Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • Nike grows profit, pulls product in China

    Nike grows profit, pulls product in China

    Sportswear brand Nike has revealed its net profit increased to US$4 billion during the 2019 financial year, compared to the previous year, which saw Nike earn US$1.9 billion.

    The large disparity is attributed to the enactment of the Tax Act last year, which raised Nike’s effective tax rate to 55.3 percent – causing a 54 percent drop in profits. In FY19, Nike’s tax rate returned to a more normalized level of 16.1 percent.

    The positive results come at a turbulent time for the sportswear giant, which recently faced a social media backlash in China after Undercover, a Japanese streetwear label it collaborated with on a line of sneakers, shared an Instagram Story with the caption, “No Extradition to China,” and “Go Hong Kong”.

    Nike subsequently pulled the sneakers from its offering in China, according to media reports.

    Nike president, chairman, and chief executive Mark Parker told investors the business is committed to the China market “for decades to come”.

    “We are and remain a brand of China and for China,” Parker told analysts, according to the Financial Times.

    “We’re confident that we’ll continue to grow sport and our business in China for decades to come.”

    On Thursday, Parker told investors FY19 was a pivotal year for the retailer.

    “Our distinctive innovation and digital advantage led to accelerated growth across our complete portfolio, while our brand fuelled deeper relationships with consumers around the globe,” he said in a statement.

    Revenue grew 7 per cent to US$39.1 billion, driven by sportswear, Jordan, and running, as well as strategic investments in innovation and digital led by Nike Direct.

    The Converse brand saw revenue grow 3 per cent to US$1.9 billion, which was mainly driven by double-digit growth in Asia and digital.

    Nike and Retail Prodigy Group have been contacted for comment.

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  • Google Maps update brings two new important features for commuters

    Google Maps update brings two new important features for commuters

    Google launched two new features for Maps, which will greatly help those using public transportation to commute every day. The new features, live traffic delays for buses and crowdedness predictions, will help Google Maps users to plan better for their transit ride.

    Since transit schedules aren’t always accurate due to real-time traffic conditions, Google has decided to launch live traffic delays for buses, a new tool that will feed Maps users with real-time info directly from local transit agencies.

    It will allow Google Maps users in select cities to see if their bus will be late, how long the delay will be, as well as more accurate travel times based on live traffic conditions along their route. The new feature will be visible on the map too, as you’ll be able to see exactly where the delays are on the map so you know what to expect before you get your bus.

    The second new features announced today is transit crowdedness predictions, which will allow Maps users to see how crowded their bus, train or subway is likely to be based on past rides. That way you’ll be able to take a more informed decision when taking a bus or waiting for the next one to arrive.

    Starting today, both new features will be available in Google Maps in nearly 200 cities around the globe on both Android and iOS.

  • DFS and Parfums Christian Dior launch DFS X Dior Summer Party pop ups

    DFS and Parfums Christian Dior launch DFS X Dior Summer Party pop ups

    International travel retailer DFS Group has partnered with Christian Dior Parfums on a pop-up concept to launch July 1 in Macau.

    The DFS x Dior Summer Party pop-up experience, celebrating the arrival of summer, kicks off in T Galleria by DFS, Macau through to July 31 before traveling across DFS’s global network of retail stores.

    The DFS x Dior Summer Party presents exclusive products designed for world travellers seeking to look and feel their best across all time zones.

    “We aspire to tantalize our traveling customers’ senses,” said DFS Group’s senior VP of beauty Christophe Marque, “and this beautiful pop-up is a perfect example of our commitment to combining exclusivity and entertainment with world-class brands.”

    “Parfums Christian Dior and DFS have always shared a powerful synergy when it comes to providing excitement and innovation to our customers,” said Dior Travel regional retail director Leonardo Ferracina. “Our exclusive Dior Summer Party pop-up for DFS is an indulgent start to an exciting and vibrant Summer, enriched with the signature of our Dior products.”

  • Twitter’s new policy is aimed squarely at Donald Trump

    Twitter’s new policy is aimed squarely at Donald Trump

    Many Twitter users have been complaining about several tweets disseminated by President Donald Trump. These Twitter members say that if they sent out tweets with the same insults and language used by the president, they would have had their account suspended. After all, besides giving insulting names to anyone that the thin-skinned president feels has insulted him, Trump has threatened nuclear war with North Korea, posted a video containing violence against CNN and more.

