Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • BORA AKSU has opened its first store locally at Marina Bay Sands

    BORA AKSU has opened its first store locally at Marina Bay Sands

    Bora Aksu, the London-based, Turkish fashion designer, has opened his first standalone store in Asia, at Singapore’s The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

    Aksu’s Autumn-Winter 2018 collection launches the brand there, with pieces priced from S$500 to $2000. (US$366 to $1830). The range includes pinstripe culottes, matching blazers, velvet jumpsuits and flared pants, along with shoes, handbags – and even a $600 doll dressed in miniature versions of his clothing.

    The Marina Bay store takes up about 2000sqft on level B2.

    Aksu is gaining a following in the fashion community for his elegance, sophistication, modern femininity and “rivetingly romantic” demi-couture pieces. His clothes are stocked by Selfridges, Liberty & Co and Wolf & Badger, among others.

    The designer said that he chose Singapore for his first store location because it was the gateway to Southeast Asia.

    “Our pieces offer customers in Singapore ready-to-wear garments encompassing elaborate, exquisite compositions and luxurious tulle fabrics that represent Bora Aksu’s signature looks. Beyond an impressive roster of elegant tailored looks, Bora Aksu’s pieces are known to emote charm, intrigue and seduction which I believe will be well suited to the crowd here in Singapore,” he said.

  • East Saigon running out of apartments for sale to foreigners

    East Saigon running out of apartments for sale to foreigners

    An ownership cap is preventing foreigners from buying high-end apartments in Saigon, especially its eastern part.

    Thien’s apartment was in a prime area with a view of the Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thao Dien Ward, District 2.

    He could have sold it for VND5.5 billion ($236,000) to a foreign buyer, but had to sell to a local investor for VND5 billion ($215,000) because the 30 percent cap of foreign ownership had already been reached.

    Like Thien, Luong bought a high-end apartment on Ha Noi Highway, District 2, in 2017, and sold it to a foreigner early 2018. It was after the contract was signed that he learnt that the foreign ownership cap had been reached. It took him another month to find a Vietnamese buyer for lower profits.

    The amended Housing Law 2014 expanded foreigners’ rights to buy housing in Vietnam but stipulates a foreign ownership cap of 30 percent in each project.

    Savills Vietnam director Matthew Powell said that many apartment projects in HCMC have reached the 30 percent foreign ownership limit since last year, especially in expat dense areas.

    Song Hai, an experienced real estate broker, said many foreigners find property in the east of the city, like District 2, especially in Thao Dien ward, more attractive as it has been an expatriate haunt for some time.

    Earlier, in the third quarter of 2017, a property project located in a prime location in District 1, accessible via the Thu Thiem Tunnel, was so attractive to a group of individual Korean investors that they were willing to take 50-year leases if they could not buy apartments outright as a result of the foreign ownership limit.

    Nguyen Xuan Quang, Chairman of Nam Long Investment Joint Stock Company, said the participation of such individual foreign investors was a positive sign for the market at a time when apartment sales were slowing.

    “Foreign investors might see good market prospects here as returns from property in the city could be better compared to other countries,” he said.

    Nguyen Loc Hanh, deputy general director of sales and marketing at Danh Khoi Real Estate Joint Stock Company (DKR), said quite a few apartment projects in the eastern part of the city have reached the 30 percent foreign ownership limit, especially high-end projects with fewer than 500 apartments typically preferred by foreigners.

    Luxury apartments in the city are still much cheaper than in Hong Kong or Singapore, Hanh noted.

    Alan Kan, committee member of the Hong Kong Business Association Vietnam (HKBAV), said that Hong Kong property prices have risen to unaffordable levels, and so many people there are looking to investing in cheaper places like Vietnam and Thailand.

    According to data from Hong Kong-based Golden Emperor, gross rental yields are between 4.5 percent and 5 percent in Bangkok and much lower in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, and cannot compare with the yields of 6-8 percent in Vietnam.

