According to a report from the Local Data Company of the UK which regularly surveys retail locations across the country, there are now 235 empty department stores across the country with more to come following recent announcements of closures by Debenhams. One of the issues mentioned is business rates which hit department stores hard because of their locations and large amounts of floor space. The business rate is an element which can make the deciding difference between a viable and a non-viable store. Reduced margins, changing consumer habits and increased uncertainty have led to an average of 16 shops closing every day last year in the UK.

See full report by the Local Data Company

According to WWD, citing digital marketing intelligence company Similar Web, Macy's is the number one apparel website with more than 55.7 million monthly visits. Of the top ten retailers analysed, Macy's accounted for 30% of the total traffic. The runner-up was Nordstrom with 25.8 million monthly visits. The ranking included also gap.com with 12.5m, Zappos with 15m, victoriassecret.com 12.5m, Teespring 12m, forever21.com 10.5m, Adidas.com 10m, dsw.com 9.6m and asos.com 9.1m. They are all characterised by strong brand awareness with the majority of traffic driven by direct visits and organic search. Social visits are most heavil driven by YouTube and Facebook. Mobile visits now account for 54.9% of the total.

According to research compiled by industry analysts at GlobalData along with architects Sybarite, the 170-year-old British retailer Harrods, owned by Qatari royal family, is the strongest performer by sales per square foot. Harrods raked in sales of £2.1 billion in the year ended February 2018, a 6.8 per cent uptick on the prior year. Fellow London retailers Selfridges and Liberty were also named in the top five, while Fenwick was in the top 10.

The second best-performing department store on the ranking was China IADS member SKP.

IKEA opened its first store in the heart of Paris on Monday, its latest step in developing a new range of shops designed to meet changing customer habits.

IKEA, the world's biggest furniture retailer, is known for its vast self-service out-of-town stores, but it is adapting its business model in the face of mounting competition and customers who prefer the ease of buying items of furniture online.

Click to read more

A number of hotels are offering goods from the rooms for sale to guests. This can go far beyond the cosmetics lines or bathrobes and may include furniture, clocks, speakers, and more. Examples include the Shinola the Detroit-based brand which opened its first hotel last year, West Elm and its series of boutique lodgings, the Hotel Americano in New York's Chelsea which has partnered I fashion with Mr Porter. Indeed Airbnb rentals are cashing in on the trend and offering items for sale including art, or in one case any item in the room.

read article "Hotels: the new retail"

French department store Printemps will open its first department store outside of France, in Doha in 2021, as part of the multibillion-dollar Doha Oasis project, which includes a hotel, theme park, residences and a cinema. It also plans to unveil a smaller store in the center of Milan by early 2021, as part of a planned expansion to open five to 10 new units worldwide in the next 10 years in "exceptional" locations.

The Qatari-owned retailers is expanding overseas as part of an omnichannel strategy aimed at doubling the size of its business over the next decade, the chain's chief executive officer Paolo de Cesare said. In addition, Printemps said it was acquiring online homeware retailer Made in Design as part on a broader omnichannel push that will culminate in the launch early next year of its printemps.com luxury platform.

full wwd article on printemps' expension

After the opening of The High End by Barneys New York in Los Angeles, Saks Fifth Avenue is next to follow suit in the form of a dedicated space. The chain of department stores has launched The Salon Project by Joel Warren's CBD Beauty Corner at its New York City flagship on Fifth Avenue. The new "shop in shop" concept has debuted mid-May, bringing a curated wellness experience to the full-service, in-store salon.

The Salon Project offers in-chair CBD treatment upgrades like the "Going Back to Cali" CocoCanna hand massage and "Take Me Back to Woodstock" Salome Roll On by Highborn with a Mary's Nutritionals transdermal patch. Full-length services are also available in VIP treatment rooms, but the focus of the CBD Beauty Corner is to act as a vehicle for education. Guests are greeted by trained CBD beauty sales associates, who will issue surveys upon arrival to guarantee a customized experience. The salon will also host specialty consumer events to further inform and engage about the emerging world of CBD beauty throughout the year.

Beyond Barney's and Saks, big-box beauty stores like Sephora and Ulta are also now stocking CBD beauty brands on-shelf, signifying the category's unprecedented growth. Neiman Marcus also has an in-depth selection of luxury CBD skincare products available in-store and online.

JD.com,  the Chinese answer to Amazon and Alibaba's long-time rival, is looking to further automate its logistics network after agreeing to pour 376 million yuan (around $55 million) into Jiangsu Xinning Modern Logistics in exchange for up to 10 percent stake.

JD separates itself from its rivals by keeping a logistics unit and carrying its own inventory, a costly strategy which the firm markets as an assurance for better quality control and user experience. By comparison, Alibaba and ecommerce upstart Pinduoduo outsource their logistics needs to third-party partners.

JD's hefty spending on logistics has long tested investor patience, but in recent years the behemoth started to more aggressively monetize the massive infrastructure network it first constructed for its in-house business. In late 2016, JD opened its logistics service to third-party merchants and further expanded the offering to consumers who can now mail packages through JD as they would with FedEx.

