Blondie Tsang will become President of Hong Kong-based Lane Crawford and Joyce, starting next January. Tsang began as an assistant buyer at Lane Crawford in the 90s and was working as managing director of Celine Asia-Pacific for the past seven years. She is succeeding Andrew Keith who spent ten years in the role.

In a podcast for Business of Fashion, founder of Retail Prophet Doug Stephens investigates the future of experiential retail in the wake of the pandemic. Guests include Neighborhood Goods’ co-founder, Story founder, and CEO and co-founder of CAMP.

Listen to the podcast below:

BoF podcast: Will covid-19 kill experiential retail? Not so fast

article: Will covid-19 kill experiential retail? Not so fast

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What: a shop-in-shop dedicated to wellness.

Why it is important: just a few days ago, US Kohl’s announced it would review its assortment to put the focus on casual wear, and launch a new athleisure private brand. Following this lead it is now opening a space dedicated to wellness.

With consuming habits continuing to shift toward a more healthy and casual lifestyle with a focus on home, cares and casual wear, Kohl’s is now piloting a new essential goods concept: Kohl’s Wellness Market. The shop-in-shop experience features an assortment of products across home, beauty, personal wellness, baby and pet care; with a focus on clean, natural or sustainable products.

The new concept launches in 50 store locations as well as online, and is part of Kohl’s strategy to further establish itself as a leader in active, casual and wellness lifestyle.

Kohl’s Introduces Essentials with the Wellness Market

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Cooler weather helped to move some autumn items, but the lack of international shoppers continued to dampen sales. Fast Retailing said Uniqlo store stores in Japan increased by 10 percent last month versus September 2019. Customer numbers were up by 8.5 percent, and the average purchase grew by 1.4 percent. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, Japan’s largest department store operator, said September same-store sales of its five department stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area declined by 35.5 percent on the year. The Mitsukoshi store in the Japanese capital’s Ginza district, which was a popular shopping destination for overseas tourists before the onset of the pandemic, saw its September sales fall by 47.8 percent. Takashimaya said sales at its 15 department stores in Japan dropped 36.1 percent in September versus 2019. The retailer’s Osaka store in southwestern Japan saw its sales fall by 44.7 percent, while the store in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district recorded a monthly sales decrease of 41.7 percent.

September Retail Sales in Japan are Mixed

What: Former El Corte Inglés president Dimas Gimeno will open first-ever WOW store in Madrid next year.

Why it is important: The project shows the remaining consistency of the multi-product inner-city flagship model.

Dimas Gimeno has returned to retail with his own project: a multi-product store that will rival the likes of Primark, Amazon and El Corte Inglés. Selling everything from homeware to fashion, the flagship will open in the Summer 2021 on Madrid’s Gran Via and will occupy 5.500sqm. The store is hoped to be the first of many, and the company also plans to open pop-up stores in the meantime.

Former President of El Corte Inglés to launch new bargain brand

Canadian department store operator Hudson’s Bay is partnering with Canadian designer platform Inland to house emerging national and BIPOC brands (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). For the launch, the partnership features 40 brands, and new brands should be added regularly to the list. Starting 2 October, the assortment is available across Canada through the newly launched Inland online shop, available through thebay.com; the partnership will run until 31 December 2020.

Originally, Inland was a bi-annual pop-up event showcasing fashion and accessory from Canadian labels; this year it expanded to include a curated selection of brands available through an online marketplace.

Hudson’s Bay Debuts Partnership With INLAND To Support Canadian And BIPOC Designers

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Combined sales by South Korea's retail giants are estimated to have declined more than 2 trillion won (US$1.75 billion) on-year in the first nine months of this year on the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, a poll showed on 19 October.

Industry leader Lotte Shopping and its rivals Shinsegae and Hyundai Department Store are projected to have posted a combined 17.3 trillion won (US$15.2 billion) in sales in the January-September period, down 2.2 trillion (US$1.93 billion) won from the previous year, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.

Local retailers have been hit hard by the virus outbreak as people refrain from visiting offline stores and instead resort to online shopping to avoid infection risks. In particular, the retail giants' duty-free segment has been battered by the pandemic as the number of customers sharply fell amid disrupted air travel.

Retail giants' sales dip over 2tr won this year amid pandemic: poll

What: Lotte Group launched a data governance task force to reinforce its e-commerce business.

Why it is important: Data management is now becoming critical.

South Korea’s retail conglomerate Lotte Group launched a data governance task force under direct control of Kang Hee-tae, Lotte Shopping vice chairman and head of the group’s retail business units, to reinforce its e-commerce business through better use of massive consumer data. It is also part of its efforts to maintain its leading position in the retail market increasingly threatened by emerging e-commerce and online shopping players. The group has established the team to integrate management of the massive amount of data garnered from so many different places to create synergy and discover customers’ need as fast as possible. The group is expected to first use the data processed at the new team to upgrade its online shopping platform Lotte ON launched in April.