    While not mentioning Trump by name, Twitter explained in a blog post that “there are certain cases where it may be in the public’s interest to have access to certain Tweets, even if they would otherwise be in violation of our rules.” In addition, the social media site noted that “a critical function of our service is providing a place where people can openly and publicly respond to their leaders and hold them accountable.”

    “Our highest priority is to protect the health of the public conversation on Twitter, and an important part of that is ensuring our rules and how we enforce them are easy to understand. In the past, we’ve allowed certain Tweets that violated our rules to remain on Twitter because they were in the public’s interest, but it wasn’t clear when and how we made those determinations. To fix that, we’re introducing a new notice that will provide additional clarity in these situations.

    Serving the public conversation includes providing the ability for anyone to talk about what matters to them; this can be especially important when engaging with government officials and political figures. By nature of their positions, these leaders have outsized influence and sometimes say things that could be considered controversial or invite debate and discussion. A critical function of our service is providing a place where people can openly and publicly respond to their leaders and hold them accountable.”-Twitter

    Twitter’s solution is to make users go through various screens. In the “rare occasion” when it is in the public interest for Twitter to allow a tweet to remain posted even if it violates the platform’s rules, Twitter will place a notice on the tweet. This will indicate that to view such a tweet, Twitter members will have to click or tap on an additional screen. The company says that it will prevent these tweets from being “algorithmically elevated on our service, to strike the right balance between enabling free expression, fostering accountability, and reducing the potential harm caused by these Tweets.”

    So just exactly whose tweets are covered by the new policy? Government officials, those representing a government official, someone running for office or being considered for a public office are affected by the new policy if they have a verified Twitter account with more than 100,000 followers. If someone meets this criterion and sends a tweet that would normally be a violation of Twitter’s terms of service, a notice will appear that reads “The Twitter rules about abusive behavior apply to this Tweet. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest in the Tweet to remain available.” To the right of the notice will be a link marked “view;” tapping on that link will allow the tweet to be visible to the user. These tweets also will not appear in Safe search, Timeline when switched to Top Tweets, Live events pages, Recommended Tweet push notifications, Notifications tab and Explore.

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  • Volvo XC90 Armoured Vehicle Revealed

    Volvo XC90 Armoured Vehicle Revealed

    Volvo Cars takes a big step as a manufacturer of armoured vehicles with the XC90 Armoured car. The cars are designed and built to provide safe and comfortable travel with a high level of personal protection for the occupants. There is a growing global market for armoured vehicles at present, and a large number are manufactured with various protection ratings. Volvo already has received numerous requests over the past few years to develop an armoured XC90. The company has extensive experience of building police cars, fire engines and diverse special vehicles with high requirements in terms of function, driveability and safety. In fact, the first Volvo police car was delivered back in 1929.

    Work to develop a car with a VPAM VR8 protection rating commenced just over two years ago. A certified VPAM VR8 rating means the car has 360-degree ballistic resistance as well as explosive resistance. The armoured car is built on the Inscription version of the Volvo XC90 T6 AWD, which is manufactured at the Torslanda plant in Sweden. The size and nature of the model make it the most suitable vehicle in Volvo Cars’ product portfolio for armouring. From Torslanda, the car is sent to TRASCO Bremen GmbH in Germany, a company which has specialised for many years in building high-quality vehicles with high protection ratings.

    The high-strength steel armour is 10 millimetres thick, while the thickness of the glass can be up to 50 millimetres. The armour adds approximately 1,400 kilograms to the XC90, which brings the total weight of the car up to 4,490kg (including five occupants). To cope with the increased weight, the car is fitted with uprated suspension and new brakes. The Volvo XC90 Armoured (heavy) is available to order now and the first customer deliveries will be made at the end of 2019.

    Volvo Cars also develops another version of the armoured car (light). This means that Volvo Cars has a full portfolio of cars able to offer high personal protection. These cars are built on the XC60 T6 AWD Inscription or XC90 T6 AWD Inscription.

    These versions are geared towards different clientele than the XC90 Armoured (heavy). Users could be individuals or companies requiring a car with a higher level of protection due to a geographical risk or a heightened personal threat. A market for these types of protective vehicles also exists among security services, the police, the diplomatic corps and private individuals.

