Elizabeth and James, the contemporary brand launched by Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, has entered into a licensing agreement with department store Kohl's after shutting down its store and most in-house operations last fall.

Kohl's future collections will be managed out of Kohl's New York design office and will include apparel, handbags, accessories and beauty products. It will be sold only at Kohl's stores and website.

Elizabeth and James will continue to operate as an independent business, led by founders and co-creative directors Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. They will continue to serve as creative directors of Elizabeth and James, leading the design and development of its seasonal collections.

read more on Elizabeth and James to relaunch at Kohl's

After its journey through bankruptcy, Sears is getting ready to open its first batch of smaller stores that won't carry clothing but will instead focus on appliances, mattresses and home services. The move comes after Sears has shuttered hundreds of stores in recent years. The first three stores called Sears Home & Life will open at the end of May and are a fraction of the size of the company's traditional stores. They range in size from about 900 to 1,400 sqm. The average Sears is about 14,400 sqm. Each of the new stores will sell both major and small kitchen appliances. Customers can meet with experts to explore how new appliances will look in their home. They will also have kiosks where shoppers can order items available online from Kmart and Sears and have them delivered to the store or home.

The initiative come nearly two months after a bankruptcy court judge approved the sale of Sears' assets to company chairman and largest shareholder Eddie Lampert for $5.2 billion in a bankruptcy auction. With the deal, the newly formed company, which doesn't have a name, kept 425 stores open and saved roughly 45,000 jobs.

The new smaller stores will be located in Overland Park, Kansas; Lafayette, Louisiana; and Anchorage, Alaska.

Toronto-based luxury retailer Holt Renfrew announced in 2013 plans to merge its Montreal operations with Ogilvy. The partnership results in the expansion of the current Montreal Ogilvy location on Saint Catherine Street, while Holt Renfrew Montreal is closing; it is re-branded as Holt Renfrew Ogilvy. Alongside a new name, the new 23 200sqm luxury space is the largest of its kind in Canada and will include new store features such as the Apartment, a private shopping environment, and a personal shopping program for men and women as well as Holt's Café, valet parking, and concierge service.

Now the new beauty and menswear halls are open while renovations at the luxury department store are expected to be completed in 2020.

The 3700sqm menswear hall is located on the fourth floor and features many of the world's leading luxury brands, in a environment that includes 25 vendor shops. There is a multi-brand men's suiting area, a footwear salon and a men's grooming area. The space has blond wood floor, high ceilings, pillars and white walls.

The concourse-level beauty hall, which was relocated from a department on the store's street-level, is now the largest beauty department in the entire eight-store Holt Renfrew chain. About 2300sqm of the store's basement level now contains some of the world's leading beauty brands, as well as the store's sunglass department. In total, 30 skincare, fragrance and colour brands have vendor shops in the new beauty hall. It also include a dedicated 'Clean Beauty area' with brands and pop up event spaces throughout the floor that will feature regular beauty animations, to make the the beauty hall experiential.

Neiman Marcus Group has bought a minority stake in Fashionphile, a 20-year-old business specializing in the buying and selling of used luxury handbags, jewelry and accessories. The purchase price and the percent of Fashionphile now owned by Neiman Marcus was not disclosed.

Fashionphile operates a web site as well as four physical showrooms, where customers can drop off their items and shop online. It primarily sells via its web site, Fashionphile.com. Neiman's will not be engaged in re-commerce, also referred to as resale, though certain Neiman Marcus stores will serve as drop-off points for Fashionphile.

That deal reflected Neiman's intent to greatly grow its online business, tap into customers around the world and go head-to-head with similar global online retailers.

full article "Neiman Marcus takes stake in Fashionphile" by wwd

The newly refurbished North Korean department store Daesong in Pyongyang has reopened. Catering to elite customers, it appears to be stocked with luxury goods that could be under international sanctions. The store which may be defying sanctions was opened on the same day that the regime was celebrating the 107th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung.

