What: A chinese mall management giant is going public in Hong Kong.

Why it is important: This reflects both the need to “normalize” giant companies in China by no longer remaining fully private, as well as the maintained attractivity of Hong Kong for Chinese groups, in spite of the recent comments made by international banks.

Zhudai Wanda Commercial Management Group, part of the Dalian Wanda Group, has filed for a HK IPO listing, looking for a total valuation between USD 3 and USD 4 bn.

The company manages 380 malls in mainland China, 54.2 million share metres with an average occupancy rate of 98.8%. It went through a -8.8 decrease in 2020 due to Covid-19 (representing a loss of USD 172 m).

It is 69.9% owned by Dalian Wanda Commercial Management Group, a Chinese conglomerate.

Chinese Mall Management Giant Files for Hong Kong IPO

What: Retail veteran Walter Loeb is wondering what would be at stake should Macy’s follow the lead of Saks Fifth Avenue and the Hudson’s Bay Company, and split its offline and online activities into two specific companies.

Why it is important: It is all about what to do with stores and digital, and how to combine both of them in the most efficient manner possible. What works for a company might not work for others.

Financial activists call for Macy’s to spin off its e-commerce unit (USD 8,45 billion estimated sales in 2021, doubling in the past four years). Walter Loeb recalls that Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s have worked hard to maintain a business model properly blending e-commerce (a third of the business) and store business. Overall, the total merchandise sold generates a profit that allows the company to remain in business across both channels.

Splitting up activities might create unneeded problems:

• In a particular store is unprofitable, in the new scheme, it will have to be written off since the asset is no longer viable, and might generate a snowball effect putting the whole spin off company dedicated to stores under a considerable stress,
• Every resource (warehouses, trucks…), function (CFO, logistics…) and salary in the current Macy’s company will have to be reviewed and prorated across the brick & mortar and digital company. This will generate additional administrative workload which will not be contributing to profit.

For Mr Loeb, a well-managed organization could more smoothly ensure that seamless experience a customer would want. Macy’s being significantly bigger than Saks in terms of store count, he does not believe a split-up would benefit the company as a whole.

Why Macy’s Won’t Survive If It Sells Off Its Digital Business

What: The platform is betting that new womenswear essentials label There Was One (launched with New Guards Group) will capture anti-hype shoppers looking for sustainable wardrobe staples.

Why it is important: While the pandemic helped Farfetch cut back on the discounting and customer acquisition costs that have dogged its bottom line, it is still searching for ways to increase its margins and help convince investors that buying New Guards Group in August 2019 made strategic sense in a competitive luxury retail market.

The range offers minimalist closet staples for women priced under USD 2,000 with a sustainable angle, including a USD 95 organic cotton T-shirt and a USD 1,400 leather biker jacket made in a tannery certified by non-profit Leather Working Group for environmental best practices.

There Was One will be exclusively sold on Farfetch.com. To develop the line, Farfetch tapped the design and production capabilities of the New Guards Group, the firm behind hype-defining brands like Off-White and Palm Angels.

Farfetch’s chief brand officer Holli Rogers said the line was informed by consumer shopping data that showed that since the start of the pandemic, customers have been “investing in pieces that would last them possibly a lifetime” and preferring items made with some kind of sustainable element.

The label will be discoverable on Farfetch.com alongside the marketplace’s luxury offering and within its “Conscious Edit” of sustainable fashion. (Rogers said sales of Farfetch’s “conscious” pieces grew more than three times faster than the average item in 2020.)

Farfetch launches womenswear private label

What: Fashion may be preparing for a future in the metaverse, but retailers still need to attend to today’s business of selling to physical customers, often in physical stores. Selfridges, which has leaned heavily into creating engaging in-store experiences, is now looking to virtual ones as well.

Why it is important: The project is the latest example of how fashion companies and retailers are trying to bridge the divide between the real and digital worlds. Many brands are anticipating a future where they’ll meet more of their customers in video games and other virtual environments.