    Powell of Savills Vietnam added that conditions and legal procedures related to foreign ownership have been eased but should be improved further to attract more investors.

    He agreed it was important to have ownership limits to ensure proper oversight and avoid negative impacts on the economy, but Vietnam could consider relaxing the regulations in certain areas to meet demand, especially in the luxury segment, he added.

    According to property consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), Malaysia has a relaxed realty policy that encourages foreigners to buy various kinds of properties.

    Thailand now allows foreigners to buy only 49 percent of a housing project, down from 100 percent earlier.

    Indonesia only allows foreign individuals to hold a right of use title for 30 years extendable for another 20.

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  • Giordano slows down in Hong Kong, Macau market

    Giordano slows down in Hong Kong, Macau market

    Apparel retailer Giordano says sales growth in its key Hong Kong and Macau market has become “increasingly sluggish”.

    While the year started well, “inclement weather and fierce competition have hindered performance so far,” chairman and CEO Peter Lau said in the company’s half-year results announcement.

    “But we are confident the experienced local management team will continue to reduce costs and devise creative campaigns to outperform our competitors. This market will also continue to serve as a new idea incubator and talent development centre,” he said.

    Group sales for the first half of this year were HK$2.86 billion (US$364 million), up 9.2 per cent on the same period last year. Comp-store sales and comp-store gross profit rose by 5.1 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively.

    Post-tax profit was HK$254 million, an increase of 3.7 per cent, with net profit margin easing by half a percentage point to 8.9 per cent.

    Lau said the company was optimistic about its outlook for Giordano’s Mainland China business.

    “Performance in the first half … has been flat and there is some degree of uncertainty surrounding the impact of the Sino-US trade war in the imminent future. That said, our e-commerce business in China continues to perform better than the group’s average and there has also been an improvement in the performance of both our franchisees and our [stores]. We anticipate that our store network will continue to expand, but we will monitor the pace and scale in view of the macroeconomic conditions.”

    Giordano finished the half year with 2444 stores, equivalent to 2.331 million sqft of retail space throughout Asia-Pacific, 1293 of those standalone stores.

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  • Shinsegae DF partners with China’s Ctrip

    Shinsegae DF partners with China’s Ctrip

    Shinsegae DF Inc., duty-free store operating unit of South Korea’s retail conglomerate Shinsegae Group, has joined hands with China’s largest online travel agency Ctrip to offer membership service with hopes to woo more Chinese consumers.

    Shinsegae DF said on 3 August that it will offer consumers membership subscription service via Ctrip website, becoming the world’s first duty-free store operator to partner with Ctrip, an online platform in China with over 300 million users offering travel-related services such as accommodation, flight reservation, and tour packages.

    Under the partnership, Shinsegae DF will introduce its brand on the travel agency’s website under Global Shopping section and offer membership subscription service.

    Consumers will be given silver memberships that grant them a 10 percent discount at all times.

    The latest partnership with Chinese e-commerce site comes at a time when Shinsegae DF is going all-out to attract Chinese travelers to boost sales.

    In November, the Korean duty-free store operator joined hands with China’s leading messaging and social media app WeChat with 1 billion monthly users to expand membership. Shinsegae DF has seen a 150 percent average daily surge in the number of foreign memberships since the service launch.

    Average daily sales of Shinsegae DF’s store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, have also jumped from the 4 billion won (US$3.5 million) range in October last year to more than 5 billion won this year, the company said.

    An unnamed official from Shinsegae DF said that the company will put out efforts to attract Chinese travelers by expanding membership subscription partnership with Alipay in addition to Ctrip and WeChat.

    Shinsegae said the daily average number of foreigners who sign up for its memberships grew over 150 percent following the launch of the service with WeChat.

    “We are putting our utmost efforts in establishing platforms and communities to better communicate with consumers from Greater China,” a company official said. “In addition to Ctrip and WeChat, we plan to expand collaboration with Alipay.”

