The first full-range Victoria’s Secret Malaysia store has opened. Located in Mid Valley Megamall, the boutique has been launched by the US brand’s regional partner Valiram Group, which is also behind Victoria’s Secret stores in Macau, Bali and Singapore, (but not Hong Kong and Mainland China). It is reportedly planning more stores in Jakarta, Bangkok and Melbourne, Australia.
The Kuala Lumpur store takes up 8233sqft, and has dedicated space for diffusion lines Pink and Victoria Sport, as well as the beauty products and perfume ranges stocked in earlier Victoria’s Secret stores in Malaysia.
Many celebrities attended a formal opening earlier this month and social media key influencers including Joi Lynn have been photographed at the store.
Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) and China Duty Free Group (CDFG) announced that they have entered into a binding Memorandum of Understanding to open a CDFG flagship store at Grand Lisboa Palace in Macau.
Grand Lisboa is SJM’s future integrated resort on Cotai, Macau. It is expected to open in the second half of 2019.
CDFG will be the anchor tenant, operating 7,500sq m in a prime first floor retail space at the Grand Lisboa Palace, marking the Chinese travel retail giant’s downtown debut in Macau.
CDFG, established in 1984, is China’s leading duty free retailer, and is a subsidiary of the travel giant China National Travel Service Group Corporation Limited (CNTS).
CDFG has over 200 stores across China, the most duty free outlets in a single country within the travel retail sector.
CDFG’s Macau flagship store will be in Grand Lisboa Palace’s much-anticipated 53,000sq m retail mall themed “Fantasy Garden”, which will cover the first and second floors of the development.
Building on CDFG’s long-term relationships with top-tier luxury brands, its Macau flagship store at Grand Lisboa Palace will carry a diverse mix of perfumes and cosmetics, watches and jewellery, apparels, shoes and accessories, travel-related products, and other categories.
“Macau is an integral part of the Greater Bay Area, welcoming 32.61 million visitors in 2017, amongst which 90.3% were tourists from Greater China.” said Charles Chen, CDFG’s President.
Van Heusen a premium formal fashion brand from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited unveils its flagship stores in Brigade Road and HSR Layout, Bangaluru. The new stores will house the exclusive Van Heusen men’s wear and women’s wear collections.
Located in the heart of the city, the new stores cater to fashionable young professionals looking to create the right impact, the exclusive brand stores will offer an array of wardrobe options, for men and women, ranging from corporate suits to fashion jackets, casual work-wear to club wear and the right accessories to complete the look.
On the occasion of the store launch Abhay Bahugune, Chief Operating Officer, Van Heusen, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd said, “Van Heusen has over the last decade carved a niche for itself as a renowned fashion brand with a strong presence across leading cities and towns in India. Today, Van Heusen enjoys a high recall value and is perceived as a brand that provides power dressing to the young professionals. Being the third largest city of India, Bangalore is an important market for us. The new launch of our new brand outlets at Brigade Road and HSR Layout takes the store count in the city to 53. We are delighted with the overwhelming response received and are confident to cater to the growing demand with the right offering.”
The store will also house collections from Van Heusen’s sub-brands including VDot and VH Sport. Each product line reflects the latest cuts and fits, along with cutting edge innovation in fabric and technology.
Beauty products retailer L’Occitane has opened a New York flagship on Fifth Avenue which it describes as “a unique immersive destination”.
The 1870sqft store at 555 Fifth Avenue was designed by L’Occitane’s Daniel Contorni, international artistic director, and Paul Blackburn, VP concept design, construction & merchandising with the Hong Kong-listed, French-styled retailer.
“To adapt to differing consumer preferences across the world, L’Occitane has adopted a ‘glocal’ approach, developing creative experiences especially adapted for local clientele,” the company said in a statement.
Recent examples of this strategy include new flagships in Brazil, China, London and Toronto, each with exclusive styles and services mix; a concept store in Paris (86Champs) in partnership with French pastry chef Pierre Herme; a pop-up cafe in Singapore with Asian pastry chef Janice Wong (a protege of Herme); and L’OcciTruck, the brand’s first travelling shop experience encapsulated on wheels, currently touring North America.
