After announcing the launch of its e-commerce website in July, The BHV/Marais finally opened its online Lifestyle Bazar to the public. The platform offers a new shopping experience with over 50,000 items across 750 brands. Through its new website, the BHV/Marais aims to become a benchmark in multi-brand online retailing for homeware, household hardware and decoration; while offering a cutting-edge selection of fashion -the uniquely balanced range includes 60% of homeware versus 40% of fashion. In the long terme, the BHV/Marais aims to generate 10% revenue online.

press release: bhv/marais launches e-commerce site

Following the launch of its first GCC store in Dubai, 160-year-old department store chain Robinsons & Co. has announced its expansion into Saudi Arabia with a new branch in Riyadh. The new branch will join a selection of luxury brand outlets in the Kingdom Center, one of Riyadh's largest malls.

Robinsons was in 1858 by John Spicer and Philip Robinson and was first called Spicer & Robinson in Singapore. In 2008, Al-Futtaim Group acquired the rights to operate Robinsons department store in Singapore by purchasing 88% of its shares at $5.20 per share. Robinsons made its debut in the Middle East in March 2017 with a 20,000 square meters store spanning across three floors at Dubai Festival City (pictured here).

Sports Direct, which is controlled by Mike Ashley, has dismissed the former directors and senior management of House of Fraser, less than two months after buying the department store group from its administrators [Sports Direct bought the company out of administration for £90 million in August]. In a one-sentence announcement to the London Stock Exchange, Sports Direct said: "Following the collapse of House of Fraser on August 10 2018, and subsequent calls for an investigation into the circumstances of that collapse, the Company today announces that we have dismissed the former Directors and senior management of House of Fraser." Those departing the chain will include chief executive Alex Williamson.

Meanwhile, Ashley has been in talks with landlords around the country about rents as he aims to keep stores open. So far, 20 House of Fraser stores have been saved from closure, safeguarding about 3,500 jobs. However, outlets in Edinburgh, Hull and Swindon will shut after Ashley failed to agree terms with landlords. A fourth store, in Bath, is also at risk of closure.

Bon-Ton and its affiliated retail brands, including Carson's, Boston Store, Herberger's and Younkers, are back online, thanks to tech company CSC Generation. CSC Generation Holdings Inc., a Merrillville, Indiana, technology and retail investment firm, purchased the bankrupt retailer's trademarks, websites, customer lists and other intellectual property for $900,000 in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. Now it is selling online as a department store chain in name, although the company's website appears to promise that opening stores is part of the plan. "We are re-building the business brick by brick," the website says. "In the meantime, we hope that you are enjoying shopping online, and sincerely hope to see you soon." News reports say CSC Generation is in negotiation with former Bon-Ton landlords about re-opening some locations in time for the holiday shopping season. Along with Bon-Ton's traditional apparel and home goods products, the new Bon-Ton will offer products such as large-screen TVs and major kitchen appliances. It also will have a lease-to-own offering for some of its merchandise.

The restart of Bon-Ton comes a few weeks after the department store chain closed its remaining brick-and-mortar locations.

J.C. Penney will introduce its new private brand Peyton & Parker later this month in nearly 400 stores and on jcpenney.com. This new brand covers apparel, accessories and shoes for men, women and children as well as home decor.

Much of the men's and women's products will be exactly duplicated in smaller sizes for boys and girls. In other cases, there will be some variation in silhouette, colour or fabric, but a consistent look will be maintained. According to Sue Koger, J.C. Penney's vice president of product development and design for women's, parents are increasingly dressing their kids in me-too versions of what they wear, most often for Instagram family photo moments on special occasions. All the merchandise will be displayed together on one pad so the shoppers can create this coordinated look for themselves and their family, without having to shop throughout the store. Designed and developed by the retailer's team, Peyton & Parker will offer classic "mix-and-match" pieces in limited-edition capsule collections each season, so if the product sells out, it's gone until the next season.

Private brands and lines exclusive to the retailer represent roughly 50 percent of J.C. Penney's assortment.

press release on JC penney's peyton & parker line

Stockmann announced it will divest its shopping centre in St. Petersburg, Russia, to PPF Real Estate. The Nevsky Centre and its owner, OOO Stockmann Nevsky Centre, will change hands at a price of 171 million euros, 10 million euros less than the balance sheet value of the property.

