Karl Lagerfeld, one of the world's most iconic designer, has died in Paris. He was 85. In a seven-decade career, Lagerfeld created collections simultaneously for the celebrated houses of Chanel and Fendi, in addition to his signature label. For Lagerfeld, to design was to breathe, "so if I can't breathe, I'm in trouble," he often quipped to journalists who were astonished by his inexhaustible work ethic and his insistence that he would never retire. His incredible longevity and success as a designer, and the fortunes of the companies for which he worked, owed at least partly to Lagerfeld's intentional detachment from the business side of fashion. He claimed never to discuss sales figures or budgets with management. "I work my own marionette in a way, my own puppet," he told The New York Times. "It's something I control." That extraordinarily rare freedom from the restraints of financial responsibility enabled him to continually make clothes that inspired consumers to dream.

As designers half his age complained of burnout from fashion's maddening pace, Lagerfeld made himself even busier by dabbling in a constant stream of publishing, photography, film and design projects. Ignoring the traditional expectations of a luxury player, he designed hotel rooms, video games, motorcycle helmets, a BMW, and a cosmetics range inspired by his also-famous cat, Choupette, and directed an ad campaign for Magnum ice cream bars.

Despite all this extra-curricular output, though, he was driven by one thing in fashion, he said, which was to make his designs better than they were the season before.

Read below the full article from Business of Fashion.

Business of Fashion: Karl Lagerfeld Dies in Paris

Swedish furniture retailer Ikea will begin offering the option to lease certain furniture pieces in Switzerland this month. Customers can rent pieces of furniture for a set period until it is no longer needed; the retailer will then refurbish the pieces and keep them in circulation and prolong their lifecycle, which means less waste and more recycling. The service is the first in a series of tests that may ultimately result in "scalable subscription services" of various furniture items. The company said leasing office furniture to business customers would be among the first trials, but kitchens could be the next space to be explored.

The Beverley Hills branch of Barneys will be the first department store to introduce a section devoted to cannabis. The department called The High End, occupies 300 sq ft on the fifth floor of the Beverley Hills flagship location. It will also sell a number of lifestyle products such as vaporiser pens and pastilles, as well as CBD-infused beauty products. Lighters, trays and cases are also available and customers will have the option of purchasing these items on the Barneys website. Last year, the number of CBD consumers doubled following a rise in easily available products around the world.

Saks Fifth Avenue flagship has revealed its newly renovated ground floor accessories department. The 5000 m² ground floor which was previously the beauty department now offers 50 handbag brands, of which 14 are new to the store.

A striking aspect of the floor is its Rem Koolhaas-designed escalator which changes colour. The beauty department has been moved to the upper floor while the fine jewellery now has its place called The Vault in the basement. This floor is part of the $250 million grand renovation kicked off four years ago with the "0022-SHOE" department.

Signa has started outlining some of the changes it will implement as part of the consolidation of Kaufhof and Karstadt department store chains in Germany. In the last quarter of 2018, Kaufhof announced sales down 4% on the previous year's quarter, and online sales were also down 1%.

Administration and management of Kaufhof will be transferred from Cologne to Karstadt offices in Essen. Cologne will become a digital centre and will also include the food business. Around 1000 jobs are expected to be lost in the headquarters. A further 1600 losses in stores are expected but have not been announced yet.

The Saks Off 5th, which had been introduced by Hudson's Bay, will be transformed into Karstadt Sports stores. Hudson's Bay, which acquired Kaufhof in 2015, now controls 49% of the business.

After a triumphant return to hometown New York City last year, FAO Schwarz announced that on 1 November 2019, it will open its first European flagship, within Selfridges' Oxford Street location in London.

The new shop at the upscale U.K. department store will occupy over 20,000 square feet of space and will feature play-based experiences similar to those in New York, including in-store demos and the FAO Raceway where shoppers "work alongside trained 'mechanics'" to build custom remote-control cars.

FAO Schwarz owner ThreeSixty Group and Selfridges are working together with third-party brands to introduce other experiences for customers as well.

press release: FAO Schwarz to open at Selfridges in London

Hudson's Bay Company., which runs North American retailers Saks Fifth Avenue, Hudson's Bay, Lord & Taylor and off-price retailer Saks OFF 5TH, said it is shutting down its Home Outfitters business in Canada. The company is also looking to close up to 20 locations of Saks OFF 5TH in the U.S.A. "These actions are part of the company's strategic plan to reduce costs, simplify the business and improve overall profitability," the company said.

press release: HBC shuts down home business, considers Saks off-price closures

Debenhams has secured £40 m in liquidity as it attempts a broader refinancing. The company issued three profit warnings last year and is struggling under a £ 360 m debt. The extra lending gives Debenhams some breathing space but the renegotiating of leases appears to be more complicated. Negotiations have been ongoing for one year without any obvious progress. One investor with a large stake forced the ousting of Debenhams chairman last month as well as driving the CEO off the board. The share value has increased by up to 49% on the news, but this was after a 96% fall since May 2015. The company has also signed an agreement with export and logistics company Li & Fung on a sourcing partnership for Debenhams own-brand products.