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  • Mao Shan Café China to open 200 more stores

    Mao Shan Café China to open 200 more stores

    The Mao Shan Cafe, a franchised food retail network with a menu centred on durian – plans to open 200 outlets across Mainland China by 2022.

    Mao Shan Cafes serve durian cakes, savouries, pastries, waffles, durian coffee and ice cream and other unique foods based on Malaysia’s Musang King strain of durians, targeting Chinese nationals who are passionate about the fruit.

    In China, where whole durians are harder to come by, sales of durian-flavoured products have skyrocketed in recent years. Duerian imports have surged from 40 tonnes in 2011 to 368 tonnes in 2016.

    A subsidiary of US private equity business The Funding Partners, Mao Shan Cafe also plans to collaborate with Chinese food delivery giants Meituan and Alibaba-owned Ele.me to further boost sales.

    This year, 10 stores are planned for the Guangdong region and the first 100 in the company’s franchised network are expected to be trading by 2020. Sometime before the 200 threshold is reached, The Funding Partners plans to spin the company off in a Mainland China float.

    The chain’s first flagship store opened last month, in a ceremony attended by celebrities including Hong Kong performing artist, Maria Cordero.

    The Funding Partners has interests in Malaysia’s durian growing and export industry and saw the retail network as a way of expanding exports further to the mainland.

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  • Toyota Vietnam recalls 11,300 plus cars with airbag faults

    Toyota Vietnam recalls 11,300 plus cars with airbag faults

    Toyota Vietnam has announced the recall of more than 11,300 cars of three models with faulty airbags.

    The inflator canister of over 5,600 Corolla Altis cars manufactured in 2013 can be penetrated by humidity, the Japanese company said in a statement.

    Thus, it can happen that in some crashes, the activation of the airbag can break the inflator into pieces. These pieces can be pushed through the inflated airbag, causing serious damage to users.

    The same fault is likely in 5,100 Vios cars and 550 Yaris cars manufactured at the same year, which are also being recalled.

    Another 372 Corolla Altis cars manufactured between December 16, 2015 to February 15, 2016 are being recalled for airbag crash sensor faults.

    The electrical insulator of the airbag electronic controller unit can fall off after a period of car operation, turning on the warning airbag symbol on the driver’s control board.

    In the event of a crash, the airbag may not be activated because of this fault.

    Toyota said it has not been aware of any accidents involving these faults so far.

    Customers can bring their vehicles for a free replacement of the faulty parts at Toyota garages, which should take three hours.

    This is not the first time Toyota Vietnam is recalling cars with airbag faults. The most recent one was in March this year and August last year, with over 20,000 vehicles in each occasion.

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  • SM Prime Holdings income rise from new malls

    SM Prime Holdings income rise from new malls

    SM Prime Holdings has reported a 16 per cent rise in income in the first half of this year.

    Sales, boosted by new mall and residential projects, reached a total of P16.6 billion (US$313 million). The firm opened shopping centres in Cavite, Pangasinan and Pampanga during the period and now operates 77 in all, seven of them in China.

    SM Prime president Jeffrey C Lim said: “We intend to deliver more integrated developments in the coming years anchored by lifestyle malls, luxurious yet affordable residences and other complementary amenities across the country.”

    SM Prime is set to open new malls in Albay and Leyte later this year.

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  • Bondi Venus champions affordable fashion swimwear for the style-savvy girl

    Bondi Venus champions affordable fashion swimwear for the style-savvy girl

    A vibrant, young swimwear brand launching new bikinis for the summer of 2018 ; Bondi Venus champions affordable fashion swimwear and beach clothing for the style-savvy girl about town who wants to make an impact poolside.

    The company behind the brand have almost 3 years of experience in designing, producing and distributing fine, fashion-led garments and accessories and supply some of Asia’s biggest high street retailers.