Lauri Veijalainen, the CEO of Stockmann, says the retailer is pleased to have found a buyer that is committed to developing the centrally located shopping centre further. "The divestment enables Stockmann to fully focus on developing its department store properties in Finland and the Baltic countries. At the same time, it gives us financial flexibility and a possibility to deleverage the group's balance sheet," he tells.

Stockmann revealed its objective is to close the transaction by year-end but reminded that it is still subject to approval from the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service. The divestment, it added, will have a net positive cash flow effect of roughly 139 million euros.

press release: Stockmann to sell Nevsky Centre in St. Petersburg

Macy's and Marxent have partnered on the largest virtual reality rollout in retail history, with the deployment of Marxent's virtual reality (VR) technology in about 70 stores nationwide. The companies expect to add another 20 locations by January 2019. In partnership with Marxent, Macy's is enabling customers to discover products and make informed buying decisions using the Macy's VR furniture experience.

At the stores, customers can use a virtual reality helmet to browse and visualize a much larger assortment of furniture than can typically be held in a physical space. They select items they want from the Macy's furniture offerings and lay them out virtually in the room. Wearing the headset, they get a feel for how the furniture looks in that space by virtually "stepping into" the room, using the headsets to "walk around" a coffee table, couch or other furnishings. Macy's also has an augmented reality app allowing customers to use their smartphones to see what furniture looks like in their home.

In the video below, Beck Besecker, Marxent CEO, discusses the partnership with Macy's for in-store virtual reality experiences and what he sees for the future of the technology.

Video of Beck Besecker, Marxent CEO

Rent the Runway Inc. is opening a network of clothing drop-off boxes in 15 WeWork locations across the US. They will be placed in the lobbies of the co-working spaces, making them accessible for both the general public and those who work in the offices. The boxes are unmanned but have iPads with built-in scanners so the bar codes on the garments can be read. Rent the Runway members just brush the garment's bar code against the scanner and plop the garment in the box. The drop-off boxes were designed to secure the items until they're picked up by the Rent the Runway fulfillment team.

The boxes were previously only available at Rent the Runway's five physical stores. They became popular among the service's subscribers — who pay a monthly fee for access to an "endless wardrobe" to swap items back and forth — as well as to those who rent single items. Normally, there's a delay due to shipping times, but if you return it to a box, it immediately reopens a slot in your subscription and you can select something new right away.

In addition, pop-up versions of Rent the Runway's "dream closet" stores will open over the next six weeks at the same locations where the drop-off boxes are placed. The pop-ups will range from 1,000 to 3,000 square feet and will be situated in the common areas of the WeWork facilities.

The deal marks a significant expansion for Rent the Runway's physical presence. The company's executives said WeWork's members and real estate locations align well with the fashion service's subscriber base of busy professional women.

The first WeWork locations to feature the boxes will be in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, Chicago and Miami.

John Lewis' new Cheltenham shop has its eyes on big spenders with a new private shopping service that will give customers the stores all to themselves. Shoppers will have access to John Lewis' new private shopping service as long as their bill tops at least £10,000. For that price, staff will be available after normal shopping hours specifically to serve individuals, groups of friends or a family. "Previously the reserve of exclusive boutiques for the famous few, this autumn in Cheltenham, with the help of our army of expertly trained partners, we are bringing the intimacy, luxury and magic of personal shopping to the high street", said John Lewis director of customer experience Peter Cross. It's one of 20 new services now available at the new Cheltenham store.

While department stores were formally thought of as a retail destination and experiential offering in their own right, many are now competing with experiential spending on mini breaks, beauty treatments and leisure activities.

John Lewis will now be stepping up its game with so-called experience desks where concierges can book appointments for shoppers such as blow drys and manicures. Additional services such as John Lewis' recently launched Shopping List will enable customers to book out time with a sales assistant to help them complete a list or shop for specific gifts.

Waitrose is to test a delivery service which will allow drivers to enter a customer's home while they are out, and put their groceries away. The trial uses Yale "smart lock" technology to allow customers to set an access code for their door lock which is deleted when the delivery is complete. The pilot starting later this month will involve 100 homes in south London, the aim being to boost loyalty and profitability. Participating customers will set a temporary access code for their smart lock which will be sent to Waitrose via a secure app.