Illustration 'Pyongyang department store reopens' (jpg - 0.06Mo)

Illustration 'Pyongyang department store reopens' (jpg - 0.07Mo)

South Korean department store group Lotte has launched a project to nurture future K-pop and TV stars in cooperation with Kiana Entertainment. The project is a bid to generate new revenue streams in a market targeting parents of aspiring child stars. The store will open Kiana Dance Studio by Lotte at one of its branches on 230 sqm offering various programmes ranging from acting an dancing lessons to camera tests. Apparently significant growth in the entertainment business in Korea is due to an increasing number of children dreaming of becoming K-pop stars or entertainers. Children aged between 4 and 19 can enroll in classes with monthly tuition fees of around $180.

Ira Neimark, who served as chief executive officer of Bergdorf Goodman in the Seventies and Eighties, died on 8 April 2019; he was 97. He was Bergdorf Goodman's president from 1975 to 1992.

Neimark landed his first retail job at 17 at Bonwit Teller in 1938 as a page boy, checking coats and mixing cocktails at the store's 721 Club. He took the helm at Bergdorf Goodman in 1975 and intended to re-establish it as New York's leading stage for global fashion. He made exclusive deals with Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior and Givenchy and reconfigured the store's second floor for what he called "European Collections." The New York Times in 1978 called him "the only American store president currently buying couture clothes."

Though Neimark formerly retired from Bergdorf's in February 1992, he never really left the fashion scene. He became an adviser to Oscar de la Renta as well as to Mitsukoshi, the Japanese retailer, and served as a director of Hermès International. He also devoted years to writing five books that included his memoirs, retail principles and philosophies on life.

Marks & Spencer and Ocado the online delivery service have signed a £750m deal which gives the retailer half of the online company's business. The business will continue to trade as ocado.com and operate from the Ocado Smart Platform, but will have access to M&S's brands, products and customer database from September 2020. This is the date at which Ocado's current agreement to deliver Waitrose groceries expires. Ocado brings to the partnership its Ocado Zoom same-day delivery service, which is first being trialled in London. M&S brings access to seven million members of its Sparks loyalty club and three million M&S Bank customers. In total, say the partners, the joint venture will benefit from access to more than 12 million M&S Food shoppers.

Levi Strauss announced its return to the stock market, jumping more than 30% in initial trading. The initial public offering raised USD623m through the sale of 36.7m shares at USD17 each, topping an indicated price range of USD14 to USD16 a share. They opened at USD22.20 and were trading at USD22.67 by midday, giving Levi's a market value of USD8.6bn.

The success of the IPO bodes well for a long line of companies hoping to go public.

article on the financial history of levi strauss

According to research by Coresight and reported by WWD, Amazon has overtaken Walmart as the largest apparel retailer in the US. Apparel has now pushed ahead of books, beauty and electronics on the Amazon site. The private label offer is partly responsible with the company now offering over 4900 private label products. Only Nike, Under Armour and Adidas rank higher than Amazon's private labels collectively. A large number of Amazon apparel customers have switched from department stores such as Macy's, JC Penney, and others like TJ Maxx and Marshalls in particular. On the other hand, the penetration rates for apparel shopping among Prime members may have peaked which means that Amazon will need to increase average spend and frequency of purchase.

For its Manhattan flagship, Nordstrom will be going big on food, service, technology and women's fashion and accessories. Following the opening of Nordstrom Men last year, the retailer expects its first full-line women's store in New York City to open in late October.

Three of the flagship's seven floors will be devoted to women's apparel, a fourth level will be dedicated to designer fashion, and designer accessories and shoes will be located separately. There will be three departments for shoes, two for women and one for kids. There will also be two beauty floors, and six food and beverage operations, including four full-service restaurants and two bar/lounges.

Nordstrom will be challenged by Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue, which are all bracing for its arrival and pumping up their own services and offerings in advance. There will also be competition from Neiman Marcus, which will open its first New York City store in Hudson Yards in March.

full article by wwd on nordstrom new york store

HBC has announced that Alison Colville has stepped down as president of Hudson's Bay and Home Outfitters on 1 March. A replacement has not yet been found, but in the interim, the department store chain will be led by executives from the HBC team under the direction of CEO Helena Foulkes. Last month, HBC shut down its Home outfitters unit.

