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Tag: Stores

  • Online retailer Taobao endorses physical store in Malaysia

    Online retailer Taobao endorses physical store in Malaysia

    Chinese online retailer Taobao is endorsing a spin-off physical store in Malaysia. The 5000sqft Taobao Selection store in Kuala Lumpur’s Viva Home Shopping Mall is the first in Southeast Asia, opening in collaboration between local operator Lumahgo, Taobao spinoff Tmall World, and lifestyle furniture retailer Lorenzo. It retails curated products from Tmall.com selected for the Malaysian market alongside furniture offerings.

    Lumahgo CEO Fabian Kong said: “We are developing a new retail system that caters to Malaysians, which will bring a new retail technology experience to local retailers … We are helping Tmall World to sell the selected products in Malaysia for customers who do not know how to shop online”.

    A reported 98 per cent of furniture purchases are made offline in Malaysia.

    Taobao’s owner Alibaba Group is contributing to the project by providing big-data tools and a technology platform. The collaborating partners will open a second Taobao Selection store will open in Sabah early next year.

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  • Asia becomes Laura Ashley’s last hope

    Asia becomes Laura Ashley’s last hope

    Fashion and home furnishings brand Laura Ashley will close 40 stores in the UK as it prepares to expand into the Chinese market. The firm has already gone through a round of 40 closures since 2015 against flagging interest from British consumers, which has seen a reported 14 shops closing every day in the territory.

    Laura Ashley runs a regional office in Singapore focused purely on e-commerce into China, with plans to look at physical stores rollout after establishing a significant foothold in digital retail there.

    According to Khoo, the company is “moving to Asia in a much bigger way”.

    The brand is wholly owned by Malayan United Industries (MUI), which is currently restructuring parts of its business and rationalising assets. The brand will be expanding the 120 British Laura Ashley stores that remain following the closures to better showcase the brand.

    MUI’s executive chairman Andrew Khoo Boo Yeow said: “It doesn’t really matter if [customers] buy online or offline, we just want them to get inspired … It’s a challenging environment and it could become more challenging”.

    In Australia, the remaining 16 Laura Ashley stores will close this month after the company failed to find a buyer for the business, which was run under a licence. It was placed in administration for the second time in two years on December 3.

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  • Moda Operandi eyes China showroom

    Moda Operandi eyes China showroom

    Luxury fashion marketplace Moda Operandi is planning to open a showroom in China as it targets growth in Asia. The US-headquartered company, which allows customers to pre-order looks directly from designers immediately after their runway show, has appointed former Burberry and Tesla executive Puja Clarke in a new role as senior VP of fashion buying and e-commerce.

    Since achieving success with its pre-order concept – which has a flip side of helping fashion brands assess consumer reaction to its new collections – the e-commerce company has been evolving into a broader fashion marketplace.

    Next year Moda Operandi will open its first brick-and-mortar store in China in a city yet to be disclosed.

    The rapid expansion of the company has been helped by a US$165 million investment round last year, led by the Hong Kong-based  founder of K11 and C Ventures, Adrian Cheng.

    Clarke said in an interview with Glossy that new shopping behaviours and digital platforms are especially prevalent in China, where Moda’s customers generally aren’t interacting through a website. Instead, a Chinese shopper might buy a $500,000 necklace on an app, and consumers are more familiar with buying through live video sessions and chat platforms, than websites. She predicts this style of shopping will become more common all over the world in the future.

    “The customer knows what she wants, and the ones that listen will have productive, successful businesses,” Clarke said. “A younger designer can get a lot of people whispering in their ear about what they want to do with the collection, but [the Moda customer] is putting her deposit down, she’s favorite-ing – there are so many data points that can tell a designer whether something is great.”

    International markets comprise one-third of Moda Operandi’s sales with Asia the largest region ahead of the Middle East. While the company’s average order value is about $1400, Clarke said that number “skyrockets” in China.

  • Amorepacific boosts business expansion in the Philippines

    Amorepacific boosts business expansion in the Philippines

    South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific is ramping up its Asean expansion, opening the first Innisfree and Laneige Philippines stores. Amorepacific established Amorepacific Philippines in Metro Manila in August and has since opened the first Innisfree store, in Manila’s SM Mall of Asia.

    This week the company opened its first Laneige Philippines store, at SM Makati Department Store.