Waitrose, which is owned by the John Lewis Partnership, will be the first UK supermarket to try "in-home" deliveries. Archie Mason, Waitrose head of business development, said there was "an increasing demand" among customers to make shopping "even more convenient to fit around their busy lifestyles". "The concept of 'in-home delivery' has started to prove popular in other countries so we are keen to establish if there is an appetite for it in the UK," he said.

press release "Waitrose & Partners to deliver and put away your shopping while you're out"

Located in the city's SoHo neighborhood, the shop, known as Amazon 4-star, sells items that have a rating of four stars or more online. Inside, one will find everything from quirky kitchen gifts to popular books, board games, laptops, Alexa-enabled devices and even items from Amazon's in-house brands, like Amazon Basics -including Amazon's own Echo speakers and its Kindle e-readers. The company will be rotating inventory out on a weekly basis, as items become more or less popular on its website.

Bringing Amazon's website to life, the 4,000 square feet store has digital price tags next to items that show how much Prime members would save on a purchase. Shoppers are also able to see how many ratings an item has received, what the average rating is, along with certain reviews on display throughout the store. Amazon even has a table in the store that shows items "frequently bought together," something the company has always highlighted on its website. The shop also features some "Trending Around NYC" items there, which Amazon is able to track on its website.

See video and pictures of the store, located at 72 Spring St., below.

watch video of amazon 4-star store

Ikea has opened its brand new mini store –the Ikea Planning Studio– on Tottenham Court Road in central London. The store specialises in kitchens and bedroom storage, giving customers an easy and convenient way to get the advice and inspiration they need to browse, plan and order furniture for a bigger project in their home. It is a new way for customers to experience the Ikea brand, offering a personalised and tailored service.

After spending decades battling planners to build 35,000 sq metre sheds on the outskirts of cities, the change of tack by the world's largest furniture retailer is drastic. The showroom is just 400 sq metres and took months, rather than years, to open. "Our new city centre approach brings IKEA into the heart of London and is designed to complement our larger stores and digital offering, so customers have a wide range of choices that suit their needs and lifestyles," Ikea's London city centre market leader Jane Bisset said. "The Ikea Planning Studio on Tottenham Court Road will give Londoners a relaxed and professional experience to get the advice and inspiration they need to plan more complex or large-scale home projects, with the expertise and specialist support of our co-workers, alongside a great service package."

To celebrate the opening of the new city centre location, the iconic blue FRAKTA bag has been given a mini makeover revealing a new way of shopping at the IKEA Planning Studio. The bag has been designed to fit only the essentials such as a set of keys, phone and a wallet –IKEA Tottenham Court Road will organise the rest!

Regional department store Belk announced the launch of its first in-house beauty line, dubbed Belk Beauty, available online and in-store. The collection is inspired by the brand's southern roots, drawing inspiration from the styles of Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston, Savannah, Dallas and Nashville. Belk Beauty debuts at a time when this retail segment is booming, in an attempt to reclaim beauty sales, which have been a department store mainstay for decades but have also been disrupted by specialty retailers. The assortment features lip, eye and face palettes and is priced between $10 to $22.

The private department store chain has 292 stores in 16 Southern states. Belk was originally founded in 1888. The Belk family sold the company for $3 billion to New York private equity firm Sycamore Partners in late 2015.

press release on Belk Beauty line

The Lafayette Plug and Play accelerator has unveiled the 17 start-ups selected for its fifth promotion. Selected from 213 projects submitted in response to the call for applications, 12 of the start-ups are French and five are international, from the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. They are particularly focused on four key themes of the retail transformation: customer experience, logistics, predictive analytics and geo-localized services. Start-ups will benefit from an exclusive three-month programme, punctuated by weekly meetings and mentoring sessions with industry experts, corporate partners and investors such as Serena Capital, Alven Capital or Elaia Partners. It will close with a "Winter Expo Day", the culmination of the acceleration programme, on November 22nd in the presence of European investors and senior executives from major partner companies.

see press release and list of star-ups of lafayette plug & play 5th edition

Marks & Spencer has expanded its partnership with First Insight, which offers technology aimed at helping retailers and brands make better-informed product development and pricing decisions. Marks & Spencer uses the firm's predictive analytics platform for making design, buying and pricing decisions and noted that the extended partnership involves increasing the volume of products tested.