    The cars are intended for Latin America and Europe. After construction, they are retrofitted in Brazil, where there is considerable demand for these types of cars as well as substantial experience of building them. These vehicles are designed to offer lighter protection compared with the XC90 Armoured (heavy). Sales of these cars are scheduled to begin in the first half of 2020.

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  • Apac consumers embracing shopping apps

    Apac consumers embracing shopping apps

    Users of shopping apps users are becoming increasingly purchase-happy in what is poised to be mobile commerce’s biggest year so far, according to a recent study by Liftoff.

    The report by the mobile-app marketing and retargeting platform also uncovers key insights into Asia Pacific (Apac) mobile shopping behaviour, suggesting the rise of “Mobile Window Shopping” in the region, which is underpinned by the low costs of installing shopping apps and acquiring new users.

    Analysing more than 90.9 billion ad impressions across four global zones, 13.6 million installs and 3.9 million registration and purchase events between April 2018 and April this year, the report identified several trends relevant to the Apac region.

    In Apac, users are clearly open to exploring retail apps, with registration rates skyrocketing and acquisition costs dropping year-on-year. But the data points to a surprising new trend – “Mobile Window Shopping”. While users install and register in retail apps with ease, the joint report shows a sizeable drop-off at the all-important purchase stage. Apac’s cost-per-first-purchase comes in at US$31.26 (up 13.3 per cent year-on-year), coupled with a low 10.1 per cent conversion rate.

    This could point to a larger retail trend: the demand for a more user-friendly shopping experience. While price tends to dominate purchasing decisions, factors such as having personal engagements with retailers and concerns on whether the retailers can capably fulfill orders are also seen as crucial by mobile shoppers.

    “For marketers looking to boost purchase rates, the key is to utilise the data they have, understand potential drop-off points and to segment and target properly,” said Adjust co-founder and CEO Christian Henschel. “Brands can then create and deliver the perfect user interaction strategies for their marketing initiatives. This personalisation is key to winning over fickle consumers and building long-term loyalty.”

    Southeast Asia’s largest country – Indonesia – presents a dynamic landscape for marketers operating in APAC; especially in terms of the number of users that can be acquired. However, turning those acquisitions into actual purchases will likely depend on how convenient the mobile app shopping experience is. The cost of an application installment is just US$1.65, but this is paired with somewhat meagre conversion rates. Another concern for marketers and retailers is that retention rates of shopping apps in Indonesia trail behind other markets studied in the region, the prime reasons being consumers having a low learning curve, lack of patience with the app onboarding process and failing to understand the long-term value of installing an app.

    “The shopping app market in Asia is growing dynamically and at an all-time-high, yet based on our findings, the number of purchases made through such apps are not as high as they could be; despite the general trend of consumers moving their browsing from store windows to the phones’ screens,” said, Liftoff VP marketing Dennis Mink.

    “Indonesia is a microcosm of the behaviors and concerns of the region’s shoppers. So, finding the right message and conveying it in the right context to the consumer can help remove these roadblocks, thereby improving retention and interest.”

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  • Ford Says To Cut 12,000 Jobs In All Across Europe

    Ford Says To Cut 12,000 Jobs In All Across Europe

    US carmaker Ford said Thursday that it plans to slash a total of 12,000 jobs across Europe as part of a previously-announced restructuring, as it closes or sells six plants in Britain, France, Russia and Slovakia in 2019 and 2020.

    “Ford’s manufacturing footprint in Europe will be reduced to a proposed 17 facilities by the end of 2020, from 24 at the beginning of 2019,” the group said, adding that the job cuts — including 5,400 already announced in Germany and 1,700 in Wales — would come “primarily through voluntarily separation programmes”.

  • Jony Ive left Apple

    Jony Ive left Apple

    It is absolutely the end of an era at Apple. The company announced that it’s chief design officer, Sir Jony Ive, is leaving the company. The man responsible for the design of many iconic devices including the iPhone and the iPad is forming an independent design company. And yes, Apple will be one of its major clients. In addition to creating the look and finish of many Apple products, Ive’s distinctive British accent could be heard narrating most of Apple’s new product videos during the iPhone era.