The L’Occitane Fifth Avenue store features a range of interactive customer touchpoints. Whilst the existing L’Occitane experiential boutique in the city’s Flatiron district continues to offer a more traditional L’Occitane retail experience, the Fifth Avenue store will be more disruptive, geared to attracting new customers, encourage engagement and produce user-generated content for social media, the company said.
The store includes a “rain-shower” sink, an interactive skincare consultation area, a curved communal bench beneath a Mediterranean olive tree, and an enhanced fulfilment services “comptoir”.
L’Occitane says it is pursuing “a robust customer-first retail strategy, seeking to surprise consumers and surpass their expectations by providing an unforgettable in-store experience”.
“In today’s digital world, customers rarely enter a L’Occitane store purely out of need; they expect to be pampered and entertained and want to indulge in the experience.”
The L’Occitane Fifth Avenue store features several environment-first initiatives, including a recycling program in partnership with TerraCycle that incentivises customers to drop off all brands of empty personal care and cosmetics packaging at participating L’Occitane retail locations.
Google is reportedly planning to open its first permanent retail store, in a trendy Chicago neighbourhood.
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, a two-storey Google flagship store will open in the Fulton Market area, known locally as the meatpacking district.
Google declined to confirm the report. “We don’t comment on rumor or speculation,” spokeswoman Kayla Conti said.
But citing reliable sources, the Chicago Tribune said the lease is close to being finalised. The store will take up 14,000sqft and will be used to showcase the online company’s growing array of gadgets, including its smartphones, tablets, home security systems and Google Home, which is its answer to Amazon’s Echo.
The store will be located in historic low-rise brick buildings on W. Randolph Street.
Until now, Google’s brick-and-mortar foray has been limited to pop-up stores and concessions.
Hong Kong Victoria’s Secret flagship store opened in Causeway Bay last week.
The spans four floors with a total retail space of more than 50,000 sqft.
The store opened this week, though despite heavy pre-publicity, including painted trams and street art, the opening itself was a muted affair, more like a soft launch.
Inside, parts of the store seem dark and a little cluttered, but others – like the Pink brand space which takes up a full floor, are brightly lit and clearly on target for its university-age customer profile.
Tomorrow, Victoria’s Secret Angels Josephine Skriver and Martha Hunt will be in Hong Kong, appearing in-store from 6pm to 8pm to “meet and greet fans”.
Features of the multi-story store include a dedicated zone for the brand’s Pink casual range of bras, panties, loungewear and beauty and a bra-fitting service.
Early photos show parts of the store have a dark and cluttered look, especially the centrepiece staircase.
Outside, the store features a mirror-glass facade with bright lighting in the brand’s signature pink hues and a large video display facing the Times Square showing the Victoria’s Secret Angels and the brand’s latest collections.
View the complete gallery of the interior below (10 images) :
Victoria’s Secret is opening its first full assortment flagship store in Hong-Kong.
Situated in the heart of Causeway Bay the store spans four floors with a total retail space of more than 50,000 sq. ft.
From delicate lingerie with the brand’s latest collection from Very Sexy™, Dream Angels™, Body by Victoria™, T-Shirt & Sexy Illusions Collections to its athletic line, Victoria Sport, the store satisfies any customer’s demand.
Cocooned in a glamorous and sophisticated atmosphere, Victoria’s Secret fragrances are available along with the brand’s other cosmetic products.
Head upstairs through a spiral staircase with floor to ceiling LED video screens screening highlights from the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show to a fully dedicated Victoria’s Secret PINK floor. There, you will find a collection of bras, panties and beauty products inspired by and focused on university-aged women.
As angels never work alone, the store’s highly trained team offers complimentary bra fittings in store for you to find your perfect fit.
With a stunningly mirror glass façade with dynamic lighting in the brand’s signature pink hues and a large video display facing the Times Square showing the Victoria’s Secret Angels and the brand’s latest collections you cannot miss the place.
To celebrate the store’s opening, Victoria’s Secret Angels Josephine Skriver and Martha Hunt will be appearing in the store between 6-8pm on 24 July to meet & greet fans and sign autographs.
Swiss luxury watchmaker Breitling has opened its first Asian flagship boutique in Beijing’s WF Central.
