Spencer’s Retail Ltd, a CESC subsidiary, will finalise its e-commerce plan by April. Shashwat Goenka, Sector Head of Spencer’s Retail, told reporters that the brick and mortar stores and the e-commerce prices, however, would be the same. “We would freeze the e-commerce business model within next couple of months. Then over a timeframe, we would implement it. We are likely to begin with a few categories of products for our online store,” he added.
Category: Fashion
Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Fashion news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.
-
COACH aspires to luxury upgrade with new ‘honest’ approach
COACH’s debut at London Fashion Fashion week with its menswear 2015-16 Fall Winter Collection signals the aspiration of the brand to a luxury upgrade positioning which was launched when Stuart Vevers (ex LOEWE) was appointed as Creative Director in 2014. The new collection was inspired by the aesthetic of Gus Van Sant’s “My Own Private Idaho” and functional winter street style in the designer’s new home, New York City. “New Yorkers are quite practical, and they don’t sacrifice function,” Stuart Vevers said. “There are no tricks — the collection is straightforward with honest construction.”
-
M&S boss Marc Bolland faces mounting pressure following Christmas sales fall
Pressure was mounting on the chief executive of Marks & Spencer, Marc Bolland, on Monday night as investors digested the retailer’s decline in sales over the crucial Christmas trading period.
One of the City’s most influential fund managers said questions should be asked about Bolland, who joined M&S in 2010 and last week announced a 5.8% fall in general merchandise sales and a 0.1% rise in like-for-like sales in its food division.
David Cumming, head of equities at Standard Life Investments, said: “In terms of Marks & Spencer they had another disappointing set of figures and I suppose Marc Bolland has been there for some time, almost five years, so I think the chairman and the senior independent director are probably asking themselves whether his scorecard is acceptable, and they should be asking M&S shareholders the same question.”
Cumming was also asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about Dalton Philips, who replaced Bolland as boss of Morrisons. The supermarket chain is due to release its Christmas trading figures on Tuesday, amid speculation about potential boardroom change.
“We’re not particularly large shareholders in Morrisons or Marks & Spencer. I think some might change CEOs, we saw that with Tesco – it’s going to be a difficult process,” Cumming said.
Tesco replaced insider Philip Clarke with Dave Lewis after issuing a profits warning in July. Lewis unearthed a string of accounting problems at Britain’s biggest supermarket chain.
Last week he announced moves to restructure the business. They are expected to lead to thousands of job cuts along with the closure of the head office in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.
Cumming said profits at M&S had fallen over the five years Bolland had been in charge despite £2.5bn of expenditure. “I think M&S has got a lot of potential but that’s not being demonstrated by results, which is one of the reasons we’re not a major shareholder,” he said.
M&S declined to comment on the remarks, as did Morrisons – whose trading update is expected to show the continued pressure on the sector as shoppers move to hard discounters such as Lidl and Aldi.
Analysts at HSBC said that they expected like-for-like sales at Morrisons to be down 4% – which would be a smaller fall than during the same period a year earlier – and that Andrew Higginson, a former Tesco executive, might come in early as chairman, before his planned start dater.
David McCarthy, an HSBC analyst, said: “He joined the board last year as deputy chairman/chairman-elect and is not due to take over until the summer. But given the state of the industry, changes at Tesco, and Morrison’s sales losses, it might make more sense to see him take the chairman’s role sooner rather than later. 2015 is going to be a year of change for the industry and Morrisons will be part of that.”
M&S has been meeting its major shareholders since last week’s trading update, which also showed profit margins being maintained despite the fall in sales. This was welcomed by analysts on the day of the trading update.
Bolland admitted last week that M&S sales had been affected by problems with its online operations, caused by problems at its distribution centre in Castle Donington, Leicestershire. Deliveries of online orders incurred delays in the runup to Christmas.
-
Emu footwear launches localised global websites
Australian footwear brand Emu has launched a global transactional website to serve key markets including the UK and Europe, New Zealand, China, Canada, the US and Japan.
-
Uniqlo under fire for buying supplies from unsafe factories
Japanese clothing giant Uniqlo came under fire yesterday for buying supplies from Chinese factories accused of putting workers at risk in unsafe conditions, with sewage on the floor, extremely high temperatures and poor ventilation.
-
Burberry warns fall in HK sales could impact its full-year margin
British luxury brand Burberry warned on Wednesday that a fall in sales in the key market of Hong Kong in the last quarter of 2014 could impact its full-year margin. Pro-democracy protests began choking parts of the Asia financial center in late September, disrupting business in one of the world’s top markets for luxury companies, which accounts for about USD9.7 billion of global luxury sales, or 4 percent of the total, according to estimates by Bernstein Research.
-
Prada opens third KL store
Prada recently opened its third store at The Gardens Mall in Kuala, Lumpur. Designed by architect Roberto Baciocchi, store covers a total area of approximately 390 square metres on a single level and houses the women’s and men’s leather goods, accessories and footwear collections as well as the men’s ready-to-wear collection.
The area dedicated to the women’s collections has the signature black-and-white marble chequered flooring and green fabric-clad walls with polished steel display counters covered in coloured saffiano leather and green velvet sofas.
Meanwhile, the space devoted to men discloses masculine materials and finishes. The first room, dedicated to leather goods and accessories, features black marble-clad walls with elegant polished steel display cases.
-
UK footwear brand Church’s entering India through tie-up
UK luxury footwear brand Church’s will now be available in India, priced at up to Rs. 72,000 (USD1,159.72), following an exclusive distribution tie-up with multi-brand retailer Heel & Buckle. “UK’s iconic luxury footwear brand Church’s is entering into India as a result of an exclusive distribution tie-up with Heel & Buckle. Churches will be available at Heel & Buckle’s outlets,” Heel & Buckle Managing Director of Heel & Buckle Dhiraj Bathija told PTI.