The retailer has used the technology, which garners insights into consumer behavior, in the merchandising of fashion apparel and innerwear as well as footwear, accessories, beauty products, home goods and food. "The software has enabled M&S to test tens of thousands of products across more than 50 departments in order to buy more of what customers like," First Insight said. "The platform has helped shape collections and resulted in customers getting the best products at the right prices."

In October, Bloomingdale's is opening a beauty shop-in-shop concept, focused on clean beauty called WellChemist. The boutiques will be open-sell concepts taking up about 250 square feet of space within Bloomingdale's beauty departments and stocking about 600 stockkeeping units from 35 brands.

The launch of WellChemist comes one year after Bloomingdale's introduced its first beauty shop-in-shop, Glowhaus, which is targeted at Millennials and stocks brands and products more commonly found on social media or in specialty retail than in a department store. Unlike Glowhaus, WellChemist is not as obviously targeted at Millennials and while most Glowhaus boutiques are located on the contemporary floors away from the beauty counters, WellChemist shops will be located on the beauty floor. "This concept has a much wider appeal, and that's why it's on the beauty floor," said Stacie Borteck, vice president and divisional merchandise manager for cosmetics at Bloomingdale's. "I see it as multigenerational — Millennials already know and are concerned about safer ingredients and environmental impact, Gen Xers and mature shoppers are focused on health concerns."

The WellChemist brand mix is focused on clean beauty products free of parabens, phthalates and sulfates, with a focus on products that are both high performance and formulated without ingredients considered toxic. About 60 percent of the assortment is devoted to skin care, with the rest split between hair, supplements and ingestibles, makeup and tools from both niche and established brands.

The first WellChemist is set to open at the East 59th Street flagship in Manhattan on Sept. 28, and eight more are expected to rollout nationwide in October.

read full article "Bloomingdale's Gets Into Clean Beauty With WellChemist" by wwd

Galeries Lafayette is set to open one more flagship store in Paris, in the second half of 2019. The new shop, which is to span over 8000 square meters and four floors, will be located at the Beaugrenelle shopping mall, in a space previously rented by Marks & Spencer. This flagship store perfectly matches the ongoing reinvention strategy of the Galeries Lafayette French network, with a more locally anchored, omnichannel and experiential concept, while being very complementary to current and future Galeries Lafayette locations in the capital. This store will allow the brand to specifically address clients in Western Paris, thanks to a relevant range of its premium and lifestyle Fashion offer.

in french: press release of galeries lafayette new beaugrenelle store

Germany's two major department store chains Kaufhof and Karstadt have sealed a merger to salvage their operations amid fierce competition from e-commerce players. The owners of Kaufhof and Karstadt — Canada's Hudson's Bay and Austria's Signa Holding — have announced that they've sealed a "merger of equals" to combine their European retail and real estate assets, with Signa now owning 50.01 percent in the joint venture and Hudson's Bay holding a stake of 49.99 percent. In a parallel transaction, both companies will form a 50-50 joint venture focused on Hudson's Bay's German property assets, with Signa taking a 50 per cent stake in that business. The merger of Germany's Galeria Kaufhof and Karstadt will form Europe's third biggest department store chain, behind Spain's El Corte Ingles and Britain's Marks and Spencer.

HBC press release on Kaufhof & Karstadt merger

Macy's-owned chain Bloomingdale's is launching its 'shop-in-shop' concept, to be curated every two months based on a different theme. The goal is to draw locals and tourists alike into the store. The spaces will also hold events, ranging from food tastings to fitness classes. "It'll be like a Broadway show, with limited showing," said Frank Berman, Bloomingdale's executive vice president and chief marketing officer. "That's the sense of urgency we want to have around the space."