The 152sqm Breitling Beijing boutique’s design features display space for more than 200 timepieces representative of the brand’s entire product range, including some exclusive limited editions. The interior is styled to present an artful, modern interpretation of mid-twentieth-century industrial loft interior design.
More than 10,000 Japanese bricks were used in its construction to build a prominent wall display of the brand’s 1960s-era logo. It also features waxed concrete and American walnut flooring. An entrance bar doubles as a watch display area and includes a professional pool table for visitors to the store.
Breitling’s design director Guy Bove said: “With our redesigned boutiques, we are respecting our long, impressive heritage, but are doing so by creating a relaxed, stylish environment. We are opening our doors to a new generation of Breitling enthusiasts”.
CEO Georges Kern said launching the new Breitling Beijing flagship underscores the importance of Asian markets – particularly China – to the brand.
Spanish footwear brand Lottusse has opened its first flagship store in Hong Kong, at the newly reopened heritage site of the former Central Police Station and Victoria Prison compound.
Lottusse, with a heritage dating back to 1877, sees the new store as an integral part of a regional business expansion via Hong Kong, following successful showrooms in the city.
A Fluxa family-owned handcrafted leather brand, Lottusse takes quality at the heart of its business philosophy, according to the company’s Asia area manager, Yuji Yosumi.
Customers can order Lottusse shoes with personalised options, which will then be handcrafted by masters at Lottusse’s factory in Mallorca, Spain, ensuring the family craftsmanship tradition is strictly followed. Customers can also buy ready-made shoes in a wide range of designs.
In 2014, the brand opened a showroom in Hong Kong where personalised shoes can be ordered. Yosumi said the company sees good timing now to commence retail operations with the new shop in Central to tap Hong Kong’s growing status as an international retail hub in the region.
“Hong Kong, as the gateway to Asia, is the ideal place for us to test the markets in the region. We initially set up a showroom in the city four years ago and from there we have developed solid clientele from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore through Hong Kong. It is the right time in the right place for us to move to the retail business with this new shop.
“Hong Kong’s retail industry is sophisticated with a good diversity of discerning clientele in terms of both locals and visitors from around the world. Our Hong Kong retail store not only manages the city’s retail operations but also will develop wholesale business across Asia.”
Associate director-general of investment promotion Dr Jimmy Chiang welcomed the opening of Lottusse’s flagship store in Hong Kong. “It shows a vote of confidence in our retail industry.
Apart from participating in the vibrant retail sector in Hong Kong, the brand can also make good use of the city’s advantages including a free port, a low tax base and the absence of sales tax to expand its business in the region.”
Fast-fashion retailer Mango has opened a new megastore in Madrid, located in one of the Spanish capital’s most prestigious shopping precincts.
The 1711sqm store on Preciados Street is twice the size of the store it replaces, stocking mens and womens lines across three floors.
Featuring an industrial style with exposed beams, the store combines a spectacular exposed wall painted in white with velvet, marble, wood and stone elements, according to Mango.
On its upper floors, the store has internal patios and landscaped skylights, which give it plenty of natural light.
Mango invested euro 3.5 million (US$4.3 million) refurbishing and fitting out the building, incorporating the interior style being rolled out across the company’s stores internationally.
It features digital changing rooms, e-tickets, a PayGo payment facility, WiFi for shoppers and a click-and-collect counter.
The Preciados Street store is Mango’s 31st in Madrid and its 381st in Spain.
A high-end designer dessert brand founded by European investors plans flagship stores in Hong Kong and Shanghai this year.
Sweet Fashion House is launching with a confectionery factory in Tuen Mun which will be staffed by chefs brought in from France and apprentices employed locally. Under the leadership of art director Gael Majchrzak, who is also a pastry and chocolate chef, the team will create and produce handcrafted cakes, chocolates and pastries for individual customers and corporate clients.
Once it has sufficient volumes, flagship stores will be opened in as yet undisclosed locations in Hong Kong and then major Chinese cities, starting with Shanghai.
The company aims to tap into what it describes as a fast-growing demand for upscale confectionery in Hong Kong, Mainland China and around the region.