    Laneige has also launched on the nation’s largest e-commerce channels in the Philippines including Lazada.

    The upmarket Laneige brand will expand through both online and offline channels through next year, Amorepacific said in a statement.

    The company says the Philippines offers great growth potential, with its population of more than 107 million. It is particularly targeting the premium beauty market which is growing quickly there, along with the broader popularity of K-beauty.

    “By expanding into this promising market, Amorepacific aims to strengthen its presence in the Asean region, which is one of the important strategic business regions for the company,” the statement said.

    Amorepacific has already launched in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

    “We are glad to finally make our way into the Philippines market and respond to its increasing need for our brands,” said Robin Na, head of Amorepacific Asean regional headquarters. “Through our differentiated, innovative products and premium brands, we will spread Asian beauty across the Philippines and satisfy the local customers.”

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  • Lacoste opens new travel retail store at Lotte Busan

    Lacoste opens new travel retail store at Lotte Busan

    LACOSTE has opened a new 30sqm duty-free store in Busan to further enhance their presence in Asia. This new store is located in LOTTE Duty Free, second largest duty free operator, in Busan, which is the second biggest city in South Korea.

    Travel Retail, often referred to as the “6th continent”, offers a unique opportunity to connect with consumers and highlight the brand all over the world.

    With over 170 boutiques worldwide, LACOSTE aims at reinforcing the
    consumer experience while enhancing channel specific product offering and visual merchandising.

    Looking to the future, the crocodile wants to continue to leverage the Travel Retail Channel strengthening or expand in new geographical areas and develop new channels (on-line duty free and cruises) and new ways of connecting with consumers before, during and after their trips.

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  • Nome Sweden revealed massive expansion plan in China

    Nome Sweden revealed massive expansion plan in China

    Swedish designer brand Nome has launched a new store at Guangzhou Baiyun Wanda. The brand plans to open more than 300 stores in China’s most central shopping centres within a year, with a projected total turnover of more than RMB2 billion (US$290.6 million).

    In the next three to five years, Nome plans more than 2000 stores in China and in excess of 1000 stores overseas. The global business scale is planned to reach RMB50 billion ($7.265 billion), creating a global brand of home furnishing.

    To mark the Guangzhou launch, the brand installed a modernised version of a traditional Guangzhou postal kiosk outside the store. The reimagined newsstand featured a translucent shell emanating blue and white lights to evoke a Nordic style, perceived by the brand as having become more popular amongst Chinese consumers in recent years.

    Swedish designer brand Nome covers 10 categories and more than 3000 SKUs in store, including lifestyle, home, furniture, clothing, digital, beauty, food, shoes, luggage and travel items.

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  • Owndays opens 2 new stores in Hong Kong

    Owndays opens 2 new stores in Hong Kong

    Following the opening of two stores in Tuen Mun and Tseung Kwan O in July, one in YOHO Mall in Yuen Long, one in Moko in Mong Kok in October, OWNDAYS HK opens its 5th and 6th store in Tsuen Wan and K11 respectively. The store in K11 is the biggest in HK. Located at the basement B2 floor, it covers a total of 1734 square feet. Aligning with the brand’s fashionable style and innovative concept, the spacious store features an open design allowing guests to choose frames freely and at the same time enjoying the videos shown on the LED Wall that are placed on the two sides of the store.

    In celebrating the grand opening of K11 store in Tsim Sha Tsui, a meaningful social platform contest to win a lifetime free eyeglasses rolled out on on 23 November. The contest aimed to collect user-generated visual content by customers playing with the stylish models available in HK. The content closed on 8th December with the announcement of the winners during a party. Alongside the exciting contest announcement, stylish and popular KOLs joined the event to interact with customers, together with a wide range of delicious treat and live hashtag printing service that opened to public throughout the weekend to make

    Owndays store opening aligned with the objective of the brand to create fun shopping destinations.

    OWNDAYS is an international optical retail concept founded in Tokyo, Japan. It currently has more than 120 stores in Japan and has successfully established stores in 10 overseas countries in Asia-Pacific.

    In consistency with the brand image, the retail concept is by an open shop front and extensive use of wooden panels aimed to create a sense of harmony. Display racks with mirrors are designed to accommodate the different collections of glasses and give customers the freedom to try them on in a relaxed shopping environment.