For the next two weeks, visitors to the designer floor at Selfridges’ London flagship will discover a portal into a virtual city. The space is a pop-up in collaboration with Charli Cohen, a London designer of physical and digital streetwear, and Yahoo Ryot Lab, Yahoo’s content studio. Pokémon also lent its characters to the project in celebration of its 25th anniversary. It’s mostly there, however, to prompt customers to explore “Electric/City,” an immersive virtual environment shoppers can access in the store by scanning a QR code or visit online through a dedicated website. The collaboration also includes an array of products for sale, both physical and virtual.

A screen on a stand offered visitors their first view ofthe virtual world, and on another stand nearby was the QR code shoppers scan to go to the Electric/City site. According to BoF, the in-store space is sparse, and the interactivity between digital and physical can feel limited without help from the store staff guiding customers through the experience. Where the collaboration comes to life is inside Electric/City.

The target audience for the project is all Selfridges’ customers, especially those who may be less familiar with immersive digital worlds. Designers also made sure the environment was accessible on mobile and in a regular browser window, without any sign-up or headset required.

Beyond the products for sale in Selfridges, there are spots in Electric/City where visitors can purchase clothes from the Pokémon tie-up to be delivered to their homes. A separate collection of digital Charli Cohen garments is available for sale inside Electric/City. They’re enabled by ReadyPlayerMe, which lets users create a digital avatar from a selfie to use across more than 300 compatible games and virtual spaces, such as VRChat. They’re also AR-ready. A shopper in Selfridges who buys a digital item and creates an avatar can project it on their phone into the middle of the shop floor.

How Selfridges Is Bringing Virtual Fashion to Stores

What: John Lewis experiences selling its new private label outside of its own stores.

Why it is important: It is all about brand equity, making sure that customers value the label for its quality, and then create the traffic towards the department store.

John Lewis has open a free standing store dedicated to ANYDAY, its homeware, tech and clothing private label, priced 20% lower than the other John Lewis brand ranges. It is strategically positioned to attract a new kind of clientele, according to Pippa Wicks, the CEO.

The objective of this store is to build brand awareness and direct traffic towards the nearby John Lewis department stores.

John Lewis opens ANYDAY experiential store at Highcross

What: John Lewis is retraining its department store customer service team following an increase in service-related complaints.

Why it is important: After cutting 1,00 jobs at John Lewis and Waitrose and losing its reputation of shining customer service, the retailer is trying to reinforce their principles to put customers at the heart of their business again.

John Lewis has opened a ‘school of service’ to retrain 500 staff before Christmas, in a bid to improve customer experience. Located within its John Lewis store in Stratford, east London, the school has four classrooms and one theatre.

If the voluntary programme proves effective, the retailer could expand the school to other parts of the country as well as to staff at its sister supermarket brand Waitrose.

John Lewis boosts staff training after customer service complaints 

What: Home to the world’s rarest sneakers, The Edit LDN arrives at Harrods in Men’s Shoes on the Second Floor.

Why it is important: Harrods enters the sneakers resale business with The Edit LDN. The online consignment store is a trusted authority on all things sneakers. Working to a drop schedule, the new boutique – the first of its kind – will release cult footwear and collectables on selected dates, in-store only.

The Edit LDN arrives at Harrods

What: After splitting off the brand’s e-commerce business into a separate entity earlier this year, public offering could value the company at USD 6 billion and take place in first half of 2022, people familiar with the matter said. It was last valued at $2 billion in March.

Why it is important: The IPO plan underscores the revived fortunes Saks is enjoying, thanks to surging online sales. The company has said the online unit’s gross merchandise value, a measure of sales, increased 82% from the second quarter in 2019 to the same period this year.

An IPO would be the second phase of a deal struck earlier this year that separated the e-commerce business from Saks’ bricks-and-mortar retail operations. The move, meant to help fuel the digital unit’s growth. Meeting with bankers is typically one of the first steps toward a listing, though there are no guarantees Saks will move forward with one or receive such a valuation. Market conditions and other unpredictable factors heavily influence IPO plans.