Lotte has the highest number (40 million) of subscribers to its membership service Lotte Members among the nation’s retailers. More than 60 million data is collected every month via its retail units.

Lotte going all-out to bolster data power to survive ecommerce competition

What: the acquisition of a rival in the resale market.

Why it is important: the trend of resale and second-hand fashion has been growing over the past years, and especially in the latest months. Lithuanian Vinted is dominating the European peer-to-peer selling market.

The resale market has been skyrocketing in the past months. For consumers it is as much a sustainable move than an economical one. Start-up Vinted, with more than 1.3 billion euros in sales in 2019, has bought its rival Dutch peer-to-peer resale service United Wardrob. With this merge they will bring together 34 million users buying and selling online. The two platforms will gradually be integrated, and users of United Wardrobe will to easily migrate their user accounts to Vinted, accessing a wider variety of items and a larger community of potential buyers.

Vinted became Lithuania's first tech unicorn in November 2019 -- an industry term for a start-up valued at more than $1.0 billion.

UW and Vinted are joining forces!

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What: learnings from this year’s Amazon prime days.

Why is it important: According to Digital Commerce 360, sales of the Prime Days grew +45% this year, for an estimated €8,9bn, however for the first time Amazon declined to give more detailed insights, contrary to its habits.

According to Forbes, the key learnings are:

• Prime Days, an Amazon self-organized promotion event, is now a key US shopping date, addressing an estimated customer base of 82m customers in the country (65% of US total households). This year, 350 retailers decided to join the event, a +17% increase vs. LY.
• In spite of having been rescheduled from its initial dates in July, the October event was understood by many customers as being the official date of the US holiday season, weeks ahead of the Black Friday. 29% of customers reportedly bought part of their holiday shopping during this event.
• In spite of Amazon having communicated on the increase of third-party sellers (+60% for a total value of €3bn), it still owns the operation as a whole, as 53% of shoppers only considered Amazon for their purchases, and 72% without even comparing prices at other retailers.
• Best selling products reflected that the fear of Coronavirus is still very much present: from detergent to toilet paper, cleaning wipes, and disinfectants, each and every country saw a strong impact on hygiene and cleaning staples across the board.

5 Takeaways From An Amazon Prime Day That Showed Subtle Signs Of Coronavirus Trouble

What: the department store is shutting down its two last units in Singapore

Why it is important: with the closure of this two units, the retailer will exist the country after 162 years

Robinsons liquidates its two department stores in Singapore (located at at The Heeren and Raffles City Shopping Centre), exiting the country after 162 years. Owned by the United Arab Emirates-based Al-Futtaim Group since 2008, Robinsons has been suffering losses for the last  years from shrinking sales. Danny Lim, Robinsons' senior general manager, said: “We regret this outcome today. […] However, the changing consumer landscape makes it difficult for us to succeed over the long term and the Covid-19 pandemic has further exacerbated our challenges.” The two Robinsons stores in Malaysia will also undergo a similar liquidation process.

Robinsons to close last stores at The Heeren and Raffles City

The other iconic Hong Kong department store along with Sogo, Lane Crawford, is turning 170 and also launching a round of celebrations this year. They are collaborating with seven brands and propose exclusive activities and capsule collections. Like many retailers, Lane Crawford was severely hit by the pandemic, worse than SARS and 2008 global financial crisis combined, as reported by Apple Daily last May. Lane Crawford belongs to Joyce Group, listed in HK, which posted in 2019 an annual revenue of €92,3m, -2% vs. 2018, for a gross profit of €8,6m, +77% vs.2018. 2020 data is not available yet.

Lane Crawford Celebrates 170th Anniversary With Seven Exclusives

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What: Macy’s has decided to close 2 of its 546 stores in the US to convert them into fulfillment centers for the Christmas season.

Why it is important: In the Dover Mall, closing Macy’s will leave open only 2 of its initial 4 anchors: JC Penney and Boscov’s. Sears closed in 2018 and Macy’s has not communicated on a date, not even on an “if” they will reopen this unit. The acceleration of giant department stores chains into smaller formats forces them to review what to do with their larger units, which has a domino consequence on malls in the US.

Macy’s launched a pilot operation in prevision of the Holiday season, by converting 2 stores into fulfillment centers. They expect traffic instore during the season to lower by 22 to 25% YoY and therefore are exploring new ways to make the most of their spaces. One can wonder how this translates into the management of the workforce, and if sales staff are replaced, or converted, into warehousing teams. Macy’s remains vague on the number of stores it is planning to convert, as well as on the return to their original functions after the season. It could also be seen as a last chance opportunity for losses making units, to see if they can cater to other needs, before considering total closure at a moment when Macy’s and sister company Bloomingdales are going into smaller, more local stores.