Department store retailer  Kohl's is moving into the health and wellness areas it has unveiled a pilot program with WW — previously known as Weight Watchers — for an in-store WW Studio. Select Kohl's stores and Kohls.com will begin offering WW Healthy Kitchen products in June, and store associates can also gain subsidized WW Freestyle program memberships through the Kohl's Healthy Rewards program. The first WW Studio this year will take up about 1,800sqft (approx. 168sqm) inside a Chicago Kohl's store, and will host WW Wellness Workshops for local WW members, as well as a specially curated WW space for Kohl's customers and associates.

Kohl's has already been trying to establish itself as a destination for health and wellness gear. Last year, it started devoting more square footage in some stores for athletic apparel, saying that was helping lift sales. The tie-up is also another way Kohl's hopes to differentiate itself from its peers that are struggling to keep shoppers coming to their stores rather than shop online.

Press release: Kohl's and WW collaborate to Support Wellness and Healthy Living

In one of its first major moves under new CEO Jill Soltau (who joined the company last year), J.C. Penney is discontinuing the sale of major appliances and limiting furniture sales to online and Puerto Rican stores, starting 28 February. It believes that removing appliances will help improve the shopping experience and allow for additional focus on higher-margin apparel and soft home furnishings sales.

Blog post by JC Penney on a repositioning of its Home Department

The technology wave has taken over retail Le Bon Marché is embarking on a wide-sweeping tech exhibit that will run from 23 February to 22 April 2019. The department store will be stocked with futuristic gadgets of all shapes and sizes, including interactive displays, virtual reality, holograms, full-body massage machines and an infinite supply of personalized products — down to the very soles of shoes. Project organizers have roped in every department to take part in this futuristic experiment, and dozens of brands are participating in the technology event.

"It's about more than simply selling merchandise", explained style director Jennifer Cuvillier. "We wanted to go further, for the client and really go for the experience, go beyond the products, to offer people a unique experience linked to new technologies," said Cuvillier. "The idea was to do something fun," she added.

full article by wwd on le bon marché "geek mais chic"

According to its CEO interviewed by the Financial Times, Ikea will begin testing a multi-brand platform. It is currently finalising details of its selling on a third-party website such as Amazon or Alibaba. But the company says there is room for another type of platform between those big global platforms and the company's own website. He cites Zalando as an example for fashion. Ikea, which is engaging in a major transformation, has begun testing leasing furniture, selling on other websites and city-centre smaller stores.

article: is ikea ready to rundle?

Jérôme Gilg, CEO of the Swiss DIY chain Jumbo since 2010, has switched to the CEO position at the department store chain Manor. Both companies belong to the Maus Frères group. At Manor, Gilg supersedes Stéphane Maquaire who has been CEO there since 2017 and who has created a new organisational structure both at the locations as well as at the headquarters.

Jérôme Gilg began his career at the Maus Frères group in 2000 in the hypermarkets with leadership responsibilities in the areas of food and non-food. He switched to Jumbo in 2004, initially as director of sales networks and then as director of purchasing before becoming CEO in 2010.

press release: Jérôme Gilg becomes CEO of Manor [in french]

Liberty store of London has been put on the market with a potential price tag of £350 m. Private equity Blue Gem acquired the business in 2010 for £32m and refinanced in 2014 reducing its stake to around 40%. Blue Gem is trying to offload its stake but it is unclear whether other investors are willing to sell. Group sales reached £133m in the year to February 2018, up 8% on the previous year, while pre-tax profit more than trebled to £7m. Around 60% of the store's profits come from selling own-label merchandise.

The company was founded by Arthur Lasenby Liberty in 1875 with a £2000 loan from his future father-in-law. It has become an international brand selling its fabrics and leather goods around the world. It is this aspect of the business which might appeal, according to some, to high net worth investors such as the Weston family, whose Canadian arm owns Selfridges, Brown Thomas, de Bijenkorf and Holt Renfrew, while the British arm owns Fortnum & Mason and Heal's in London.