    Ive first came to Apple in 1992, working as a member of the company’s industrial design group. One of his first assignments was to work on the design of the second generation Newton personal digital assistant (PDA) and the MessagePad. In 1997, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs returned to Apple and Ive was promoted to senior vice president of industrial design. He and Jobs combined on an amazing run of successful new products that might never be topped. It started with the all-in-one Apple iMac G3 released in 1998. With a brightly colored translucent case, the design stood out in a sea of dull desktop PCs. In 2002, a whole new design was used on the iMac G4. Keeping with the all-in-one theme, the screen was attached to an adjustable arm with the motherboard and hard drive placed inside the dome-shaped base. The success of these two products helped revive Apple.

    Ive also had a big hand in the design of the Apple iPod, which was first released in 2001. Apple’s mp3 player was a massive success and combined with the iTunes platform, Apple sold hundreds of millions of units. And then came the iPhone, followed by the iPad and the Apple Watch. By the time Apple’s tablet was released, Ive had more power than anyone at Apple outside of Steve Jobs. With that power came a huge paycheck estimated to be as high as $30 million by 2011, with an additional $25 million stock bonus.

    Following the fiasco that was the launch of Apple Maps in 2012, the company removed software chief Scott Forstall and Ive took on new responsibilities as the Senior Vice President of Design (no “Industrial in the title). The man who designed hardware for Apple was put in charge of designing iOS 7. After giving up control of the design team in 2015 so that he could work on Apple’s new campus, the executive regained that control two years later. That same year, Apple unveiled the iPhone X with a completely new design. The device featured thinner bezels, an edge-to-edge-screen and Face ID (replacing Touch ID). The design chief said that the phone was the closest he had come to his original goal of creating a phone that was all screen.

    The company is not immediately planning on naming a new chief design officer. Instead, Apple said that design team leaders Evans Hankey, vice president of Industrial Design, and Alan Dye, vice president of Human Interface Design, will report to Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams.

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  • SMCP Taking over men’s luxury brand De Fursac

    SMCP Taking over men’s luxury brand De Fursac

    Chinese-controlled affordable luxury fashion group SMCP has agreed to buy French luxury menswear label De Fursac.

    The deal – the value of which was not disclosed – gives SMCP an entry into the menswear category and will complement its existing labels Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot.

    In a regulatory filing, Shandong Ruyi said the deal would be financed from debt but would increase earnings-per-share immediately.

    Last year, De Fursac’s sales reached €41.4 million last year and it achieved like-for-like sales growth of 5.4 percent.

    SMCP CEO Daniel Lalonde said De Fursac gives his company a unique opportunity to accelerate its strategy by tapping into a new segment in the fast-growing men’s accessible luxury market.

    “De Fursac is an outstanding brand, poised for growth through international expansion, with the support of our expertise.”

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  • H&M to scale back store openings and focus on E-commerce

    H&M to scale back store openings and focus on E-commerce

    H&M says it will scale back its store-opening program in the year ahead, and reported strong sales in its stores this month.

    The company had already announced a 5 per cent increase in same-store sales in the second quarter; now it is estimating June’s growth at 12 per cent. It is also selling more stock at full price, lessening its reliance on discounting which had been necessary to shift an unusually high inventory during the last year.

    “Inventory increased by less than sales, the composition of inventory is better and markdowns are lower,” said CEO Karl-Johan Persson during an investor conference call. “We will see more improvements, it’s heading in the right direction.”

    As the company slows its rate of store openings, forecasting 130 now rather than the 175 flagged earlier, it will invest more on building up its e-commerce business.

    “We have decided in certain markets to hold back from new openings. We think rents are higher than they should be,” Persson said.

    Kate Ormrod, lead retail analyst at GlobalData, says the company’s results and Persson’s comments shows H&M remains on track with its transformation plan.

    “Efforts to strengthen its product ranges and availability are clearly resonating with shoppers, helping to drive full price sales and reduce markdowns. One sticking point for the first half remains profitability, with operating profit still down on the year, and margin falling from 7.3 per cent to 6.4 per cent. The true test of its strategy lies in the second half where tougher comparatives can be found – although with the retailer reporting a strong June, … the signs are encouraging.”

    She said that having been a laggard for so long in e-commerce, H&M’s investment continues apace as the retailer is still yet to fully harness the opportunities that lie within online.

    “While it now plans fewer store openings, minimising costs, the new strategy puts pressure on H&M’s existing stores and online operations to deliver.”