    Detail is at the forefront of Bondi Venus. Meticulous technique and an attention to extraordinary features is evident in the debut collection. Sophisticated beadwork and embellishment adorns classic bikini styles; while jewel-encrusted brooches and pretty charms facet South Beach’s own designs and prints, lending to the individual character of the range.

    The first collection from this fresh and exciting swimwear brand focusses on three key trends; ‘Bikinis’, ‘Monokinis’ and ‘Trikinis’.

    These three fashion-forward sets combine seamlessly to create a coherent collection of stunning swimwear and beach clothing. Pieces are sold as individual separates and are designed to allow for mixing and matching across the range.

    The Bondi Venus girl is typically aged 18-35, enjoys socialising with friends and looks for a bikini that not only looks great by the pool, but also steps up to the mark after sunset for a moonlit beach party.

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  • Carousell seals partnership with Xend, elevates the PH buying and selling experience

    Carousell seals partnership with Xend, elevates the PH buying and selling experience

    In a strategic bid to accelerate Philippine social commerce growth in a thriving ecosystem, Carousell, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing classifieds marketplaces, has recently launched its major team-up with Xend, the country’s top e-commerce logistics firm.

    Jamie Lee, Carousell’s Senior Manager for Growth Markets pointed out that the partnership deal allows the platform – now with 158 million listings across 7 markets – to enrich the experience of its Philippine-based users and better engage them through a strong logistics partner of choice.

    “We are excited to work with Xend to make buying and selling more convenient. Shipping has been one of the most requested features from our users in the Philippines and Xend provides a unique, cost-friendly logistics solution for our users. With this strategic partnership, we hope to create more value for our community and deepen our presence in the Philippines,” Lee explained.

    Xend Founder & CEO Bjorn Pardo meanwhile said that they are thrilled to forge this partnership as it allows both players to step-up their game in the e-commerce space at scale.

    “The Philippine e-commerce landscape has fundamentally evolved. Sellers and shoppers are now more discerning and adoptive of coherent, frictionless experiences. This collaboration enables us to consolidate the mobile commerce segment and mobilize each others’ resources towards more customer-centric solutions,” said Pardo.

    The deal will jointly offer preferential privileges to Carousell users who use Xend to have their sold items delivered, as well as mount co-branded promotions in each others’ channels, both online and offline.

    With over 9.5 million listings on the Philippines marketplace, fashion and beauty remain as the most popular categories among its users in the Philippines. Xend, on its part, has already breached the 25 million mark for deliveries locally and abroad, and is known for its close to 500,000 user-base, Asia Pacific’s first Facebook Messenger booking bot, and a 6,000-strong integrated land and sea logistics network with PhilTranco, FastCat, Jam Liner, Ceres, and Quick Reliable.

    “It’s all about unlocking localized synergies and generating incremental value. As a next-tier innovation, Xend and Carousell will be collaborating to offer district-oriented meet-up points that leverages the Xend Group’s “pick-up and drop-off” (PUDO) hubs of 350 Neighborhood Partner outlets and possibly the stores too of 7-Eleven, one of our formidable strategic partners,” said JT Solis, Xend’s Vice President for Partnerships & Business Development, who led the negotiation and structuring of the deal.

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  • Samsung vows to invest ＄161B by 2021

    Samsung vows to invest ＄161B by 2021

    Samsung announced Wednesday it will spend 180 trillion won (＄160.7 billion) and hire 40,000 more employees over the next three years to drive growth – an unprecedentedly ambitious plan from Korea’s biggest conglomerate.

    The 180 trillion won includes capital expenditures and research and development, and some 130 trillion won – 43.3 trillion won on annual average – will be dedicated to the domestic market, which Samsung said would indirectly create 700,000 more jobs.

    The annual figure is in line with the 43.4 trillion won Samsung spent on new facilities last year.

    The remaining 50 trillion won in investments is speculated to be earmarked for mergers and acquisitions as well as foreign manufacturing facilities.

