Retail Diary - Week of September 4th 2023

This Week's Topics:  

  • Store Stories

  • NY Fashion Week Commences

  • New Launches, Collabs, Acquisitions & More

  • What else I ❤️️ 

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Store Stories

  • This article from Vox talks about the decline of in store (in person) shopping at brick and mortar and the poor experience. Think inventory shortages, product locked up (increased theft) and long times to wait for help. I think we need to separate in person shopping into at least two categories. Convenience and Necessity vs Discovery and Pleasure. For every day CPG (consumer packaged goods) items or repeat purchases that I’m loyal to brands for, I prefer to order online via Amazon or do BOPIS (buy online pick up in store) via Target etc. But experiential shopping (retail as theater!) we can still enjoy the emotional experience of discovering new items in person. Trying something on and playing with merchandise.

  • Along these lines, the number 1 trend in the Robin Report is Experiential Shopping and number 8 are Pop-Ups which also fits into this in-person shopping experience.

  • Stores opening in secondary markets - this article in WWD really got me excited to talk about the trends we see and putting the puzzle pieces together.

    • During the pandemic we saw more people moving out of larger cities. We’ve also seen many workers hesitant to return to the office. Making it more likely that people are shopping closer to home and not in major cities.

    • If you are putting in the effort to open a location in one area, it makes sense to scale and open a few in the same region that can be supported by regional managers, etc.

    • In this article they mention Marin Country Mart and the new stores opening there. This happens to be in the Bay Area (near me) and a place I love shopping. So much discoverability, similar shops but also each store has something unique, the service is amazing and you can go and have great food too. J.S. Rosenfield & Co has done an excellent job managing this outdoor shopping center and has Brentwood Country Mart, Malibu Country Mart and Montecito Country Mart in Southern CA. I think this is the experiential shopping that is really special (and luxury - but “accessible” luxury) that is the direction we are seeing be successful in shopping and retail.

    • Fred Segal is being resurrected and a push to grow further post Jeff Lotman purchasing the retailer in 2019. Lotman is friendly with Rosenfield (see Country Marts above bullet point) and Fred Segal will be opening in many of the Country Mart locations. Fred Segal bring lovely memories of being THE PLACE to discover new brands and trends with their cool shop in shop experiences that was always changing and finding the coolest items.

  • An interesting read on what is next for Barney’s NY now that Authentic Brand Groups has taken over licensing the name. A collection with Forever 21. In this WSJ article two customers are quoted saying while they haven’t shopped Forever 21 this would lead them to shop there, I’m not convinced that is the case for the majority of former Barney’s NY shoppers.

  • Retail CEO roles and the current trend of Women being replaced with Men in the C Suite. This is an important read on understanding how the greater economy is impacting how boards are making decisions and what is still seen as a risk.

  • One major brand bucking this trend of male CEOs in this current economic climate is Chanel’s CEO Leena Nair. This WSJ article is a great deep dive into the past year plus with Nair as the CEO and her outside experience - Chief HR from Unilever.

  • Will they won’t they story. Hudson Bay Co. (who bought Saks Fifth Avenue) on acquiring Neiman Marcus Group.

  • Back to school shopping is expected to increase by $24 Billion from LY and hit $135 Billion. Top trends include jean shorts and clear backpacks. I’m sad to say that clear backpacks are not due to a cool, nostalgic “Clueless” trend (as in the movie “Clueless”) but related to our clueless politicians that are not doing enough to stop gun violence, especially in our schools and to our children.

NY Fashion Week Commences

THE iconic J.crew leaders at the 40th Birthday Celebration during NY Fashion Week. I’ve been pinching myself after seeing THE Jenna Lyons repost my instagram story.

New Launches, Collabs, Acquisitions & More

What else I ❤️️ 

What's Next?

I ordered “Glossy” by Marisa Meltzer and can’t wait to read and review that for Retail Diary: Book Club. More fashion week coverage coming your way. If you are looking for more ways to follow Retail Diary please check us out on Instagram. There you will find the latest updates on the newsletter as well as stories worth sharing in between editions.

I want to take the time to thank everyone for reading my newest additions: Retail Diary Book Club and Retail Diary: Fall Fashion Trends. They were a lot of fun to write and do something different.

Thanks for reading Edition 140.
Sarah Shapiro