The separation from bricks-and-mortar retail operations, which is purely financial, provides the company with additional capital to invest in the digital unit. From customers’ perspective, little has changed: The Saks brand name remains on both the stores and website, and shoppers can buy online and make returns in stores as usual. Behind the scenes, the online business oversees marketing and merchandising for both channels, and the stores receive affiliate fees in recognition of the online sales and other benefits a physical presence can drive.

Saks e-commerce prepares IPO

What: Marc Rosen has been named the new CEO of JCPenney.

Why it is important: The decision is a big step forward in establishing stability for the retailer that has been through a volatile past few years.

Marc Rosen has been named as the new CEO of JCPenney, and Stanley Shashoua, who has been the intern CEO since January, has been appointed executive chairman.

Rosen was most recently executive VP and president of Levi Strauss Americas and was responsible for leading the company’s global e-commerce and retail businesses, including 3,000 stores. Before this, he spent 14 years at Walmart in a variety of senior leadership functions, ultimately serving as senior VP of global e-commerce. He began his career at Ernst & Young, providing strategic retail advisory services.

JCPenney names Marc Rosen CEO, Shashoua is executive chairman

What: Amazon has opened the doors of its first UK non-food store at the giant Bluewater mall in Kent. The store sells around 2,000 of its most popular products and is called Amazon 4-Star, because all of the items have received at least a four-star rating from customers. The location also serves as a click & collect hub for picking up online orders and a returns centre without the need for packaging and labels.

Why it is important: Although not selling fashion or beauty for now, it’s a strong signal of the once-online-only retailer’s ambitions in physical retail outside of the US where 30 such stores are operating.

The categories currently available inside are ranging from books to consumer electronics, toys, games and homewares. It also includes the most popular items from customer wish lists in a Most Wished For section. Using sources such as wish lists and reviews, Amazon is showing how its data-driven business model is ideal for putting the products it knows consumers want in front of shoppers.

Amazon opens first non-food UK store at Bluewater 

What: In early 2022, Adidas' resale program "Choose to Give Back" will be rolled out across the United States.

Why it is important: Basically acting as a loyalty programme, the new resale project will allow customers to ship their items for free through Adidas’ Creators Club loyalty app and, depending on the product type and condition, receive loyalty points and vouchers in return.

Partnering with secondhand platform ThredUp, Adidas will accept clothes, shoes and accessories from any brand to be resold, donated or re-used. Through the Adidas’ Creators Club app, customers can generate a prepaid label and snag a ThredUp Clean Out Kit to send back shoes, clothing and accessories — regardless of condition or whether it’s Adidas-branded.

Products in good condition will be resold through ThredUp, while the rest will go through the reseller’s network of textile reuse partners. Wider rollout of the programme will begin early next year.

Under the Hood of Adidas’ Resale Launch

What: The slower growth is the result of conflicting forces taking place on the market.

Why it is important: Revenge spending is here, but somehow toned down by high prices, coming as a consequence to the global logistical issues, questions about the economic outlook, and a persistent fear of the virus, coming at the expense of high-contact retail activities.

Retail sales rose 0.8% from August to September 21, after a more robust +2.1% from July to August 21. Customers increased their purchases on groceries, while general merchandise, personal care, electronic stores decreased compared to August. Visa attributes this phenomenon to a persistent fear of the virus, which is coming as a conflict with a high level of savings and a strong will to consume.

Visa also notices that customers’ confidence is decreasing in September, due to high prices (linked to the global logistics bottleneck) and questions about the job market.

Visa Report

What: Ikea makes a major acquisition in the city centre of a country which has been, and is going through, turbulences related to Brexit.

Why it is important: The amount of the acquisition shows Ikea’s belief in the relevance and permanence of brick & mortar business, even though they are also advancing on the digital front. It will also be the first Ikea store of this size in an European city centre.

Swedish furniture group Ikea has confirmed the purchase of the former iconic Topshop location in Oxford Circus, in the centre of London (we initially reported the information earlier in September). The acquisition amounts to GBP 378m and Ikea will use a third of the 22,200 sqm space over seven floors, renting the rest to other long-term tenants such as Nike or Vans.