    The pledge of 40,000 new jobs is meant to give jobs to young Koreans, the group explained. Korea is struggling with the worst youth unemployment rate in its history. The number of new jobs created by Samsung over the past three years was between 20,000 and 25,000.

    “Today’s announcement follows many months of deliberation and review by the management and board of directors of different Samsung companies that will make the investments, including Samsung Electronics,” Samsung said in a statement.

    The investments are divided into two categories. One is to sustain the company’s leadership in semiconductors and displays.

    “In addition to investments for memory products, spending will be dedicated to non-memory products and new advanced manufacturing equipment,” Samsung said. Developing profitable and new products will be the focus in displays, amid rising competition in the industry.

    The second category is to search for new growth engines. A total of 25 trillion won will go into four specific areas: artificial intelligence (AI), 5G telecommunications, automotive electronics components and biopharmaceuticals.

    The plan to invest 180 trillion won exceeds a widely expected figure of 100 trillion won. Samsung was supposed to announce its investment and hiring plans on Monday when Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon visited its Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi and met with its de facto chairman, Lee Jae-yong. But Samsung delayed the announcement at the last minute after stories were published that accused the government of “begging” for investments from conglomerates.

    Samsung’s ambitious plan does follow a request from President Moon Jae-in. In mid-July, the president directly asked Lee to “invest more locally and create more jobs” when the two met at a ceremony in India to mark the completion of Samsung’s biggest smartphone factory in the world.

    Wednesday’s announcement made clear Samsung’s industrial focus for the next few years. Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, now bedridden, used to declare Samsung’s growth drivers every several years. In 2010, four years before he had an incapacitating stroke, Samsung named medical equipment, biopharmaceuticals, solar batteries, auto batteries and light-emitting diodes as its growth drivers, estimating they would generate 50 trillion won in annual revenue by 2020.

    In Wednesday’s announcement, Samsung changed its focus to AI and 5G connectivity that will create new opportunities in autonomous driving, the Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics. The top chaebol had already vowed to significantly expand its AI research capability, increasing its number of advanced AI researchers to 1,000. Becoming a global player in advanced markets for 5G chipsets and related devices and equipment is also on Samsung’s road map for the future.

    Samsung aims to become a leader in electronics components for future cars such as system on chip (SoC) semiconductors for autonomous driving, using its leadership in semiconductor, telecommunications and display technologies.

    In biopharmaceuticals, the group said it has seen strong growth in both contract manufacturing and the biosimilar businesses, promising to invest heavily to combat chronic and difficult-to-cure diseases.

    Following the upbeat statement on Samsung’s biopharmaceutical ambitions – despite a recent scandal over suspected accounting fraud – shares of Samsung BioLogics shot up 7.08 percent to close at 454,000 won Wednesday.

    Peaking at 600,000 won in April, the shares nose-dived to as low as 353,000 won early May after the Financial Supervisory Service started auditing it for accounting irregularities.

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  • Hema Customers Can Track Farm-to-Shelf Food Journey

    Hema Customers Can Track Farm-to-Shelf Food Journey

    Seventeen Hema supermarkets in Shanghai have launched a food-provenance feature that tells customers about an item’s farm-to-shelf journey.

    The information includes verifications such as photos of the distributor’s business licenses and food-safety certificates complete with an official government seal.

    To access the function, in-store customers use the Hema mobile app to scan a food’s QR code, which brings up the provenance details. Because the information lives on the product page of each item, consumers shopping from home via app have access to it as well.

    Watch: Hema’s Food-Tracing System

    The New Retail-driven supermarket chain’s food-tracking system comes as Chinese consumers grow more sophisticated in their food choices and embrace a healthier lifestyle.  Hema is among the first grocery chains in China to offer such service. Since its implementation in January, more than 1700 items in nine categories – including meat, seafood, rice, tofu and soy products, fruits, vegetables, poultry and eggs, dairy and cooking oil – have been included in the system.