    OWNDAYS is characterized by a solid knowledge and professional skills. All staff is trained to process quality glasses within 20 minutes from optometry to delivery to ensure the best service. OWNDAYS lenses are manufactured by leading international lens makers and high index aspheric lenses come with UV protection and dust-resistant coating.

    OWNDAYS has a wide portfolio of products which include: Progressive Lenses, Polarised Lenses, Transitions Lenses, Colour Lenses, and PC Lenses. All glasses displayed in shop are original brands designed and manufactured by OWNDAYS. OWNDAYS’ brands range from stylish and fashionable to functional and are able to satisfy different customer profiles.

     

  • Popular Japanese ‘100-yen’ store Oomomo opens in Toronto Canada

    Popular Japanese ‘100-yen’ store Oomomo opens in Toronto Canada

    Japanese discount retailer Oomomo has launched in Canada with plans for stores in most major cities. The first store opened in West Edmonton Mall in Alberta last month and was followed by another in Toronto this week, which attracted queues of customers to check out its eclectic mix of homewares, stationery, snacks and beauty products.

    More stores are planned in Vancouver, Burnaby in British Columbia and North Edmonton and Markham in Ontario.

    Oomomo translates into “big peach” in English and in Japan the chain is one of a group of retailers commonly referred to ‘100-yen’ stores. Most of its stock is priced at less than C$3.

    Some of the stock is sourced from Japanese retailer Daiso.

    View the gallery of the new store below (6 images) :

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  • Cath Kidston Japan surges but not enough

    Cath Kidston Japan surges but not enough

    Cath Kidston Japan sales outperformed every other market in the year to March, but not enough to stem losses by the UK-based company. Sales in Japan rose by 5.4 per cent after a net four new stores took the brand’s network there to 32. Ten more Cath Kidston Japan stores are planned there next year.

    In China, Cath Kidston also performed well, aided by a new franchise deal which will see 50 shops opened over the next five years.

    “The brand clearly continues to resonate with our loyal customer base, particularly in the UK and Asia,” said CEO Melinda Paraie.

    “During the period the group continued to grow top-line sales, despite significant headwinds in some of the markets in which we operate,” she said.

    “We are particularly pleased with the significant growth in ecommerce sales in both Japan and the UK, where a strong performance on Black Friday contributed to our best-ever week online.”

    Despite the positive Asian results, Cath Kidston’s loss rose from £8.4 million in the 2017 financial year to £10.5 million this year. Paraie blamed “increased cost pressures from the weaker sterling” since the Brexit vote for the result. Worldwide sales rose 1.2 per cent to £130.7 million, with UK sales up by 5.1 per cent.

  • China’s Proya opens 1000 smart stores

    China’s Proya opens 1000 smart stores

    Chinese cosmetics company Proya has ramped up its expansion on the heels of strong growth this year. In the first half of the year, Proya achieved revenue growth of 28 per cent, representing 89 per cent of the company’s total revenue for the period. At the same time, the firm’s e-commerce platform achieved sales growth of 58 per cent, while its Uzero brand accelerated its opening of single-brand retail outlets modelled as smart stores, signing agreements with more than 1000 locations.

    Since the beginning of the year, Proya has been driving sales growth across its cosmetics store-focused network by improving its incentive programs, providing more resources to employees, and encouraging employees to embrace change and continuously enhance skill sets.

    Based on shifts in market demand, the company has been focussing its product upgrades on the addition of new functionalities, higher levels of efficiency, as well as new and improved, higher-priced high-value items and a better appearance. It currently retails more than 1000 products under seven brands.

    Next year, the company plans to launch additional high-end products with functional and technological advantages that will serve as a cornerstone of a comprehensive product and brand upgrade.

    China’s beauty and makeup market was valued RMB361.6 billion (US$52.3 billion) in 2017, with a compound annual growth rate averaging 9.5 per cent over the last 10 years.

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  • Victoria’s Secret opens first flagship store in Australia

    Victoria’s Secret opens first flagship store in Australia

    Victoria’s Secret has opened its debut flagship store in Australia, the first store in the nation to offer the U.S. lingerie giant’s full range of apparel, innerwear and accessories. Located in Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre, the Victoria’s Secret store opened to much fanfare at 5:30 am local time, with a ribbon cutting ceremony last week.

