When Bio in 2017 opens at 375 West Broadway in SoHo, the 10,000-square-foot space hybrid concept will offer more than shopping. Designed by David Rockwell, Bio will feature 32 "galleries" for online brands, a restaurant, bar and runway stage. Shoppers will be invited to try on the merchandise, enjoy special programming, get a bite to eat at Jack's Wife Freda, have a drink at the bar or relax in the lounge area. Buying products? That's incidental, said Mitchell Hochberg, president of Lightstone, which developed Bio.

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eBay has rolled out a new high-end web destination, eBay Collective, catering to interior designers and consumers with curated inventory of furniture, antiques, contemporary design and fine art.All dealers and galleries featured in the Collective marketplace have been invited by eBay, and are required to meet the company's criteria for ensuring a high-quality shopping experience. Collective also integrates visual search artificial intelligence technology it brought in house through eBay's recent acquisition of Corrigon, whose image recognition technology enables a "Shop the Room" capability that allows shoppers to hover over an image and collect search results on relevant inventory. In addition to flat-rate, white-glove managed shipping service for users with money to spend on antiques, fine art and similar items, the eBay Collective marketplace will be syndicating select editorial stories from both Architectural Digest and Archdigest.com about decorating, shopping and industry happenings, inspiring customers to shop based on the latest trends in the design world.

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UK department store John Lewis confirmed it is to lose its chief executive Andy Street to politics on October 28. Street had been confirmed as the Conservative mayoral candidate for the West Midlands, stepping down from role he has held for nine years. His successor "will be announced in due course", the retailer said. Street has been with John Lewis for 31 years, joining the employee-owned business in 1985 as a graduate trainee.

Garance Doré is Galeries Lafayette's ambassador for the upcoming 3J three-day promotional event, from 12 – 22 October 2016. Successful blogger, photographer, consultant, fashion designer and now writer, Garance Doré has become an icon for hundreds of thousands of followers that she inspires every day.

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The pop star-turned-designer is collaborating with Target on a limited-edition collection, which will include apparel and accessories for women and children. Her latest project is set to launch April 9, 2017, at all of the US retail giant's physical stores as well as Target.com in the United States. The collection will be available in stores until April 30 or until supplies last, whichever comes first. Comprising more than 200 items priced between $6 and $70 — with the majority below $40 — the collaboration includes apparel and accessories for women, as well as young girls, toddlers and babies, making this Beckham's first foray into childrenswear. Silhouettes from the Victoria, Victoria Beckham line served as a primary reference point for the Target collection.

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The UK store brand may be dead but the overseas banner is thriving. The Qatari owners of the international BHS brand are seeking major expansion, close to securing deals with three franchise partners covering Africa, Europe and the Middle East, as it looks to enter 10 new countries. BHS International, which claims a profitable global operation alongside its fledgling UK online business, was bought by the Al Mana Group from administrators in June. The group is also looking to source partners in other countries as part of wider plans to increase the number of stores abroad, including a new department store in Qatar.

Azzi Glasser is launching her 11 fragrances — from The Perfumer's Story by Azzi range — and a collection of candles at Liberty.

Amazon is planning to open physical grocery/convenience stores and drive-through locations in the US to support its grocery service Amazon Fresh.

Macy's is turning to another iconic brand for help with its big sales drops: Apple.

Fast-fashion retailer Zara is trying its hand at sustainability with a new fashion line made using environmentally friendly materials. According to the Zara site, "the collection embraces a woman who looks into a more sustainable future" and is made with materials like organic cotton, recycled wool and Tencel, a recycled fabric derived from wood cellulose. Zara says that its Tencel is sourced from sustainably managed forests and that the farming process for its organic cotton uses 90 percent less water than usual cotton. focusing on environmentally friendly offerings is an increasingly important focus for retailers like Zara, noting that a recent Nielsen study found that 75 percent of millennials would be willing to pay extra for sustainable offerings. Competitor H&M launched its own Conscious line back in 2012.

Major department stores in Japan are expanding their fashion collection for customers aged around 50 in a bid to develop new revenues amid sluggish apparel sales. Takashimaya, Sogo & Seibu and J Front Retailing are launching their own private labels for older customers this month, The Japan Times reported, targeting middle-aged women who are fashion-conscious and with spending power as their children have grown up. Japanese department stores have been struggling with declining sales from weak consumer sentiment and unstable weather in the summer, and the older consumer group represents a potential domestic growth market that is relatively underserved.

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Burberry's see-now-buy-now runway show held at London's Makers House is being live-streamed on Burberry.com, WeChat, YouTube and Facebook Live, where users will be able to watch it playing in their feeds. In the U.S., Barneys New York's Madison Avenue and Beverly Hills flagships are also live-streaming the show to mark the launch of the Burberry x Barneys New York collection. Inspired by today's collection, Burberry x Barneys includes women's wear, men's wear and accessories exclusive to Barneys, as well as some looks from the actual show.  While the brand's men's wear is already sold at Barneys, this is the first time its women's wear is being offered at the retailer.

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Galeries Lafayette Group said it has acquired online private sales store BazarChic as a complementary digital sales platform to its physical Galeries Lafayette Outlet stores, as part of the French department store chain's ongoing efforts to bolster its online offerings. The group has purchased a majority stake in BazarChic and its subsidiaries BazarChicVoyages (MyTravelChic) and NGR from shareholders including the company's founders, Liberty Verny and Nathalie Gillier, for an undisclosed sum. It will acquire the remaining stake in the coming years, it added. With 6.4 million members, BazarChic has sold products from some 800 fashion and lifestyle brands since 2006. Verny, chief executive officer of BazarChic, will remain at the head of the company.