According to HRC Retail Advisory, information from 30 North American retail chains with annual sales between $250m and $20bn, shows that most are facing major challenges in executing omnichannel. They found in particular that inventory inaccuracies ae leading to unreliability, that inefficient and costly freight practices create delays, that customer order systems which are not optimised also increase costs and split shipments, that inventory is not allocated to stores in alignment with demand, and that few are effectively integrating predictive tools into their operating practices. They offer five recommendations; read below:

HRC Retail Advisory 1

HRC Retail Advisory 2

The World Retail Congress took place this week in Amsterdam and just released the names of its award winners. Check them out below!

world retail awars: winners 2019

Shoppers Stop, one of the leading retailers of fashion and lifestyle products in India, is adopting a new store design concept for its department stores across the country. A German architecture and design, store branding and communication firm, Schwitzke, has worked on the new concept and the first store has been opened a couple of weeks ago in Ambience Mall Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.

The new design concept is restricted to the retailers' department store format as all its other outlets are brand stores and come with their own concept. The new format is meant for all the new department stores that will be opened going forward. The group opens between 5 and 7 department stores every year. Seven existing stores will also get renovated annually to upgrade the shopping experience.

Shoppers Stop has earmarked a capex of between Rs 140 crore and Rs 150 crore for the current fiscal year (€18m). A third of this will go in setting up new stores and almost a similar amount for upgrading and renovation of existing stores. The balance will be for IT systems and other expenses.

Partnerships could address the very real need to a) reduce the cost of returns and delivery for the retailers, b) drive traffic to locations receiving the returns and c) make life easier for the consumer.

PayPal announced an undisclosed investment in Happy Returns, a service that places Return Bars in malls and inside retailers such as multi-unit PaperSource and independent boutiques.

Happy Returns is trying to solve for some of retailer's most pressing problems – consumer's frustration at the returns process, the mounting costs of online orders and declining foot traffic.

Click to read more

The Neiman Marcus Group, in another maneuver to fix its debt-laden capital structure and focus on core businesses, is considering selling Mytheresa, the Munich-based luxury web site purchased by the company four-and-a-half years ago. Neiman's disclosed that it has "commenced a process to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives," but said no decision has been made to pursue any specific transaction or other strategic alternative. "There can be no assurance that the exploration of strategic alternatives will result in the completion of any transaction," the company said.

Neiman's purchased the Mytheresa.com online luxury business in September 2014 from founders Christoph and Susanne Botschen and Acton Capital Partners. NMG also acquired the Mytheresa flagship store, located in the heart of Munich, from the Botschen family.

Mytheresa, for the nine months ended March 31, had $311.5 million in sales and $17.4 million in operating EBITDA.

full wwd article on Neiman Marcus Group considering selling Mytheresa

Following the introduction of its men's store last year and the opening a seven-story flagship store this fall in New York, upscale department-store chain Nordstrom will open two small Nordstrom outposts in the city in September. Located in the West Village and on the Upper East Side, they are part of the new Nordstrom Local chain. The two smaller stores will not carry merchandise, they will be hubs for online pickups and returns, as well as services like tailoring and personal styling. The company's research showed that many Manhattanites don't particularly want to leave their neighborhoods if they can help it, a crucial reason for adding the hubs. "We want to use this as a way to complement our footprint, not double down, where we know we have customers" Shea Jensen, Nordstrom's senior vice president of customer experience, said.

The new locations add to the ambitious push that the Seattle-based Nordstrom has been making in New York. By the end of 2019, there will be six Nordstrom locations in Manhattan: the flagship, which will include women's merchandise; the men's store; two Nordstrom Racks; and the two Local hubs.

Nordstrom Local was introduced in 2017 in Los Angeles, where it now operates three shops. Some offer individual services, like manicures or shoe repair, based on their location. But their biggest appeal seems to be the convenience they provide for online orders and alterations. The company said customers who visited a Local spent on average two and a half times what other Nordstrom shoppers did and made returns earlier, which allows the retailer to turn its inventory faster.

Nordstrom local visit will be part of the Retail Study Tour organised by the IADS from 10-12 June 2019. Registrations are still opened!

registrater to the iads retail study tour in los angeles

Fortnum & Mason Plc, the London retailer known for its Christmas gift hampers and royal warrant to supply groceries to the queen, is opening its first overseas store later this year in Hong Kong. The 312-year-old brand will sell tea, biscuits and other British goods from a 650sqm store at Victoria Dockside, a new $2.6 billion waterfront development.

While rival department stores in North America, Asia and Russia stock Fortnum products, this will be the chain's first stand-alone store outside the U.K. It's a departure from current trends within the sector, with U.K. retailers scaling back their physical presence as customers increasingly do their shopping online. "We have seen significant appetite for the Fortnum's brand and products in the region, with impressive year-on-year sales growth," Chairman Kate Hobhouse said. "Our latest expansion in Asia is an important next step for us, as we extend our reach further across the world."