While Bloomingdale's hopes that its own permanent pop-up will drive customers into the store through sheer novelty, it projects that sales will be boosted as well. By partnering with new brands on a temporary basis, Bloomingdale's will be able to test their success and screen products for future long-term wholesale agreements, Berman said. "We want to make sure we're driving both interest and traffic. While we're looking to acquire new customers, sell-through is important," Berman said. "It's not meant to be a just an exhibit — it's an interactive shopping experience and [a way of] tracking new customer acquisition."

The Carousel will be featured in two Bloomingdale's locations in New York — Soho and 59th Street — as well as its San Francisco and Century City outposts. If successful, the concept could expand to other stores. Every space is about 950-square-foot, with the exception of 59th Street, which will be 1,600 square feet and is intended to feel like a standalone boutique. Online shoppers will get an idea of the shop through video content and its own store web page.

London's department stores are joining forces to mark the centenary of women's voting rights in the U.K. Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Fortnum & Mason will be commemorating the suffrage movement through dedicated window displays. Each of the department store's window displays will pay homage to the West End street protests of 1912, when suffragettes smashed department store windows to get their message across.

The three department stores' displays will feature a design representative of the smashed windows. Harvey Nichols' window will feature a shattered glass effect alongside a famous quote by Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the British Suffragette movement. A smashed window effect will also cover the Fortnum & Mason windows, and behind the glass, hampers will be on display to show the food and blankets that imprisoned suffragettes would receive from their loved ones. The Harrods' window will feature historic posters from the movement plastered onto a red brick backdrop, symbolizing the smashed windows. Footage of feminists, past and present, will also be playing on screens.

See pictures of the windows below.

With fashion critical to Penney's turnaround efforts, the retailer is launching Artesia, a private boho-style brand for women. It will be introduced in a big way, with nearly 400 of the retailer's 860 stores and the company web site carrying the collection at the outset. Artesia is being designed and manufactured by One World Apparel, a key supplier, and includes crochet cardigans and dusters, peasant blouses and tiered flounce tops with details such as flutter sleeves, lace, tassels and fringe. Items will be on sale for less than $30. Penney's described the line as "an effortlessly chic collection of relaxed silhouettes, flowy fabrics and peasant-style tops and dresses that bring a modern twist to the vintage, bohemian trend." The Artesia collection will be situated next to Penney's longstanding a.n.a. private brand and is designed to pair with a.n.a.'s denim selection.

press release on jc penney's new boho brand for woman

Another retailer is turning to real women to inspire purchases: Macy's new fall campaign, "Remarkable You," showcases a diverse set of six women going about their everyday lives. Macy's is one of many brands diversifying its advertising imagery. Such work answers public demand for ad images that are more reflective of a broad range of consumers. "We're concentrating on casting women in our commercials who are more presentative of real women," says Rich Lennox, chief marketing officer of the department store chain. "We went out and found some extraordinary women." The new push includes Tiffiny Blacknell, a public defender, Mishaal Ashemimry, an aerospace engineer and Becky Hammon, a professional men's basketball assistant coach. Macy's approach is to feature women of all shapes, sizes, ages and ethnicities in this new campaign which features role models "everyone could relate to or be inspired by."

see video of macy's campaign "Remarkable You" 

L Brands announced the closure of all 23 stores and the e-commerce site of its upscale Henri Bendel women's apparel banner, which has been open for 123 years. The stores, including the Fifth Avenue flagship as well as smaller-format stores in 11 states, are set to close in January 2019, though new merchandise will continue to arrive through the holiday season.

Heri Bendel, which opened its first store in 1895 in New York's Greenwich Village, was bought by L Brands in 1985. The company also operates Victoria's Secret, Pink, Bath & Body Works and La Senza.

press release "L BRANDS ANNOUNCES 2019 CLOSURE OF HENRI BENDEL STORES AND HENRI BENDEL E-COMMERCE"

Canada Goose is teaming with BHV Marais in Paris for a weather-themed pop-up store installation offering a weather experience to clients in the dome-roofed Observatoire space of the department store's top floor. Called "Weather Patterns," the spiral-shaped refuge will offer Canadian weather noises to visitors in its outer ring and a weather atmosphere in the centre. A representation of the sky overhead is meant to project the beauty of the northern lights. The Canadian label will sell vests, parkas and accessories at the temporary store, which will run from 6 to 26 September.