NYC's Hudson Yards megaproject is one of the biggest real estate projects in the country in recent years, and one of the biggest in New York since Rockefeller Center was completed 80 years ago. The new neighbourhood opened on 15 March 2019 and consists of a shopping mall between two office towers among others; the full complex is still under construction.

The retail complex, dubbed 20 Hudson Yards, is a 720,000 sqft (approx. 219 456 sqm) luxury shopping mall spread over seven floors. The new 190,000 sqft (approx. 58 000 sqm) Neiman Marcus (the first one in NYC) occupies the top three floors of the space. There's also a major dining complex, with restaurants run by celebrity chefs like Thomas Keller, David Chang, Michael Lomonaco, Costas Spiliadis and José Andrés. In total, the space features 100 stores and 25 food and beverage offerings. Not all the space has been leased yet.

Perhaps the most impressive element of the complex is the Vessel, a lustrous, sculptural bauble made up of 154 interconnected staircases.

interactive article by the new york times

article by the robin report: a new miracle on 34th street?

exclusive pictures of hudson yards nyc

One recent study estimated that 13 million social-media influencers generated $7 billion in revenues last year. The hottest platform of late has been fast-growing Instagram, which seems to have avoided much of the criticism that has so buffeted parent company Facebook. More than a year ago, Amazon also created its own influencer programme, a more exclusive version of its affiliate marketing system that is open only to high-end influencers on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Participants get a custom store-front and vanity URL, choose products they want to spotlight, and receive a share of resulting sales revenue.

For a smart brand, getting its products in the right influencer stores can be a powerful opportunity to connect directly with that influencer's most devoted fans in a commerce-connected way that Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram still can't match, at least not yet.

Some commentators are saying that the influencer programme has not changed much since its inception. However, it would appear that increasing numbers of people have recently signed up for the programme.

Cosmetic brand Lush has opened a new flagship store in Liverpool. Spread over three floors (two retail and one dedicated to the spa) and employing 167 members of staff, this is a new beauty experience. Beside their full range of items, featuring iconic bath bombs and shampoo bars among many, you will find in the store a hair salon, a make-up station and a vegan coffee-shop. You can also get treatments, facials or massages, at the spa.

full article on lush new liverpool flagship

As the first half of its financial year draws to a close, Debenhams has issued a profit warning, stating that it could no longer stand by its previous statement that it was "on track to deliver current year profits in line with market expectations". It will provide a further update when it issues its half-year results. During the period, gross transaction volume was down by 5.3% on a like-for-like basis, with UK down 6%, international down 2.3% and digital up 2%. The CEO has said that there will probably be closures of around 50 stores in the medium term, with a programme aiming to save £80m a year.

Starting next year, the UK luxury department store chain will only sell leather derived from agricultural livestock, joining a growing number of retailers and brands that have banned crocodile, python and other exotic skins. The British department store chain said that in February 2020 it will ban products like watches, luggage and handbags that are made from python, alligator, crocodile, lizard or other exotic animal skins. As of next year, its stores will only sell leather derived from agricultural livestock. The luxury department store chain is the latest big fashion player to move away from exotic skins, responding to a long-standing campaign by animal rights activists who claim abuse of animals in the industry is rampant and that many skins are sourced illegally, endangering wild populations.

Selfridges has had a fur ban in place for more than a decade and said its latest move is "a continuation of a longstanding commitment" to ethics. It's one of a number of high-end retailers that are catering to consumer demands for more ethical products by increasingly emphasising environmentally and socially conscious brands.

Elsewhere, Selfridges has made a commitment to ensure 50 percent of its products are better for people and the planet by 2022. It removed all single-use plastic water bottles from sale in 2015 and all single-use carbonated drinks bottles last year.

CEO Lauri Veijalainen has decided to resign from Stockmann in order to assume a new position outside the company. The Board of Directors will immediately initiate a process to search for a new CEO. Lauri Veijalainen will leave Stockmann on 31 March 2019, but will be at the company's disposal during his notice period.