    Some one thousand women camped outside and waited for a first look at the store, according to local media reports, with the first shoppers getting a $180 voucher.

    Designed to reflect the firm’s New York flagship store on Fifth Avenue, Victoria’s SecretMelbourne is fitted out the brand’s recognised pink, and hosts an in-store display that holds approximately 12,000 pairs of panties.

    There’s also a separate entrance for its Victoria’s Secret Pink collections.

    The new Australian store in addition sells Body by Victoria, Very Sexy, Dream Angels, Bombshell, cotton lingerie and Victoria’s Sport athleisure line.

    The Melbourne opening marks the first official Victoria’s Secret store in Australia, separating itself from concession stores inside malls and Australian airports that are limited to selling fragrance and cosmetics.

    Victoria’s Secret recently announced it had appointed fashion executive John Mehas as its new lingerie chief executive.

    Mehas will take over in January, replacing Jan Singer, who has now resigned.

    “Our number one priority is improving performance,” L Brands chairman and chief executive officer Leslie Wexner said at the time of announcing.

    “I am confident that, under John’s leadership, Victoria’s Secret Lingerie…will continue to be a powerhouse and will deliver products and experiences.”

    Victoria’s Secret operates 1600 stores globally.

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  • Lotte brings in The Conran Shop to Korea

    Lotte brings in The Conran Shop to Korea

    ondon-based high-end furniture and home furnishing store chain The Conran Shop will open its first South Korean outlet in the second half of next year in partnership with the country’s leading department store chain Lotte Department Store.

    Lotte Department Store said on December 13 it has signed a contract to run Korean stores of The Conran Shop with Conran Retail and Brand Holdings. They aim to open The Conrad’s first local outlet in the second half of next year on an area of 2,314 square meters in the affluent Gangnam district of southern Seoul.

    Founded by British designer Terence Conran in 1974, The Conran Shop is a leading luxury retailer offering various home interior products from some of the most iconic designers of the world. It now runs 10 stores in the UK, France and Japan.

    The partnership with The Conran Shop is part of Lotte Department Store’s push to bolster its living goods and home furnishing business at a time when the home interior market is burgeoning in the country.

    Korea’s major conglomerates have recently turned aggressive in expanding their presence in the home furnishing market that has rapidly grown since Swedish furniture and home furnishing giant IKEA landed in the country in 2014.

    Lotte Department Store expects the Conran Shop’s Korean operation will position differently from other home furnishing chains with its luxurious items and plans to add more the Conran Shop outlets in Korea later, according to a company official.

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  • Moncler open store in Changi Airport

    Moncler open store in Changi Airport

    DFS Group, the world’s leading luxury travel retailer, is pleased to introduce global luxury brand Moncler at Changi Airport Terminal 1. The opening of the new Moncler boutique adds an important presence within the DFS Group’s luxury fashion offerings that are housed within a world-class travel retail destination.

    The new Moncler boutique represents a new milestone that reflects the DFS Group’s focus on experiential shopping. It also complements the DFS Group’s impressive luxury retail line-up at Changi Airport, which is home to a prominent stable of premium fashion offerings. The latest collaboration with the fashion-forward and iconic outerwear leader underlines DFS Group’s commitment to deliver the finest product offerings and exclusive experiences to fashion-conscious shoppers.

    The new boutique reflects Moncler’s haute montagne aesthetic and vision, at the same time keeping in tune with the maison’s roots and heritage. Boasting a floor area that measures around 110 square metres, the clever layout maximises the use of space while the addition of select materials adds a contemporary feel. A unique effect has been achieved with the marble flooring, which alternates herringbone white Calacatta Vagli with black Gricio Carnico, while sleek glass cases with black varnished wood complete the look. The boutique hosts the Moncler men’s, women’s and accessory collections.

    “We are very honoured to welcome a distinguished and respected heritage brand such as Moncler into our portfolio of fashion and watch brands. As part of the strategy to up the ante of the retail experience for our global travellers when they visit DFS Changi, Moncler has been carefully curated to offer a wide selection from their latest collection for savvy travellers.” Wilcy Wong, DFS Group Managing Director Singapore and Indonesia, shares.

    Teo Chew Hoon, Group Senior Vice President of Airside Concessions from Changi Airport Group adds, “We are pleased to open the first Moncler boutique with our valued partner DFS Group to offer passengers an exceptional shopping experience with fashion offerings from luxury to high street designs across a range of price points.”