WE WISH ALL OUR MEMBERS A HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

Illustration 'Chinese New Year: 2019 year of the pig' (png - 0.09Mo)

Macy's is restructuring its upper management teams to "increase the speed of decision making, reduce costs and respond to changing customer expectations." The company said that it will move key leaders into expanded roles. The company will also cut roughly 100 vice president and above jobs effective 1 March 2019. The department store expects the move to generate savings of $100 million beginning this year. The cuts will allow Macy's to redirect those resources toward supply chain efficiency, enhancing inventory management and building a larger customer base.

The company reported its fifth consecutive quarter of positive comp sales; Comps rose 0.4% for the quarter on an owned basis and 0.7% on an owned-plus-licensed basis.

Marks & Spencer is set to introduce plastic-free aisles after testing a new greengrocer shopping concept in its Tolworth store.

The retailer is launching more than 90 lines of loose fruit and vegetables free of all plastic packaging in a trial which will involve trained greengrocers on hand to help customers. Greengrocers will offer customers help to pick and weigh their products and advise on how best to preserve fresh produce and prevent food waste at home as M&S has removed "best before" date labels as part of the trial. The range includes hard fruit and vegetables like potatoes and bananas but also more perishable items such as soft fruits and berries, which will be sold in compostable punnets.

M&S said it has also committed to launching additional lines of loose produce, replacing plastic produce bags with paper ones and phasing out plastic barcode stickers in favour of eco-friendly alternatives in every one of its UK stores in an effort to save 580 tonnes of waste over two years. If it is successful it will be rolled out more widely across the UK.

press release: M&S trialling plastic-free aisles in push to save the environment

Bloomingdale's has put the finishing touches to its reimagined beauty floor at its 59th Street flagship in New York City. New features include a luxe fragrance hall, a vast array of beauty services and spa rooms, personalised beauty shopping service, a multitude of new brands and technology innovations.  'The beauty department is the first stop on every customer's journey upon entering the store, and in renovating the space we had to ensure that it would capture and engage our shoppers. The revamped department has all the sought-after brands, a spectacular luxury fragrance hall and enhanced service offerings. In addition, through state-of-the-art installations we have created an environment like no other beauty floor in the world' said Francine Klein, vice chairman and GMM for shoes, handbags, fashion accessories, fashion and fine jewellery, cosmetics and outlets.

The department spans 3,382 sq m of the flagship's main floor, with an additional 102 sq m of beauty outposts located across multiple floors of the store. It houses more than 200 beauty brands including 75 new and noteworthy names. The new floor boasts state-of-the-art counters, interactive spaces and tech enhancements to elevate the shopper's experience in a fun, dynamic atmosphere. The revamped floor features modern product displays in open sell environments and multiple play stations to encourage shoppers to touch, feel and try out products. The space is also home to a multitude of shop-in-shops, where brand partners created environments reflective of their brand image.

The reimagined cosmetics floor is the next phase of the flagship store's complete transformation, following renovations that created a home store, destination shoe emporium, ready-to-wear experience and now a playground for beauty and fragrances.

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Selfridges said it delivered a "record-breaking Christmas" with sales on the up throughout the holiday period. The British department store said it saw an 8 percent sales increase across all of its channels during the week of Christmas and in the 24 day run-up to the holidays. Selfridges' Oxford Street flagship saw a 10 percent uplift in sales during the 24 days before the holidays. On Boxing Day, despite declining footfalls in stores across the U.K., the retailer said that it took in more than 4 million pounds in the first hours of the annual sale.

Exclusive product and in-store entertainment — which ranged from a sold-out Christmas cabaret to pop-up choirs and Santa appearances — drove consumers to the stores throughout the festive period, the store said. "Our 'Selfridges Rocks Christmas' theme and entertainment really resonated with our customers, both across our stores and online," said Anne Pitcher, Selfridges' managing director.

Last year, the retailer was in the process of completing an ambitious renovation project of its Oxford Street flagship, which has been a key contributor to the increased footfall. As part of the project, Selfridges unveiled the largest accessories department in the world, a new men's wear section that brings together street and designer wear, as well as a new in-store restaurant, created in partnership with Richard Caring of Caprice Holdings and featuring one-off works by Damien Hirst. It has also doubled the size of the beauty hall in its Manchester store and opened new Gucci and Jimmy Choo boutiques in its Birmingham location.