The Stockmann Group's management team member Tove Westermarck has been appointed Stockmann Retail's Chief Operating Officer as of 22 March 2019.

press release on Lauri Veijalainen's departure from Stockmann

Working with AR beauty company Modiface, Macy's expands an augmented reality (AR) feature to all mobile app users. the Macy's app this spring will let mobile users virtually try on more than 1,000 cosmetics products among major brands. The experience will also be available to customers at select locations nationwide later this spring via in-store beauty displays.

The expansion follows a successful test with a small number of users in the fall of 2018 that let users virtually trial a variety of lip products. Once available, shoppers will be able to test single products or entire looks and share the looks on social media or with friends.

Press release: Macys latest technology enhancements

The Comme des Garçons-owned retailer Dover Street Market will open its first dedicated beauty concept in a 2,150-square-foot space in Paris later this spring. The name of the new concept has not yet been decided but it will open towards the end of May in the Marais district and will be designed by Rei Kawakubo. The new beauty store will sell the complete range of Comme des Garçons fragrances, consisting of about 60 scents, 40 percent of which are licensed to Spanish group Puig, as well as perfumes and beauty products by other brands in a curated assortment in the "spirit" of Dover Street Market's existing fashion emporiums.

Maus Freres, owners of brands Lacoste, Gant, Aigle and others have acquired The Kooples, founded in 2006. The LBO France fund held 20% of The Kooples and was trying to exit for several years now. With sales of EUR 227m, the brand will join Maus Freres portfolio of accessible luxury brands. According to Maus, The Kooples will complement the current range with a balanced men's and women's offer, in contrast to the other brands which are more on the men's side. The Kooples, which sells also through department stores, has a network of 334 stores around the world and the new owners will continue that international expansion.

Maus Freres, founded in 1902, is also the owner of Manor department stores and has a total revenue estimated at over CHF 6bn.

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Ikea is the largest furniture manufacturer in the world but its sleek designs, filled with handle-less drawers and low-profile furniture, aren't necessarily friendly to the needs of people with disabilities. So Ikea Israel has teamed up with the nonprofits Milbat and Access Israel, each of which specializes in making the world more accessible, to develop a series of modifications to fix popular Ikea furniture pieces. Dubbed ThisAbles, the project's objects are available online as free schematics, and can be 3D-printed and installed on Ikea mainstays like the Billy bookcase or Karlstad couch. A total of 13 designs are available today which include items like the EasyHandle, a big, Rubbermaid-looking grip that can be added to the seamless door of a Pax shelf, and the Glass Bumper, a plastic pad that protects the bottom of a glass-doored Billy bookcase from the bump of a wheelchair.

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Casper, the US mattress retailer, has come up with an innovative idea: a campaign which refers to a very topical issue in the form of puzzles. The puzzles are all designed around words for sleep and they are strategically placed on commuter trains where tired travellers ae likely to see them. Puzzles, it is argued, are an appealing format which grab people's attention. The fact that they are about sleep is also of interest since it is a widely discussed topic when you consider reports that one in three adults don't get enough sleep.

John Lewis has paid out its lowest bonus to staff since the 1950s as profits plunged last year amid "challenging" trading. The retail partnership - which includes Waitrose supermarkets - said staff would receive a 3% bonus, the lowest since 1953 when workers got no bonus. Profits at the partnership sank last year by more than 45% to £160m. It blamed poor home sales, discounting, higher IT costs and the cost of opening two new stores last year for the drop. John Lewis' famously promises that it is "never knowingly undersold", meaning it matches its High Street rivals' prices. The partnership said "near constant discounting" from rivals had hit profits, particularly in its department store shops.

John Lewis' structure is unique. It is owned by its staff, known as partners. Typically in profitable years, staff at the 350 Waitrose and 51 John Lewis stores receive a share of the profits. In the very best years, these bonuses can add the equivalent of a few months' worth of pay. But the annual staff bonus has been reduced every year for the past six years due to difficult trading conditions. Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said the lower bonus would help the company to preserve cash and invest "to cope with the continuing uncertainty facing consumers and the economy".