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  • Vietjet Recognised as One of “Vietnam’s 50 Best Performing Companies in 2018”

    Vietjet Recognised as One of “Vietnam’s 50 Best Performing Companies in 2018”

    Vietjet was recognised as one of the leading companies in “Vietnam’s 50 Best Performing Companies 2018”. Held in Ho Chi Minh City on 27 June 2019, the award ceremony celebrated the leading companies listed on Vietnam’s stock market for their significant contribution to the economy.

    The annual event was conducted by Nhip Cau Dau Tu Magazine (Investment Bridge Magazine) in partnership with Thien Viet Securities, with expert economic and business consultants from Harvard Business School. The awards take reference from world ranking charts such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune and Forbes to recognise and award listed companies for their performance and business results between 2016 and 2018. Success is based on Revenue Growth Rate, Return on Equity (ROE) and Earnings per Share (EPS).

    Vietjet’s SR-CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) and ROE were at 39.24 per cent and 59.7 per cent, respectively. Market capitalisation reached 2.68 billion USD, making Vietjet one of the largest capitalised enterprises on the Vietnam Stock Market. Since its listing, Vietjet has been recognized as a representative for successful Vietnamese enterprises.

    The top 50 companies this year have a total market capitalisation of 98 billion USD, with 17 companies exceeding 1 billion USD. Enterprises in the top 50 also generated a total of 1,200,000 billion VND (approximately 51 billion USD) and 127,000 billion VND (approximately 5.5 billion USD) in profits, an increase of 52 per cent and 47 per cent compared to the same period in previous years. In the context of an unsustainable global economy due to political reasons, the performance of Vietnamese enterprises in 2018 showed the potential for strong development and sustainability from leading Vietnamese companies.

    Hundreds of influential business leaders, financial institutions, macroeconomic executives, prestigious domestic and foreign investors attended the award ceremony and also participated in talks concerning the Macroeconomic forecasts for 2019 to 2020, amongst other international and local business topics.

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  • Walmart to relist Seiyu in global business revamp

    Walmart to relist Seiyu in global business revamp

    Walmart says it plans to relist its Seiyu retail business in Japan on the stock market, freeing capital to focus on its China and India business units.

    While the US retailer will retain a majority interest in Seiyu, it believes floating the unit will allow it to operate more independently.

    The move is part of a three-year business plan for Seiyu, part of a broader push to reshape Walmart’s international business.

    “As the parent loses the wherewithal to support low-performing overseas units, revamping those operations has become imperative,” observed Nikkei writer Kento Hirashima.

    Walmart had previously been tipped to sell the Japanese business unit, but has discarded that option.

    Seiyu also plans to expand its online grocery retail business and boost its range of fresh produce and prepared foods.

    Walmart forged an investment and operational alliance in 2002 before Walmart took full control six years later and Seiyu was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

  • Apple offers tool for diabetics that integrates with its Health app

    Apple offers tool for diabetics that integrates with its Health app

    Apple has long been rumored to be working on a way for the Apple Watch to noninvasively monitor the blood glucose levels of its users. This reading is used by diabetics to determine how much insulin they need to take before eating and usually requires a finger stick to draw blood. Such a feature for Apple’s wearable could be years away. The company has been working on becoming a major presence in the health care industry, and CEO Tim Cook says that health care will be Apple’s “greatest contribution to mankind.” With that in mind, some Apple Stores have begun to sell a blood glucose reader (called a glucometer) that syncs with the iPhone, the Apple Watch and the Apple Health app.

    The One Drop glucometer, priced at $69.95, features an iPhone app and a separate Apple Watch app. The meter itself takes the data from the blood drawn by the diabetic and sends it to the One Drop app where it is integrated with Apple’s Health app. The latter will allow diabetics to see their blood glucose data and associated analytics. There is also a subscription service that delivers test strips to users of the device. Each test requires the insertion of one strip into the glucometer.

    “I believe that Apple’s perspective on consumerized, data-driven self-care is where the industry is going to be pulled to, versus the expensive, bureaucratic, not-data driven current healthcare system. Our ability to align ourselves with that, and help drive that story, is what we see as the benefit of working with Apple.”-Jeff Dachis, CEO One Drop. The One Drop app also comes with the option of purchasing additional coaching to help users manage their diabetes. Those purchasing the One Drop glucometer will receive one free year of coaching from a certified diabetes educator. And unlike most glucometers, One Drop looks like an expensive consumer electronic device. One Drop CEO, Jeff Dachis, said that the product was created to “create a sense of love and delight” when using the product. “We share a design philosophy (with Apple)” Dachis said. “We want our products and services to be beautiful so people like them. You don’t hear the word ‘beautiful’ often in the healthcare space.”