CEO Kirill Neklyudov says Hong Kong is the ideal place for the group to launch the factory.
“Hong Kong people love sweets as much as the French do. This is a big market and customers demand up-scale confectionery. Together with its simple and low tax regime and ease of doing business, the city is the ideal place for us to start our company.”
He says the company is already experiencing strong demand, and plans are underway to expand staff numbers to meet an expected surge in orders.
The factory also provides cake consultation and tasting for customers to create their own cakes.
Italian luxury house Gucci opened the doors to its renewed Korean flagship store in Cheongdam, Southern Seoul, giving fashionistas a new reason to visit the neighborhood.
The three floors of the shop carry the brand’s most popular items, from bags, wallets and shoes to clothes and the newly launched “Gucci Deco” home-furnishing items.
Just a few years ago, Gucci was regarded as a luxury brand with a slightly old-fashioned design that failed to appeal to younger trendsetters. But after Alessandro Michele took the helm in 2015 as creative director, Gucci has started a whole new chapter in its history, becoming the most searched for brand on Google in 2017, and adding over 8 million followers on the Gucci official Instagram account.
Their success was attributed not to trying something entirely fresh, but to Michele’s decision to get back to basics, returning to the vibrant colors and patterns of the old archives, but adding a 21st century twist. His designs were vintage, but not too classic – bold but not gaudy.
The flagship store carries all the popular items that made Gucci the hottest brand in town, within an interior of walls decorated in old rose, and antique carpets that add a classy ambience to the overall space. The toned-down color of the walls lends a stark contrast to the colorful products on display.
Visitors to the store can see all of Gucci’s treasures in one space, but there are two distinct reasons why the new shop is worth a look: the do-it-yourself (DIY) zone and the Korean edition goods only available at the flagship store.
The two DIY zones are located on the second and third floors and are both equipped with different ready-made patchworks and pins that, when guests choose from them, staff members are ready to sew them on in different ways. On the second floor, visitors can decorate their very own jackets, while on the third, one can create DIY handbags and clutches.
Also available are the Korea-exclusive edition items, which have been embroidered with a Korean tiger that differs from any of the animals usually seen on other Gucci products. The unique Korean tiger is printed on men’s Beastiary bags, wallets and Princetown shoes, which can only be found in this particular shop and nowhere else in the world.
And while they don’t have their own DIY zone, many of the women’s sneakers have metal buttons on them, which allow the wearer to snap different patches into place and change them as one likes.
“The Gucci flagship store is like a cabinet of curiosities that’s made to please and inspire visitors,” said a staff member on the day of the opening. “The store is a space where you can experience the unique brand culture of Gucci.”
A flagship store for Honor, a smartphone brand from China’s Huawei Group, has opened in Yangon.
With its slogan “For the brave”, the brand was created for digital natives and offers internet-optimised products and high specifications at an accessible price level.
Honor president George Zhao says the Myanmar flagship is a milestone for the brand’s Southeast Asia expansion journey. “Globally, we are confident we will see Honor rise to become a top-five smartphone brand within three years.”
Four of Honor’s top-rated products feature in the new store: Honor 7X, its first FullView Display smartphone aimed at gamers; Honor V9 Play, a minimalist Scandinavian-style smartphone; Honor 6X, offering budget technology for digital natives; and Honor Holly 6, am affordable high-performance model.
On 11 January 2018, Hermès opened the door of its new store in Hong Kong, the original and first home in Greater China.
Located in Landmark Prince’s, within the dynamic Central district on the corner of Ice House Street and Des Voeux Road, this new destination marks a significant milestone for Hermès and is a delightful occasion to celebrate the long-standing relationship
between Hong Kong and our house.
The relationship between Hermès and Hong Kong started with the first store in the city
in 1975, followed by a dynamic expansion with a current network of seven shops in key locations. The Hermès homes host outstanding events and exhibitions, whilst encouraging a constant dialogue between craftsmanship and the effervescent local culture.
For the opening, Axel Dumas, CEO of Hermès, welcomed the guests and walked them through the three-floor majestic Orange Box.
Designed and built by the Parisian architecture agency RDAI under the artistic direction of Denis Montel, the edifice draws its stylistic influences from local architecture.