Dover Mall Macy's serving as fulfillment center during holiday season

Inclusive “solutionwear” brand Skims, founded by Kim Kardashian West, is available for the first time outside of America. The Europe launch is part of an exclusive distribution deal with Selfridges. The range, which includes over 200 styles from sizes XXS- 5X in nine tonal colourways, is available on Selfridges website as well as in the retailer’s stores in London, Birmingham and Manchester. Kim Kardashian West said: “Selfridges are known for their incredible fashion mix – making it the perfect place for UK based customers to discover Skims.”

What: JC Penney is accelerating its sale process before holiday seasons

Why is it important: in addition to being ready on time for holidays, meaning having purchased the goods to sales, JC Penney is currently facing another issue, as there is a conflict between its debtors.

JC Penney’s plan is to continue the activity by selling itself to its debtors. The company shall be divided into 2 entities, the operating company (including stocks and 70,000 headcounts), to be sold to property owner Simon & Brookfield, and the real estate, which would give way to a credit to the rest of debtors. However, they are contesting this arrangement and asking for their share of the deal, in spite of not having yet proposed a plan to the judge in charge of the liquidation in disguise.

JC Penney Revs Up for Sale as Lender Faction Looks to Join the Fray

What:  Available options for US Brands and Retailers entering the Black Friday and Cyber Monday week.

Why it is important: All department stores have been affected by overstocks this year, due to the lockdown closures (817 days cumulated for all IADS members). Looking at how the highly competitive, discount-driven US market (where most of the department stores played and lost) can give examples on how to address future promotional periods of time when giants like Amazon are able to play outside the calendar. Being extremely precise, making geolocalized or tailor-made promotions individualized could be a way to exit dangerous strategies based on heavily discounted at the end of the season for stock reasons.

Context is highly uncertain and volatile this year for retailers. In the US, Amazon Prime Days’ rescheduling to October reshuffled the promotion calendars and customers’ expectations, by taking over the landmark role Black Friday has played so far. For the rest of the retailers planning to start their promotion cycle this week, message clarity is key: customers need to understand that they will not get higher markdowns later in the season, otherwise this will affect their purchases.

In addition, customers are scared and tend to favour online shopping (all the more than new lockdowns might be decided in some countries or cities due to the virus’s second wave). Online competition is fierce and, as a consequence, not only increases the cost of operation and advertising but also questions the ability of the logistical networks to support the stress test of the coming holidays. Retailers need to be prepared to pay the price of it, affecting margins, and face angry customers too. This is a reason why alternatives to shipping like in-store pickup are more than ever solutions to be looked at.

Finally, the question of how to lure customers in without exclusively relying on discounts – not a novelty this year as many retailers had to let go of Spring stock – is key. Making sure promotions are well-targeted, either on the proper categories according to new trends (stay at home effect) or on overstocked merchandise (to limit the impact of overall margin) are two strategies explored by players on the market.

Overall, the key question of a discounting strategy remains as vivid as ever. Some brands are refusing to play this game (Patagonia, Allbirds) but the novelty is that doing so can be seen now as a part of a sustainability strategy (or properly marketed stance): “we do not do discounts, because we refuse to overstock our goods”.

This Is How Black Friday Works in a Pandemic

What: A 10 years review of major department stores moves on the US market

Why is it important: Another proof, if this was needed, that the pandemic was actually just an accelerator on the problems experiences by the US market. Another illustration as well that the US market had difficulties which were quite specific, and that the international news coverage about department stores is biased by the weight of the US market in the industry.

Retail Dive reviews all major moves from department stores players in the US over a decade. Reviewing it, it is striking to see to what extent the market was addicted to a network sizing race in order to bury in the numbers reported to shareholders the inability to adapt to major changes, i.e. e-commerce and customer evolving behaviour.

Department Stores’ decade of decline

Hyundai Department Store Co. is readying to lure shoppers to its new outlet store, due to open on 6 October in Namyangju, a Gyeonggi city east of Seoul, with not only luxury fashion brands but also diverse art and cultural events inside the massive shopping complex. The South Korean retail giant announced that its fourth outlet store Hyundai Premium Outlet SPACE ONE will have 36,859-square-meter cultural and art facilities, almost 70 percent of its total shopping area of 51,365 square meters. Its cultural space is six times wider than the average art-related space of its premium outlets of 6,611 square meters.

What: China has significantly started recovering in the domestic tourism market.