Once the store is open, Ikea will operate a total of 23 stores in the UK.

Ikea buys former Topshop Oxford Circus flagship store

What: Five years ago, the retailer tested smaller stores and ultimately didn't move forward with them but things have changed, putting stores at the centre of the business. Ulta will also launch a media network to leverage its customer data.

Why it is important: Stores will continue to be a major source of investment while Ulta will monetize its customer data.

Out of a planned USD 1.1 billion to USD 1.4 billion in capital expenditures for 2022 to 2024, over half (57%) is allocated to stores, between opening new stores and investments in the current fleet.

Ulta shared a glimpse into how it's viewing the brick-and-mortar experience in the future. The vision is to debut a 5,000-square-foot Ulta Beauty store in smaller markets with a tailored assortment and services. Depending on how that goes, the retailer could scale the concept going forward. On its side, Sephora’s new vision for stores is a 4,000-square-foot format focused in local neighbourhoods and shopping centres rather than malls.

Ulta is also launching a media network, dubbed UB Media, to allow Ulta brands to advertise with its customers. The idea is that brands can receive Ulta's customer data, advertise across its channels, and all purchases will be driven back to Ulta. The offering provides Ulta with another potential revenue stream, and allows it to monetize the customer data it already collects.

The retailer revealed plans for its "expanded view of beauty”, less relying on makeup as a category, and a move to take advantage of the growing wellness category (makeup accounted for 53% of Ulta's net sales in 2018 and now accounts for 44%).

Ulta tests small-format stores, moves into wellness as it seeks growth 

What: 3 examples from the US on how omnichannel capabilities help to drive customers back.

Why it is important: The 3 examples illustrate in a fragment way what is at stake for each large retailer: being a destination, always relevant to the moment and space, and achieving profitability through adequate partnerships.

Kohls realized in 2020 that customers had a dual ambition. On the one hand, they wanted to save time, money and resources during their shopping trip. On the other hand, they were longing for inspiration and discovery during their visits to physical stores. This is the reason why Kohls has upgraded their stores to make sure that each visit is worth the trip, through specific and desirable partnerships such as Sephora, Cole Haan or Tommy Hilfiger.

Nordstrom is aiming at the same result through the astute combination of Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack and their digital expertise. Half of their sales is now coming from the digital channel. They also look at dedicated partnerships, such as ASOS, Topshop, Miss Selfridges, Warby Parker and others.

On their side, Macy’s is accelerating their Polaris strategy by repositioning the store fleet, enhancing omnichannel experiences, modernizing the supply chain and inking partnerships with Toys R Us, Urban Modesty or a selection of inclusive brands. Bloomie’s, their new and smaller format, is also part of this approach.

How department stores are bringing customers back

What: The retailer is partnering with Black Owned Everything, a marketplace promoting the work of Black-owned businesses in fashion and beauty, and its founder and celebrity stylist Zerina Akers.

Why it is important: At a time when Nike is willing to be more DTC-oriented, the collaboration sees Akers and Nordstrom come together on a curated selection featuring four Black-owned brands, displayed in the Nordstrom x Nike spaces.

Simultaneous with the online presence of the collection, Black Owned Everything merchandise will also be available at four Nordstrom x Nike pop-ups in US-based Nordstrom stores.

Nordstrom x Nike Presents Black Owned Everything by Zerina Akers 

What: Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is reportedly in talks on a deal as the Weston family that currently own Selfridges seeks to offload the business for around GBP 4 billion.

Why it is important: Could London's two top luxury department stores end up with the same owner? That's the question being asked as it has emerged that the owner of Harrods is possibly front-runner to buy up-for-sale Selfridges.

City sources told the Mail that the Harrods owner is the lead suitor. The fund, which bought Harrods for GBP 1.5 billion in 2010 is also owner of Paris-based retailer Printemps, for which it paid EUR 1.75 billion in 2013.