    That includes watermelon. For Hema customers who want to know more than the place of origin, the system can tell them when a particular batch of watermelons was harvested – and by which farming collective. They can also find out the exact date when the watermelons were delivered to the store to assess freshness.

    For products that need to be kept under a certain temperature, such as meat and fish, the system can even tell customers how cold it was inside the delivery truck. Hema said it plans to roll out the system to all of its 64 stores, in 13 cities, in China by year-end.

    Established in early 2016, Hema integrates online and offline shopping into one seamless experience for customers, allowing to shop with a few clicks on their phones. With its in-store fulfilment system, orders can be delivered in as little as 30 minutes to those who live within three kilometres of a Hema. The supermarket chain also has opened a “robot restaurant” at one of its stores, in Shanghai, as part of its continued push to create new consumer experiences.

    Hema’s food-tracking system is one of several key features Alibaba has introduced to ensure customers are getting high-quality products. In April, Alibaba teamed up with a consortium of four Australian and New Zealand companies to introduce a food-tracking system using blockchain.

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  • US-China trade war could drag Vietnam GDP down

    US-China trade war could drag Vietnam GDP down

    Vietnam’s GDP could drop slightly as a result of the ongoing US-China trade war, a new report says.

    The report, released Wednesday by the National Center for Socio-Economic Information and Forecast (NCIF), predicts a drop of 0.03 percent this year, 0.09 percent next year and 0.12 percent in 2020 and 2021.

    This equals to a GDP drop of VND1.65 trillion ($71 million) this year and VND5.3 trillion ($228 million) next year. The decline will climax at VND8 trillion ($344 million) in 2021, says the NCIF, which functions under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

    This drop is “relatively low,” even at the climax in 2021, said Tran Toan Thang, head of NCIF’s Department of World Economic Issues.

    While Vietnam’s exports will also decrease because of the negative impacts of the trade war, there will be negligible impact on foreign direct investment, Thang said.

    He also expressed concern over the new U.S. tax law that lowers its business tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, he added.

    The new law might make U.S. businesses reconsider their investment strategies to focus more on their home country instead of expanding in Vietnam, Thang said.

    The tax deduction might also result in some countries creating more incentives to retain U.S. investments. China has recently said it would temporarily give U.S. firms tax exemptions to stop them from withdrawing from the country, Thang noted.

    “This move will lower competitiveness of the investment environment in Vietnam,” he added.

    Tension escalates

    Trade tension between the U.S. and China continues to escalate. A Reuters report cited Beijing saying on Wednesday that it would slap additional tariffs of 25 percenton $16 billion worth of U.S. imports.

    The announcement came after Washington said it would impose 25 percent tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods after imposing tariffs on $34 billion last month.

    So far, China has now either imposed or proposed tariffs on $110 billion of U.S. goods, representing the vast majority of its annual imports of American products.

    Experts have previously cautioned that Vietnam will suffer collateral damage from this trade war.

    When large corporations no longer see the attractiveness of developing countries, their capital will flow back to the big countries, said Pham Sy Thanh, a department head at the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR).

    For this reason, the abundance of labor will no longer be a perk for developing countries like Vietnam, Thanh told VnExpress.

    Local economists are also concerned that the weakened Chinese yuan will result in a rush of low quality Chinese goods to Vietnam, including textiles, garments and wood products.

    This is not just a trade war, but “a war on power, technology and currency policy between the world’s two largest economies,” Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade said at a government meeting last month.

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  • Victoria’s Secret To Open First Lingerie Store In Malaysia

    Victoria’s Secret To Open First Lingerie Store In Malaysia

    Victoria’s Secret Malaysia is opening its first lingerie store in October.

    Located at Mid Valley Megamall, the first full-range store will house all of the brand’s signature collections, including Body by Victoria, Very Sexy, Dream Angels, Bombshell and T-Shirt collection, along with the athletic line, Victoria Sport.