Why it is important: Signs are showing that customers are not yet ready in terms of the trust to travel internationally, which is an issue to deal with by European players, as the rebound of the pandemic is making headlines. Furthermore, one might read in between the lines that the Chinese customer is changing in nature, confirming its transition towards a more individualistic, hedonistic one. This will also have consequences on retailers regarding the way they deal with these customers once markets are fully reopened.

McKinsey had conducted a survey in May 2020 about Chinese travels, concluding that the domestic travel would recover quickly (as a reminder, the global tourism market is expected, according to Visa, to shrink by 67%, for a value of €733bn, to get back to 2002’s levels at €362bn globally, from €1,095bn). They are now updating this story to identify lessons for other countries. As the key features of their study:

• In September, demand for domestic travel is back to last year’s level, while international tourism demand is still very low,
• Domestic travel demand is valid for all types: local leisure trips, domestic short and long haul, domestic business travel. For leisure, an important element is that more and more respondents are asking for self-guided or self-driving experiences, rather than group visits,
• In spite of this enthusiasm, the trust in travel is still hesitant, which probably explains why high-end travel is booming,
• The recovery of international travel is likely to be gradual, according to the establishment of “travel bubbles” in the region. However, the trust factor remains to be seen.

Very expectedly, the report concludes that, for other countries, key steps now are to rebuild demand, via promotional activities, before enhancing the value proposal once trust has been reinstalled, focus on domestic consumption, and accelerate the digital transformation.

What can other countries learn from China's travel recovery path?

Over Black Friday weekend, the Swedish retailer will be hosting an event called Buy Back in 27 countries. Customers can bring in old Ikea furniture for the retailer to resell or recycle, in exchange for store credit. The event allows Ikea to promote circular economy and reach out to a new customer basis, who otherwise would have gone to another marketplace for second-hand furniture. “[…] second-hand furniture was a more established market than fashion but sales were traditionally conducted on an informal basis at yard sales, thrift shops and by sales to friends,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.

Ikea hopes to become a completely circular company by 2030, meaning that all of its products are designed to be reused, repaired, upgraded, and recycled.

With resale, Ikea is trying to find new ways to acquire customers

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What: a new service in order to reinforce proximity between customers and the retail brand

Why is it important: one can wonder how this translates into actual sales. If the real pitch is to give impartial advice, nothing could prevent customers from buying recommended products from a cheaper, online, provider. We believe at IADS that any initiative looking at reinforcing proximity should, at some stage, aim to generate traffic (especially instore).

John Lewis launches “All things baby”, a 30-mn consultation service with parents-to-be, to advise them on how to prepare the arrival of their baby with impartial advice. A virtual nursery service had already been launch in April during lockdown. Parents can also receive advise on what to buy to prepare the arrival of the baby.

John Lewis launches new All Things Baby nursery services 

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Swiss department store Manor has announced a partnership with Fnac Switzerland, that will result in the opening of Fnac shop-in-shops in four Manor department stores from November 2020. The shop-in-shops, working as a concession model, will offer Manor’s clients a larger assortment in multimedia, culture and gaming among others, as well as professional advice. Fnac will benefit from the premium Manor’s locations in the country. The partnership continues online as instore Manor’s clients will have access to Fnac’s online assortment for more products; the physical locations will serve as Click-and-collect hubs. Should the partnership be a success, it will extend to more Manor’s stores.

Press release (in French) below

Fnac Suisse et Manor annoncent un partenariat pour le développement de shop-in-shops en Suisse

Update 30 September 2020: Rene Benko's real estate and retail group Signa is sticking to its megaproject "KaDeWe Vienna" despite the corona-related crisis in the city hotel industry and consumer reticence, but the conversion of the current Leiner flagship on Vienna's Mariahilfer Strasse into a department shop à la "Kaufhaus des Westens" will take a year longer than originally planned. The opening is scheduled for autumn 2024, said Signa managing director Christoph Stadlhuber on Thursday.

16 October 2019: Berlin-based department store KaDeWe is set to launch a new outpost in the Museumsquartier section of Vienna. Designed by OMA architecture firm, the project will comprise two volumes: a retail space and a hotel. The store should gather 30 000sqm of selling space while the hotel will house 150 rooms. Public gardens will stretch across the rooftops with a diverse layout of spaces, from tree gardens to sundecks that frame unprecedented urban views. Construction work should start first semester 2021 and be completed by fall 2023.

Travel-retail specialist DFS, owned by LVMH, has appointed Benjamin Vuchot as its new CEO. Vuchot previously overviewed Asian development at Sephora, after having held various positions at Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, always in Asia. DFS posted a turnover of €4,01bn in 2019, and belongs to LVMH’s selective retailing division, which posted a loss of 32% on the fist semester of 2020, to €4,84bn.

DFS is managing the Samaritaine department store, which is set to reopen in Paris early 2021.

LVMH’s DFS Group Names Benjamin Vuchot Chairman, CEO

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