-
Hermès reports 10pc revenue increase for 2014
Hermès maintains course in 2014 with a healthy 10 percent increase in its turnover, at constant exchange rates – according to Guillaume de Seynes , managing director manufacturing division & equity investments of the Group of luxury. Interviewed by the German newspaper Handelsblatt , De Seynes said that the House wants to expand in Germany , expanding the spaces in cities where it is already present.
-
Tiffany & Co debuts its first same-sex couple ad campaign
American jeweler Tiffany & Co makes its first foray into featuring same-sex couples in its advertising with its new engagement campaign for 2015. A rep for the jeweler didn’t release the guys’ names because despite being extremely attractive, they are not professional models.
-
COACH to acquire Stuart Weitzman for USD574m
COACH will pay Sycamore Partners a hefty USD574 million for Stuart Weitzman — their women’s footwear brand — in a move that is no doubt designed to diversify their sales portfolio considering 55 percent of their USD4.8 million in sales last year came from women’s handbags with only 9 percent coming from auxiliary items like jewelry, accessories, footwear and the likes.
-
Olivia Wilde is the face of H&M’s Conscious Exclusive campaign
Known for her commitment to sustainability and her engagement for environmental causes, actress Olivia Wilde, will be the face of H&M’s Conscious Exclusive campaign, set to be unveiled in around 200 H&M stores worldwide and online on 16 April.
“Sustainability is one of my biggest passions. I’m proud to be the face of H&M Conscious Exclusive, a collection which shows the stylishness of sustainability,” she said in a statement posted in the H&M website.
H&M said this year’s Conscious Exclusive collection draws inspiration from African, Asian and Indian cultures in both cut and detail. Dresses are a focus, along with hand-drawn prints created especially for the collection.
“The pieces are full of character with the most beautiful prints, all made from more sustainable materials,” said Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s head of design for new development.
-
HK still world’s most expensive retail market
Hong Kong ranks as the world’s most expensive high-street retail destination, surpassing New York, Paris, London and Tokyo by a substantial margin, according to the latest research from CBRE.
CBRE’s regular quarterly ranking of the world’s prime global retail markets saw little change in the third quarter of 2014, with global and hot-growth markets continuing to lead the rankings.
It said this is the third consecutive year that Hong Kong has ranked top of the global list.
According to CBRE, Hong Kong (USD4,327 per sq. ft. per annum) maintained a wide lead over the number-two market, New York (USD3,570 per sq. ft. per annum) where prime rents along Fifth Avenue are at record levels.
“The Occupy Central protest, which began late in Q3, has not yet materially impacted retail rents in Hong Kong as most prime retail shops are located beyond protest areas,” said Joe Lin, Executive Director, Retail Services, CBRE Hong Kong.
While the top four cities continue to hold their leading positions, there was some movement lower in the top ten rankings. Rents rose in Tokyo (USD1,076 per sq. ft. per annum), and fell in Zurich (USD895 per sq. ft. per annum) and Sydney (USD730 per sq. ft. per annum), resulting in the cities changing positions this quarter.
In Q3 2014, Tokyo continued to lead rental growth in Asia-Pacific, with the continued lack of space in major high-street retail locations pushing up retail rents 7.7 percent quarter-over-quarter.
Strong rental growth was also recorded in a number of emerging markets in the region, particularly in India and Vietnam, reflecting the recent resumption of structural economic reforms following the general lack of progress over the past few years. Highlights included a strong 5.9% quarter-over-quarter rental growth in Ho Chi Minh City and a 4 percent quarter-over-quarter rental growth in Mumbai.
-
Adidos and Hotwind? In China, brands get names to show foreign flair
Chrisdien Deny, a retail chain with more than 500 locations across China, sells belts, shoes and clothing with an “Italian style” – and a logo with the same font as Christian Dior’s.
Helen Keller, named for the deaf-blind American humanitarian, offers trendy sunglasses and classic spectacles at over 80 stores, with the motto “you see the world, the world sees you.”
Frognie Zila, a clothing brand sold in 120 stores in China, boasts that its “international” selection is “one of the first choices of successful politicians and businessmen” and features pictures on its website of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Venetian canals.
Eager to glaze their products with the sheen of international sophistication, many homegrown retail brands have hit upon a similar formula: Choose a non-Chinese name that gives the impression of being foreign.
-
Puma eyes top spot in India through store expansion, new brands
Puma, the global brand known for its lifestyle sports apparel and shoes, is looking to strengthen its position in India. It is eyeing the top slot in the segment via a nationwide network expansion as well as the launch of its global brands pitched at the Indian sports enthusiast. Abhishek Ganguly, the new managing director of PUMA India, is looking to reposition the brand in the country. Puma is currently in the second spot behind Adidas in India’s INR5000-crore (INR50 billion, USD785.3 million) sportswear market, followed by Nike.
“We are in process of creating a strong brand awareness through various marketing and product launch initiative,” Ganguly said. “We are bullish on India and we have seen a major shift to high end products by Indian consumers. Hence, we want to bring our global sports assets to India shortly.”
From its global kitty, Puma has already launched two leading shoe brands, Mobium and Faas, in India. The Mobium Ride, priced at about INR9,000, is built for the more traditional heel striker looking for an everyday running shoe. The company also launched the Nightcat Powered edition under Mobium brand. The Faas 600 S is priced in the INR8,000 range in India.