    Perhaps someday the Apple Watch will instantly give blood glucose readings to diabetics by tapping on the screen. But until then, a device like the One Drop glucometer can be purchased and used along with the Apple Health app to help diabetics better control their disease. There are also a number of iOS apps that will track blood glucose readings, but none come with the actual glucometer required to produce those readings.

    Apple’s health initiative currently revolves around its smartwatch. The Apple Watch Series 4 offers a heart rate monitor and an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor. The latter looks for an abnormal heart rate that could be a sign of Atrial fibrillation or AFib. This condition can lead to blood clots, strokes, and death. The watch also has a fall detector that is automatically enabled for owners of the device aged 65 or older. If the owner of the watch falls, the watch senses this, taps the user’s wrist and sounds an alarm. The user can then use the watch to contact emergency services or dismiss the alarm. If the watch determines that the user is not moving after about a minute, it will call 911 itself and send a message to the watch owner’s emergency contacts; that message indicates that the user has suffered a hard fall and includes the location of the injured party. These features have already saved the lives of several Apple Watch wearers.

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  • Apple Music grows to over 60 million monthly users worldwide

    Apple Music grows to over 60 million monthly users worldwide

    Apple Music and Spotify continue to compete for world domination, as both music streaming services claim they have many millions of subscribers. Up until now, Spotify was the supreme ruler with more than 100 million subscribers worldwide reported two months ago.

    Before that, Apple said it has amassed 56 million subscribers by December 2018. Six months later, the number didn’t increase as much as one would expect. French media (via Music Business Worldwide) reports Apple’s SVP of Services, Eddy Cue said the music platform exceeded 60 million users.

    We’re referring to them as users since Apple confirmed the number includes free trialists, so we’re not yet sure how many are actually paying for the service, although we do know they should probably be at least 56 million as Apple pointed out six months ago.

    With the latest improvements to its Music platform added in the latest iOS 13 version, such as time-synced lyrics, Apple hopes to bring even more subscribers under its umbrella in the coming months. It remains to be seen whether or not the pace at which Apple Music is adding new subscribers each month is too slow to beat Spotify for the world’s largest music streaming service title.

    It’s also worth mentioning that Apple Music has more subscribers in the US than Spotify and that the latter announced it reached more than 200 million monthly users back in April.

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  • Fred Segal looking for Asian expansion

    Fred Segal looking for Asian expansion

    US West Coast fashion and lifestyle retailer Fred Segal is eyeing expansion into China as its new owner Global Icons seeks to revive the 57-year-old brand. In an interview, Fred Segal president John Frierson said the European and Asian markets are big focuses for the company, singling out the growing spending power of Chinese Gen Z and millennial consumers.

    He said the company will be announcing “significant” plans for physical retail within Asia within the next few weeks, led by “big partners” in the region.

    Jeff Lotman, CEO of Global Icons and Fred Segal chairman, said the company was in final discussions with multibillion-dollar trading companies in China, South Korea and Japan. Stores in those markets would follow debuts in Taiwan and Malaysia last year under the company’s previous ownership.

    Global Icons has offices in Hong Kong and the company has secured licensing deals with brands as diverse as Hostess and Lamborghini.

    Fred Segal, a tailor, founded his retail brand in 1961. It peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s when it became the first to sell Kate Spade and Juicy Couture, and was shopped by celebrities including Paris Hilton and the Olsen twins.

    The company operates through licensees in international markets and has already announced plans to open at least 20 stores this year.

    “To really have next-level success means going out and creating our own line of products, and selling the Los Angeles lifestyle to the world,” Lotman said. “We can no longer just be US-centric.”

    He said he wants the international stores to retain Fred Segal’s retail signatures, including multiple brands, emerging designers, events and a restaurant.

    Added Frierson: “We’re lucky in that we’re not trying to harvest the value of the brand, but we’re trying to grow it. And we have a tremendous amount of growth to do in the next 10 years.”

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