Israel's largest department store chain Hamashbir Lazarchan Ltd, controlled by Rami Shavit, has been hit by the growth of online retail. It is closing its 1,500 sqm branch in Tel Aviv's Gan Ha'Ir, where it has been operating for the past eight years. Hamashbir is also reducing its branch in the Kiryon mall in Kiryat Bialik in Haifa Bay from 6,400 sqm to 3,000 sqm. Hamashbir will also close its branch in the Lev Ashdod mall and open a smaller 1,800 sqm branch in Ashdod's Sea Mall.

At the same time, however, Hamashbir will open a new 2,300 sqm branch in March in a new mall in Atarot in northern Jerusalem. Some of the space vacated by Hamashbir in Tel Aviv's Lev Ha'Ir will be taken by Shufersal Ltd's pharmacy chain Be, while fashion chain Zara will move into Hamashbir's vacated space in Kiryat Bialik.

Saks Fifth Avenue has brought the team behind Parisian celebrity hot spot L'Avenue to open a new luxe restaurant at its 5th Avenue store in NYC. It also brought high-profile designer Philippe Starck for the decor. The French-Thai restaurant, a celebrity magnet in Paris, will open in early February on the ninth floor and will be spread across two floors that look out at St. Patrick's Cathedral and 30 Rock. The dining room is done up in beige and ivory with stained-glass windows offering glimpses into the kitchen. One floor down, a bar area is full of ski chalet-type furniture meant for people to linger and work or take meetings alongside cocktails.

L'Avenue joins an influx of retail restaurants that have opened in that last couple of years, as retailers look outside the box to attract shoppers. There's a separate entrance to the restaurant on 50th Street, though Saks hopes diners will go through the store.

John Lewis and Waitrose have both posted positive sales during what was the worst Christmas for retailers since the financial crash in 2008 but the retailer's owner, the John Lewis Partnership, has warned on profits as "weak consumer demand" increases pressure on the high street.

read full article on John lewis/waitrose christmas sales

Shares in Debenhams <DEB.L>, the British department store chain that is fighting for survival, plunged as much as 22 percent on 11 January as its new interim chairman began the task of trying to find a consensus among investors on the way forward. On 10 January, two major Debenhams shareholders - Mike Ashley's Sports Direct <SPD.L> and Middle Eastern investor Landmark Group - forced Chief Executive Sergio Bucher off the board and Chairman Ian Cheshire out of the company following a drop in Christmas sales. Terry Duddy, Debenhams' senior independent director, was appointed interim chairman, and said he would meet with shareholders to understand their concerns.

Sports Direct is Debenhams' biggest investor with a 29.7 percent stake but its plan for the department store chain is unclear. In September, Sports Direct ruled out a takeover bid, shortly after an outgoing director said the board had discussed combining Debenhams with the House of Fraser chain that Sports Direct bought out of administration in August for 90 million pounds. Debenhams has a programme to close 50 of its underperforming UK stores over three to five years. However, Ashley wants Debenhams to move faster. He told Sky News last month he believed Debenhams should carry out a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) restructuring to close stores. CVAs require the approval of landlords and creditors. Also in December, Debenhams declined the offer of a 40 million pound interest-free loan from Ashley, saying conditions attached to it could affect the interests of other stakeholders.

Debenhams has net debt of 286 million pounds and debt facilities of 520 million pounds. Its equity market value as of 10 January's close was just 59.3 million pounds. A key focus for Duddy will be refinancing Debenhams' existing banking facilities. The firm needs to pass a banking covenant test next month. "We believe all options are being considered - maybe different types of lenders and/or an equity rights issue," said analysts at Jefferies. The highly unusual situation of Bucher remaining as CEO but not being on the company board will also be problematic for Debenhams. "It is not tenable for the CEO not to be on the board. The danger now is that Mike (Ashley) is allowed, in all the confusion, to buy the company on the cheap," said independent retail analyst Nick Bubb.

Following the announcement that Saks Fifth Avenue is shutting its women's store at Brookfield Place downtown in New York on 5 January, two other major flagships are closing this month: Lord & Taylor and Gap.

Lord & Taylor has shut down its historic flagship on 2 January. WeWork should take possession of the 650,000-square-foot, 11-story property sometime in January and convert it to its global headquarters and shared offices, along with transforming the lower, main and second floors for new retailing.

Gap will close its three-level flagship at 680 Fifth Avenue on 20 January, after being on the site since 1997. The move is part of the specialty chain's massive streamlining that involves hundreds of stores worldwide that don't fit the "vision for the future of the Gap brand specialty store […]" as Gap Inc. chief executive officer Art Peck said.