Illustration 'Galeries Lafayette group buys private sales firm Bazarchic september 2016' (png - 0.01Mo)

Macy's Inc will partner with beauty services provider beGlammed to provide at-home grooming and makeup services, as the department store operator focuses on beauty to help arrest a slide in sales. Customers will be able to book beGlammed services ranging from $25.00-$185.00, including bridal makeup, on macys.com. The service will be launched in 22 US cities that beGlammed operates in. BeGlammed was founded in 2014 by Maile Pacheco, a former Mac cosmetics employee, who created the on-demand platform to connect clients with professional stylists.

The French department store group tapped French singer and actress Izïa Higelin for a capsule collection for fall. It consists of 20 pieces, including a sleeveless lambskin leather biker jacket, a bomber jacket, an embroidered tulle baseball jacket, a pair of leggings and a hooded sweatshirt, plus a range of accessories. Prices range from 29.99 to 199.99 euros, or from about $33 to $223. The collection is available since Sept. 21 at Galeries Lafayette stores and at Le BHV Marais department store.

In August, Selfridges of London opened what it claims is the first fully-fledged theatre within a store. Called the reFASHIONed Theatre, it has a 122-seat auditorium on the lower ground floor, and is a collaboration between Selfridges and The Faction theatre company and will show a contemporary production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing until 24 September as part of the store's celebration of the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare's death.

Justin Timberlake is relaunching his William Rast fashion collection by fronting a new Americana-influenced ad campaign for the line. Some 11 years on since creating the brand with Trace Ayala, the pair has decided to give the brand an image makeover to unveil its new designs. In the new promo, they reflect on the way their childhood in the small town of Millington, Tennessee, inspired both their personal style and the pieces they are creating for William Rast.

South Korean retail giant Shinsegae is aggressively expanding its fashion operations with the launch of seven labels in a month. A major development for the group's merchandising unit was its push towards menswear after having mainly focused on womenswear. The company launched a male fashion brand Comodo Studio, after it saw more than 30% sales growth over the past two years with Codomo Square, another menswear brand it acquired in 2012. It also launched an in-house menswear collection, Man on the Boon, and opened its first store in the group's new shopping mall Starfield Hanam.

Google has introduced a "Shop the Look" program for mobile that aims to put a price tag on the clothes and furnishings you see in your search results. The new endeavor allows smartphone users to purchase apparel and home decor products through the images that appear in response to search terms. The program, which is currently in partnership with sites like Polyvore, Curalate, and LiketoKnow.it, pulls images and links to products from fashion blogs, retailers, publishers, and brands. Once a user sees a photo of the product they like, they can tap on the picture, and Google will show them that item or one similar to it. Retailers will be charged on a cost-per-click basis, and all impressions and clicks will be reported within existing Shopping campaigns.

Polish fashion chain Reserved will occupy the flagship of bankrupt BHS on Oxford Street in London. The chain offering clothing for women, men and children plans a 2800m² store for its first opening in the country. Reserved is part of LPP, and since opening its first store in 1998, operates in 18 countries through six chains including Reserved, Tallinder and Cropp. It plans to open in Berlin next year and is looking for flagships in Paris and Milan.

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"Nocturama", the new movie by French director Bertrand Bonello (also behind "Saint Laurent" in 2014), released on August 31, was partly shot in Art Nouveau building La Samaritaine in Paris. "Nocturama" observes in minute detail how a small group plans and executes a series of terror attacks in Paris before retreating to the luxurious department store. Shot like an elaborate playground, this luxury store — generously stocked with food, fine wine, and name-brand clothes — suggests a miniature and more peaceful world where everything might be possible.

At New York Fashion Week, Samsung will debut new mirror displays that combine digital signage with a reflective mirror. The mirrors, called ML55E, have been in testing and have been used for two months in South Korea, but this will be the first time they will make their major commercial debut. Ron Gazzola, vice president of product marketing at Samsung Electronics America, said that with this technology, the comparably "static and dormant space" of the fitting room mirror now has the potential to become dynamic and engaging. Like a digital advertisement merged into a mirror, the 55-inch display of each screen can be customized to the retailer's whims and include proximity sensors so that they can activate when a customer comes near.

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Fenwick of the UK will reopen its Colchester store after a £35 m remodeling. The store, acquired as William & Griffin in 2008, will be 50% larger, and will offer a number of new brands such as Michael Kors, Paul Smith, Bobbi Brown, as well as Eileen Fisher, Joseph Ribkoff and AG Jeans. Fenwick of Colchester will also include food by Carluccio's and Café Nero. It is the company's 11th store.

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BHS is to relaunch online later this week, a month after the failed UK department store retailer closed all its stores. Qatari retail group Al Mana, which owns the Middle East franchise rights for BHS, is behind the new venture, called BHS International. BHS.com will be a smaller operation, with just 84 employees based in London and fewer products initially on offer. It goes live on Sept. 29, selling lighting and home furnishings, which accounted for around three quarters of the most popular online products sold before the retailer fell into administration. Clothing ranges, plus kitchen and dining ranges, are set to go on sale at a later date.

Illustration 'BHS set to be reborn online - September 2016' (png - 0.3Mo)