    The boutique was officially opened on 14th December with a grand opening ceremony. The festivities featured a ribbon cutting ceremony officiated by renowned local actor Desmond Tan with Wilcy Wong, DFS Group Managing Director Singapore and Indonesia and Chandra Mahtani, Changi Airport Group Vice-President of Terminal 5 Planning. Hosted by Constance Lau, the ribbon cutting ceremony and lion dancers kick-started the celebrations for esteemed guests, who were treated to a live nitrogen cocktail performance and styling tips by Celebrity fashion stylist and personality, Glenn Goh.

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  • Alibaba powers Starbucks virtual store launch in China

    Alibaba powers Starbucks virtual store launch in China

    Starbucks launched its first virtual store in China powered by technology from Alibaba Group, providing a unified, one-stop digital experience across the Starbucks app and mobile apps within the Alibaba ecosystem, including Taobao, Tmall, and Alipay.

    The first-of-its-kind virtual store leverages an online management hub developed specifically for Starbucks by Alibaba. It provides consumers integrated access to Starbucks’ digital offerings, including “Starbucks Delivers,” “Say it with Starbucks” social gifting and merchandise available from Starbucks’ Tmall flagship store.

    Alibaba’s technology streamlines the shopping process, pulling offers that were available in multiple digital apps into a single access point. Adopting a centralized approach to its mobile presence enabled by the Alibaba ecosystem, Starbucks now has a complete overview of its consumers’ actions online. Moreover, the integration of membership between Starbucks and the range of Alibaba apps is expected to fuel strong growth in Starbucks Rewards membership in China.

    The new virtual store steps up the collaboration announced by Alibaba and Starbucks in August 2018, when the companies agreed a deep, strategic “New Retail” partnership. Ele.me, China’s leading on-demand food delivery platform, owned by Alibaba, provides Starbucks delivery service for 2,000 stores across 30 Chinese cities.

    In October 2018, Starbucks also piloted its first “Star Kitchens” within two FRESHIPPO (previously known as Hema) supermarkets in Shanghai and Hangzhou. As the first retail brand to establish a dedicated back-of-house presence in FRESHIPPO locations, each Star Kitchen utilizes the distinct fulfilment and delivery capabilities on-site to complement the handcrafted beverages offered through existing Starbucks stores.

    The launch of Starbucks’ virtual store is also the latest example of how the so-called “Alibaba Operating System” empowering traditional retailers. After years of development in this digital age, Alibaba has created a unique system to support enterprises in the process of digital transformation that covers critical areas such as retail, marketing, finance and logistics.

  • HMV owes US$600,000 unpaid rental, face legal case

    HMV owes US$600,000 unpaid rental, face legal case

    Gadget, movie and music retailer HMV may face eviction from several of its Hong Kong store locations in coming weeks as landlords seek to recover unpaid rents and charges. Separate lawsuits have been filed relating to HMV stores in Causeway Bay, Central and Kowloon Bay, collectively seeking more than HK$5 million (US$640,000), according to court documents.

    The four-story HMV flagship store on Paterson Street in Causeway Bay was leased from Ever Light in July 2015 for four years at a monthly rent of $1.59 million for the first two years and $1.72 million for the ensuing two.

    Another store on Queen’s Road Central was leased in September 2016 from Pridemax for a term of six years at an initial monthly rent of $1 million.

    Those two landlords lodged legal action in the High Court of Hong Kong seeking payment of overdue amounts and vacation of the premises.

    About three weeks ago, MTR Corporation issued legal proceedings seeking to recover $273,300 in unpaid rent and charges and demanded the store vacate its space in Telford Plaza shopping mall.

    HMV was acquired by China 3D Digital Entertainment in March 2016 for $408 million, with the vendor, private equity company AID Partners retaining an approximate 18 per cent share.

    In 2015 AID received widespread acclaim for the restructure of the Hong Kong operations of what was once an iconic international brand name in music and movie retailing, but which collapsed in other markets with the advent of digital streaming undermining the popularity of DVDs and CDs.

    The Causeway Bay flagship, which incorporates a cafe and live music performance space, began specialising in lifestyle items including headphones, toys and even scooters, along with recognising the returning popularity of vinyl records.