The design is inspired by bamboo scaffolding construction techniques, the copper-coloured anodised aluminum facade asserts the rhythm and verticality of bamboo.
Eight kilometres of rectangular tubes align to form a mantle with kinetic effects. This storefront of a thousand reflections allows glimpses of a ground floor, a mezzanine level and an upper floor – three levels totalling 9,167 square feet of retail and reception space.
The aluminium facade rises a further two storeys, accentuating the presence
of Hermès at this strategic crossroads in the city. The building’s pre-existing structure – comprising numerous pillars and a low ceiling height – required the architects to draw upon their constructive prowess.
The building benefits from natural light enabled to penetrate throughout. Staircases and daylight cascade down the openings. The three floor areas have been subdivided using openwork screens and mobile partitions to create small lounges and private salons.
On the upper level, it gives way to a balcony from which the city, its skyscrapers and its double-decker tram can be admired.
The store has two entrances. The main door, located on Ice House Street, opens onto spaces dedicated to women’s silk, fragrances, and jewellery accessories.
Source : Hermès
The second entrance, on Des Voeux Road, leads to the men’s universe, with silk, shoes, leather goods, ready-to-wear and a private lounge for made-to measure. The mezzanine is formed of a succession of alcoves on either side of the central space, offering an exclusive setting for jewellery. It is home to the women’s universe, with ready-to-wear, gloves, hats, watches, leather goods, and even a powder lounge, a precious and private boudoir.
The upper floor accommodates the home universe: furniture, lighting, furnishing fabrics and wallpapers, tableware, and offers guests a lounge where to enjoy the comfort of Hermès home.
Source : Hermès
The floor, in mosaic on the ground floor and bamboo parquet elsewhere, is in places covered with rugs that incorporate the pattern of bamboo fibres.
Source : Hermès
The interior design features lacquered wood, leather, stucco, marble, and woven metal. A palette of warm colours ranging from the sandy hue of the women’s universe to the burnt wood shade of the men’s universe. Elements in champagne-coloured woven metal subdivide the spaces.
The extensive use of glass on both façades suffuses the store with golden light. Filtered by a forest of bamboo in the heart of the urban jungle, it allows a sophisticated nature to regain its rights and powers. In an ultimate act of celebration, Hermès has invited the French duo of artists ZIM & ZOU to transform the store windows with delicate humour into enchanted paper castles.
The opening was followed by a party in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong to link Hermès to the local artistic culture.
The Orange Box of Hermès is an interwoven space of the brand heritage. It is a celebration of art and craftsmaship, which stands out for its delicate and warm colours. While walking through the three floor, the retail space resembles an art gallery and the products are showcased as if they were artworks to be appreciated more than purchased.
Isn’t it the image of luxury we all have depicted in our mind and that today seems to be lost?
Singaporeans are spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing a new smartphone, and it looks like Chinese smartphone maker Vivo is looking to make an impression in their purchasing decisions.
In a Facebook post on Monday (Feb 15), Vivo announced that it would enter the Singapore market for the first time with its flagship V7+ and Y65 handsets.
The plans have been brewing since October last year, when the company announced that it intended to bring its products into more markets as part of an international expansion, as reported.
“Singapore is a key market for us and we want to establish our presence here,” said CEO of Vivo Singapore Mr Liu Hong Bin.
He added that the company would bring in additional handset models in the coming months.
Vivo’s flagship V7+ and Y65 handsets, which will be available in both gold and matte black, will be on sale from Jan 20 at mobile retail stores.
Meanwhile, Vivo is still in talks with local telcos to bring the devices in through them sometime next month.
The V7+ device packs a 16-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 24-megapixel front shooter for selfies (we all need those killer selfies right?). It runs on Android 7.1 and is powered by a 3225mAh battery.
The Y65 handset runs on the same OS, but has lower hardware specifications, such as a 5-megapixel front-facing camera and a 3000mAh battery.
The Chinese smartphone maker has made a name for itself, even beating tech giants like Apple and Samsung to the punch with its in-display fingerprint scanning technology.
Not forgetting to mention that that very innovation led to Vivo clinching the “Best of CES 2018” award from tech news blogs like Digital Trends.