The concept store will also feature a Fortnum restaurant overlooking Hong Kong's harbor, where they'll serve English afternoon tea.

Embattled UK department-store chain Debenhams was taken over by its lenders earlier in April, and now plans to close as many as 22 stores next year and reduce rents on others in a bid to stay afloat.

The retailer is seeking to shut the outlets as part of a previously announced plan for about 50 closures, while the initial shutdowns will affect about 1,200 jobs. Debenhams is also in negotiations with landlords to reduce rents and with local authorities to cut property taxes.

Debenhams is struggling under more than £700 million ($903 million) of debt and expensive leases agreed to years ago across its 166 stores in the UK.

Debenhams' statement

Macy's is  launching a dynamic fragrance experience in partnership with Pirch Interactive -read the interview of Trevor Sumner, CEO of Perch Interactive, below.

macy's: interview of Trevor Sumner from Perch interactive

video: macy's x pirch

The retailer is also investing on beauty and its EVP and General Business Manager for Beauty Nata Dvir has a lot to say about it -read the interview below.

macy's: interview of Nata Dvir, EVP & General Business Manager for Beauty

Printemps Nation is the main décor of latest videoclip by French artists Jenifer and Slimane. The two spend the night locked up in the department store, going through the several floors of the store, trying on clothes and playing with toys, like kids on a playground.

check out video clip shot at printemps nation

19.04.19: Debenhams said on 18 April 2019 its chief executive Sergio Bucher had decided to step down, nine days after the ailing British department store group's lenders took control. The group's non-executive chairman Terry Duddy will assume the role of interim executive chairman until a permanent replacement is found.

Bucher, a former Amazon executive who joined Debenhams in October 2016, said that with new financing facilities in place it was time to move on.

Administrators were appointed to the group, which had been hit by a sharp slowdown in sales, high rents and ballooning debt on April 9.

Harrods, the famous London department store, recently commissioned Dynamo LED Displays to install a total of 27 LED ticker displays in nearly all of its windows along Brompton Road and Hans Crescent. The Harrods design team incorporated the LED tickers into their window display design alongside white LED lighting in the windows. The logo of each designer that is showcased in the windows is scrolled slowly across the p3mm LED tickers 24 hours a day. Installed over three nights, the tickers have been placed horizontally on Hans Crescent and vertically on Brompton Road. Dynamo LED was offered the opportunity to have its logo placed on the windows on Brompton Road .

Harrods is the largest department store in Europe and even boasts its own postcode SW1X 7XL.

The IADS Academy Seminar is a unique opportunity for high-potential people to come together to work on topics which challenge the traditional department store business and act as a trigger for change. It develops young talents through business insight, exposure to different international markets, ways of working, communicating, and developing ideas into practical proposals.

This year, two groups composed of high-potential executives from Beijing Hualian Group, Breuninger, El Corte Inglés, Galeries Lafayette, Magasin du Nord, Manor, El Palacio de Hierro and Stockmann have been working hard on producing an original, fresh and useful perspective on the chosen topic: "Simplifying the department store model".

Module 3 of the IADS Acadademy Seminar program represents seven days of team-work experience, consultations with this year's mentor, Tove Westermarck, a store visit as well as a beta presentation to Galeries Lafayette management team.

Follow their intensive journey in France through our selection of pictures.

Click here for more pictures of the Academy seminar of 2019

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One year ago, Macy's bought Story, a New York retail store that curates merchandise around a theme or set of ideas and where experience matters more than the products. Now Macy's has incorporated its Story retail concept into 36 stores nationwide in 15 states. The concept features a rotating set of merchandise based on a theme, which for the national debut is "Color." Brands of this go-round include more than 70 small businesses and more than 400 products.

Except at the department store's Herald Square flagship, where Story occupies 7,500 square feet on the main floor and mezzanine levels, the Story spaces average 1,500 square feet. It is part of the retailer's strategy to use some of its real estate and fill what's now excess space, with more shopping moving online. Macy's hopes the new spaces, which will rotate inventory every two months and bring in different local brands through the course of the year, will encourage shoppers to keep coming back to stores.

"Think about a magazine or digital media company. Our version of editorial is merchandise curation ... and event programming," said Shechtman, now Macy's brand experience officer. "One thing that was important, and that we learned over the years at Story, is to create a model that is relevant. ... We are doing something that will appeal to 5-year-olds ... and 40- and 50-year-olds."

The first version of Story, called Color, will be live in 36 Macy's stores from 10 April until 26 June.

press release: Macy's debuts 'Story' in 36 stores nationwide

Swiss department store Manor, member of the IADS, has opened a new store in Bern, Switzerland, on 25 April 2019. See the pictures of the opening below!

press release: manor opens in bern (in german)

Barneys New York will reportedly reduce the size of its Madison Avenue flagship in New York City, vacating five of the nine stories it occupies. The move would see Barneys join a list of retailers who are rethinking their flagship strategies, as the stores remain costly while they lose importance amid shoppers' changing habits.