Canada's Hudson’s Bay Company and Hong Kong's Lane Crawford are also eyeing Selfridges, as is Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. None of the parties involved have commented so far, however.

Selfridges has struggled during the pandemic because of its city centre locations seeing very little footfall and because tourists have been thin on the ground until very recently. The Weston family launched an auction for the company back in the summer. It's currently unclear whether any sale would also include the department stores that the business owns in other countries, including Holt Renfrew in Canada, Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland and De Bijenkorf in the Netherlands.

Harrods' owner in talks to buy Selfridges

What: Through the retailer’s “Printemps Académie”, fashion experts from Paris stores have received training certificates from the well-know French fashion school ESMOD.

Why it is important: At a time when personal shoppers have become more important with distant shopping, Printemps improves their knowledge and emphasizes their value with a fashion certification.

PRINTEMPS ACADEMIE 

What: The Council of Fashion Designers of America is working closely with key retailers to support the finalists of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and other emerging designers. Unlike previous years, all 10 finalists of the CVFF have received $50,000 apiece in grants and mentorship based on their designated areas of need.

Why it is important: From exposure in their flagship stores, digital support, entrepreneurial workshops to access to merchandising and accounting teams, both department stores are providing strong support to young designers development.

Nordstrom will host an in-store installation at their New York City flagship, providing this year’s 10 finalists with exposure to the Nordstrom customer and the experience of working with a large-scale brick-and-mortar retailer. The retailer will also provide digital support and amplification opportunities through their channels. Nordstrom is giving the designers access to Nordstrom’s merchandising team, brand program team and accounting teams to talk through the nuances and structure of the tactical work that needs to go into scaling a business.

Saks Fifth Avenue is supporting emerging designers and promoting eight new voices in fashion through their accelerator program, The New Wave. The designers are CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist LaQuan Smith and alumni Alejandra Alonso Rojas and Reese Cooper, as well as ASHYA, A.W.A.K.E. Mode, BruceGlen, Busayo and Kimberly Goldson. The program offers onboarding boot camp, mentorship and entrepreneurial workshops. In addition, each brand is eligible to receive a USD 10,000 grant to support their business operations and growth, as well as dedicated marketing support from Saks.

This year’s 10 CVFF honorees are Batsheva Hay of Batsheva; Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta of Eckhaus Latta; Anifa Mvuemba of Hanifa; Rebecca Henry and Akua Shabaka of House of Aama; Kenneth Nicholson of Kenneth Nicholson; Jameel Mohammed of Khiry; LaQuan Smith of LaQuan Smith; Abrima Erwiah of Studio One Eighty Nine; Edvin Thompson of Theophilio, and Willy Chavarria of Willy Chavarria.

CFDA, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom Give Boost to Emerging Designers 

Nordstrom and CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund In-Store Installation Nordstrom

What: Los Angeles-based e-tailer 11 Honoré — which offers high-end women’s clothing sizes 12 to 24 — is launching at Nordstrom, marking the brand’s first retail partnership.

Why it is important: Nordstrom has been a pioneer in the size-inclusive movement and has been investing in 11 Honoré in 2019.

The brand is releasing 14 new styles exclusively at Nordstrom, priced between USD 128 and USD 248.

11 Honoré also collaborates with designers to produce more size-inclusive goods, and previously worked with LaQuan Smith. Ganni is the latest partner to join the endeavor. Originally offering sizes 14 to 16 on the 11 Honoré site, Ganni now provides sizes 12 to 22.

11 Honoré Launching at Nordstrom

What: The opening of the Jio World Drive mall in Mumbai, spread over 17.5 acres in the Maker Maxity complex close to the upscale areas of Bandra and Khar, has injected life into India's premium retail segment.

Why it is important: For years, brands eyeing one of the country’s biggest consumer markets — Mumbai — have been complaining about the shortage of options in a city where real estate is pricey and the urban sprawl too dense to easily allow large mall options. The sought-after malls — Palladium and Phoenix Market City in Lower Parel and in Orbit in Malad, respectively — are a distance away for the well-heeled and Bollywood-steeped Bandra and Khar areas of Mumbai.