    All the signature scents and body care collections will also be ranged – including the Pink line.

    Victoria’s Secret arrived in Malaysia in 2012, and only stocks its lifestyle collections including accessories and beauty lines at existing stores.

  • Lotte near university to get big VR ‘theme park’

    Lotte near university to get big VR ‘theme park’

    Lotte Department Store will open a big virtual reality (VR) theme park on the 10th floor of its branch near Konkuk University, eastern Seoul, on Friday.

    The operation, named Lotte Monster VR, will offer more than 60 VR attractions or rides. Previously, the 10th floor of that store had restaurants and a culture center.

    The project was developed over a year with local company GPM, which runs a chain of VR theme parks or arcades.

    Lotte’s VR rides will mimic the experience of rafting, bungee jumping and riding a roller coaster. On a lower grade of the thrill scale, it will offer a virtual balloon ride. Lotte also will have a small VR film theater with 14 seats called the Monster Cinema, continuing the monster theme.

    Monster Cubes is an enclosed attraction with a huge screen in which a small group of people can play around 50 VR games and videos. One corner of the 10th floor with have a nearly 150-square-meter (1,614-square-feet) cafe.

    The retail giant said in a statement that it was trying to reverse the trend of young customers “turning away from brick-and-mortar stores in favor of ecommerce.”

    Because Lotte’s store is near Konkuk University, 35 percent of its sales come from customers in their 20s and 30s – a much higher figure than at other branches.

    The company said it first realized the potential of VR attractions when it operated a small VR arcade in el CUBE’s Hongdae branch, western Seoul, from September 2017 to last March.

    The arcade was only 148 square meters, but there were queues of people waiting for as long as one hour to get in on weekends, the company said. It was particularly a success among customers in their teens and 20s.

    “A VR theme park is a new kind of attraction for a local department store,” said Yoo Hyeong-ju, who heads Lotte Department Store’s development team. “We’re expecting the arcade to extend the amount of time people will spend in the store, particularly customers in their 20s and 30s, as well as families.”

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  • Michael Kors Holdings Limited Announces Strong First Quarter

    Michael Kors Holdings Limited Announces Strong First Quarter

    Luxury fashion group Michael Kors delivered better than anticipated revenue, operating margin, and earnings per share growth in its Q1 FY19 results, with total revenue increasing 26.3 per cent to US$1.2 billion.

    Total operating margin reached 17.9 per cent, up from last years 15.7 per cent for the period, while earnings per diluted share were US$1.22 on a reported basis, an increase of 52.5 per cent compared to the prior year.

    The Jimmy Choo brand exceeded expectations due to strong performance in footwear.

    “Our fashion leadership remains strong, which drove consumers to respond favourably to both new fashion introductions and core products,” said chairman and CEO John D. Idol.

    “Our global fashion luxury group continues to see the benefits of our long term growth strategy which is driven by both the Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo brands. Looking ahead we remain optimistic about our business for the remainder of fiscal 2019 and beyond.”

    These strong results must be seen in the context of lackluster results in the prior year, according to analyst, which saw revenues drop by a “disastrous” 8.2 per cent in the US.

    “Admittedly, the 26 per cent uplift in total revenue continues to be flattered by the addition of Jimmy Choo, but even when this is excluded, revenue still rose by a solid 8.1 per cent,” said Saunders.

    “One of the vehicles helping create a better impression on consumers are stores. Here, Michael Kors has invested a significant amount in renovating older outlets to create a more luxurious experience.

    “Early results are encouraging with a much better revenue performance coming from the refurbished shops than the rest of the chain.”

    Due to the positive result, the company raised full year adjusted earnings per share guidance from US$4.90 to US$5, and expects full year total revenue to reach US$5.125 billion.

    Michael Kors also revealed it expects second quarter to bring total revenue of approximately US$1.26 billion, with retail revenue to grow by low-single digits.

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