% more likely to have shopped for fashion in-store over the last three months and 38% more likely to have shopped online in the same timeframe.

Nike Live stores, digitally fuelled with in-person sports experiences that mirror online preferences of specific neighbourhoods, answer the call. In terms of engagement, Nike reports that these are some of the highest performing doors in Nike's fleet, with 150-200 new destinations set to open globally.

One in five of all respondents have used buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) solutions since the start of the pandemic to buy more expensive, higher-quality products, including 22% of Gen Z respondents.

Gen Z’s frequency of shopping for new items is being disrupted by secondhand, a market that Gen Z respondents are 27% more likely to shop. Gen Z is also trying to balance a desire for reasonable prices with an interest in high-quality products, which is true across both fashion and beauty. BNPL solutions are helping to convert sales. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 123% more Gen Zs have used BNPL than before. In April 2021.

The product most commonly bought throughout the pandemic using BNPL has been shoes. Sneakers are the item that they report willingness to invest in the most. The study confirms that sales of shoes and sneakers saw a 59% uplift from August 2020 to April 2021.

Gen Z shopping trends uncovered 

What: From 2 September until the end of October, the motto "Unis vers le beau responsable" (translating to "United towards beautiful and responsible") will be displayed in all windows throughout France. The department store will highlight a series of products and brands bearing ethical approaches to social and environmental questions.

Why it is important: Printemps will compete with Galeries Lafayette’s “Go For Good” programme.

All stores will organize conferences dedicated to responsibility or circularity but also thematic workshops, such as product repair. Printemps will also organise collection of pre-loved clothes and accessories with Emmaus association and set up micro-donations at the cash register to the benefit of Yann Arthus Bertrand's The GoodPlanet foundation.

"United towards the beautiful responsible" is more than a promotional phase as it is also a new label that will be developed in all product categories To identify these products, Printemps's teams have set up, with the agency Imagin/able, a system evaluating the social and environmental impact of fashion, interior, beauty or food companies.

Evaluated on 22 points in 9 key themes (ethics and solidarity in trade, social commitment, local commitment and promotion of know-how and innovation, organic and natural products, health and environment, biodiversity and animal welfare, circular economy, inclusive economy and finally responsible production and logistics), brands must reach 30 points out of 100 to obtain the label which is designed to be long-term. For the time being, nearly 400 brands will benefit from this label.

On 22 September, Printemps will unveil its new floor entirely dedicated to the circular offer and located at the top of its Haussmann store dedicated to women.

In Paris, the Atrium space of the Haussmann store will be dedicated to Chloé, the brand being highly committed to circularity.

Printemps launches its new responsible strategy

Printemps to Launch Sustainability Label and Circular Fashion Floor

What: Emaar Malls, which operates properties including The Dubai Mall, saw revenue rise 74% in the second quarter.

Why it is important: Sales across Emaar Malls’ tenants were up 15% in the second quarter, compared to the same period in 2019, prior to the pandemic. The increase in sales during the first half of this year was driven by an increase in average spending per visitor, which rose 59% from the same period in 2019, the company said.

Emaar Malls, a unit of Dubai’s largest listed developer, Emaar Properties, swung to a profit in the second quarter after posting a loss in the same period a year ago as revenue surged 74% year-on-year.

Dubai’s Emaar Malls Swings to Profit in Q2

What: The new strategy involves offering travelers an assortment of brands and checkout options.

Why it is important: As airport-based retailers were hit hard by Covid, Hudson's strategy aims to ramp up average purchases.

Hudson, a Dufry company, is introducing Evolve by Hudson, a concept shop format geared for its stores in airports. The retailer has more than 1,000 stores in airports, commuter hubs, tourist locations and other points of interest.

The Evolve by Hudson debut is a shift by the company to larger, more integrated store concepts. Shoppers will find different brands in sunglasses, electronics and entertainment, personal care and wellness, luggage and writing instruments, accessories and apparel, local goods and souvenirs, and travel essentials and snacks.

A variety of national and global brands will be offered in the new concept such as Sunglass Hut sunglasses, Apple products, Burt’s Bees personal care products, Tumi luggage, Happy Socks and different travel essentials.

Each store will have at least 2,000 square feet and will be designed with an open format to simplify shopping. Consumers will be able to choose from different checkout options like a traditional one, as well as self-checkout kiosks and Hudson’s newly developed mobile point of sale capabilities. The latter will enable Hudson employees to complete transactions for shoppers from anywhere on the sales floor in the brand shops-in-shop.

Hudson to Launch New Retail Concept in Select Airports