Jio World Drive aims to fill that gap with its glass and steel exterior and elegant positioning, as well as the name used by several of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s projects. Ambani’s company Reliance is the largest retailer in India by revenue, with a yearly turnover of USD 21.6 billion. Reliance operates more than 12,711 stores across 7,000 cities in India, with a retail area exceeding 33.8 million square feet. Reliance Brands also operates more than 40 global brands in India, including Emporio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna and Diesel.

Flagship stores at the mall include Diesel, Replay, Hugo Boss, Emporio Armani and Paul Smith, with an estimated 55% space taken up by fashion brands, and 32% by food and beverage. This includes 72 stores and 27 culinary outlets, typically with a six-year lease, except for the new concept The White Crow. This is a pop-up area of 17,000 square feet that brings in brands for three months at a time, providing a stream of new ideas to the mall. The focus is on how to appeal to the increasingly time challenged consumer via right-brained thinking — paying attention to the overall ambience with music, art, concierge services and other strategies.

Reliance hasn’t only opened a new mall in the Bandra Kurla complex but also a new convention centre, which appears to give India’s key Mumbai Fashion Week its first permanent address after years of constantly changing venues.

India’s New Jio World Mall Gives Luxury Brands More Space in Mumbai

What: Hong Kong sales are stabilizing thanks to government-backed consumption incentives.

Why it is important: Consumption Voucher Schemes clearly boost sales, however retailers need to top up these schemes with special offers to be more attractive to customers than the others, leading to a tension on retail prices.

August is the seventh month of uninterrupted retail sales growth compared to 2020, thanks to a stabilizing Covid-19 situation and a government-funded consumption voucher boost (CVS). August itself grew +11.9% compared to 2020, and in terms of year to date until end of July, retail sales grew as a whole by +8.1%.

The categories growing the most were jewellery, watches, clocks and luxury items, however fashion items went through an even higher peak, thanks to the additional incentives proposed by local retailers coming on top of CVS.

The lack of Chinese tourists is still heavily felt, even though tourism as a whole is now back in the black in terms of net numbers of arrivals.

Hong Kong retail sales rise again as consumption vouchers kick in 

What: Wisconsin shopping center ‘The Corners of Brookfield’ is going digital: the retailer is launching a marketplace.

Why it’s important: In collaboration with retail cloud software Placewise, The Corners of Brookfield is lauching a website.

The director of marketing and experience, Roessler, reached out to Placewise, who had earlier designed the center’s website. The goal being that consumers’s experience shopping online and offline are almost identical. A digital marketplace mirroring consumers.

The shopping center hopes to launch a full-fleged marketing place with 100% participation across all its tenants by the end of 2022, including Tempur-Pedic, Lululemon and L.L. Bean.

Furthermore, Roessler and Placewise president John Dee are also hoping to integrate restaurant tenants, as well as services from movie theater ticket booking to nail salon appointments.

Why one Wisconsin shopping center is launching a digital marketplace

What: Walmart enters Doordash and Instacart territory by maximizing the profitability of its logistical infrastructure, while at the same time generating an additional revenue stream.

Why it is important: Even if Walmart’s initial press release mentioned that its new delivery as a service offer would benefit to small and local businesses, the size of the agreement shows that it is possible to build rapidly a solid additional revenue stream making the most of the core competences of the company.

Walmart has inked in its first agreement with a customer, Home Depot, willing to use its white label delivery-as-a-service that we mentioned earlier this month.

Home Depot (USD 19 billion sales online in 2020) will be able to offer same-day and next-day delivery services in some US States at the beginning, before being able to expand nationwide by the end of the year. Home Depot charges its customers USD 8,99 for same day delivery. The partnership with Walmart will enable the company to propose this service to 90% of the US population.

This will also guarantee Walmart a stream of revenue independently from the sales achieved in its stores, and will maximize the profitability of the infrastructure it has built during the past years.

Related news:

• Walmart launches a new white label service for retailers

Walmart's delivery service lands Home Depot as its first customer