Baby talks design

Speaking of which... babies - what is it about equipping them with the latest designs? -We know perfectly well that they will grow out of them in about a second and a half.
Is it regression to want to have the funkiest stroller? Or is it again, about the experience?
In my case it was sharing the experience and love of beautiful things with my newborn. As we move kids out of a defined play area or nursery and into the rest of the home, their everyday objects have to equally appeal to big and small eyes. Today, there is absolutely no shame (and a great deal of business) in bathing bub in a trendy environment.

This past year I have spent a lot of energy on trying to find just the right high chair, pram or even baby lamp.
So why wouldn't I share these online treasures with futur baby design hunters.
Here goes:

THE LIST
Baby's room, déco and equipment:
BALOUGA
MODERN TOTS
FIRSTWHEELS

Baby's linen
OVALE
EMMA MOUTON
AIRDEJE
BALADE EN ROULOTTE

Baby's clothes
CALESTA
LILLIBULLE
NOT SO BIG
LITTLE FASHION GALLERY
PETIT LAB
MARIE LOUISE DE MONTEREY (for those perfect vintage white blouses and pinnafores)

So I went a little beserk, ok, but I also managed to wrangle a couple of great items on Ebay

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Luxury Retail

Luxury retail wooing local affluents instead of relying on shopping tourism.

According to The Wall Street Journal:

"affluent shoppers have boosted sales at the world’s leading players (In the luxury industry), by an average of 14 percent in the first six months of this year, according to Swiss bank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch. Sales are expected to reach a record of nearly $200 billion by year end – higher than when sales of shoes, watches, dresses and other luxury items previously peaked five years ago, according to luxury consultancy Intercorporate.
To meet demand, fashion houses are aggressively opening shops again after a long hiatus. Louis Vuitton recently inaugurated a new boutique in Budapest, while Valentino and Ferragamo signed leases in India. French fashion house Hermes International is expanding its flagship Paris boutique so it will take up half a block.
“It makes people feel confident if there are more people getting rich and the rich are getting richer,” Gucci Group Chief Executive Robert Polet said in an interview. Sales at the group, which includes the core Gucci brand, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent and others, increased 20 percent between January and June.
Behind the scenes, though, fashion houses are planning for the next, inevitable downturn. Their strategy: Make their business less dependent on tourism flows – a traditional driver of sales – by developing stronger local clienteles."

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Culture for sale

Not so long after selling off Printemps (see : Rinascente in Spring) PPR is thinking of putting another one of its brands on the market. The Fnac. Goldman Sachs and UBS will be handling this transaction. Figures mentioned : 2 B€

The Fnac traditionally perveys the image of retailing culture (CDs DVDs books) - 40% of their turnover lies in this, the other 60% in techproducts.
Film and music buying habits have changed. They are now called downloads. Although the Fnac is France's leader on the music CD market with over 28% share, the future is not bright for this retail activity.

Other PPR brands and services already sold or on the market: Finaref, Rexel, and various participations in non stategic services.

This move confirms once again the PPR strategy :Scimming down on extras and focusing on high yielding, dynamic activities ie: luxury.

PPR entrerd the luxury brand arena in 1999/2000 with the acquisition of fashion houses of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, now YSL.
Today : Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Bottega Veneta, Sergio Rossi, Boucheron, Bédat & Co, Saint Laurent Parfums and Roger et Gallet are all part of the PPR Gucci Group stable.
Tomorrow : New acquisitions are planned - names, anyone?

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HERMES : news, more news, more more news.

News:
PARIS (AFX) - Luxury goods company Hermes International will invest around 140 mln eur next year, of which 100 mln will be to develop its retail network as it develops high-growth sectors like jewellery and gloves that are under-represented in its stores, chief executive Patrick Thomas said in an interview with the weekly newspaper Investir.

The total investment amount is similar to this year's and is up from 119 mln in 2005.

Thomas also said Hermes has already bought nearly 140 mln eur in shares under a 200-mln-eur buyback program occurring this year. He said further share purchases will be made until the 200 mln total is reached.

The company plans no major acquisitions at present, according to Thomas.

More news:

Véronique Gautier, président du directoire d’Hermès Parfums depuis 2001, a pris les fonctions de directeur général d’Hermès Maroquinerie-Sellerie. Auparavant directeur général international d’Helena Rubinstein, Catherine Fulconis rejoint la marque en qualité de Dg d’Hermès Parfums. Au sein d’Hermès Parfums, Hélène Dubrule, directrice du marketing International a pris la direction générale d’Hermès Soie. Elle est remplacée à ce poste par Barbara Albasio.
Enfin, Olivier Monteil, responsable des relations presse et publiques internationales voit ses fonctions élargies et devient directeur de la communication d’Hermès Parfums, notamment en charge de la publicité.

More more news: Avenue George V store ressucitated.

Hermès agrandit son magasin rue George-V La boutique Hermès rue George-V fête ce soir sa réouverture et son agrandissement. Elle s’étend désormais sur deux étages : l’espace soierie, le cuir, le prêt-à-porter homme et la chapellerie Motsch au rez-de-chaussée ; la joaillerie, l’art de vivre et le prêt-à-porter femme au premier et nouvel étage. L’agence d’architecture Renée Dumas qui s’est chargée des travaux a associé tradition de la maison et design moderne avec des matériaux tels que le verre et le merisier.
(14 septembre 2006)

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Bon points

Big Big event for our little ones.

The opening of a parisian palace store for Bonpoint, rue de tournon in the 6th arrondissement. The 1000 square metres of the "Hotel Brancas", a mini chateaux near the jardin du luxembourg, complete with french gardens will house this mythical childrens brand. The different sales spaces dedicated to the various sub themes and ages of clients (including the YAM -y'en a marre - line for teens) showcase the perfectly designed collections. But that's not all. A tree and cubby house, flowers on ceilings, a pink caravan.... makes me regret my childhood.

Born from a hole-in-the-wall children's multi brand and own creation space called Bonbon, Marie France Cohen's brilliant idea to "dress children as children and not small grown up's" boomed when in 1974 she associated with her sister Dominique Swildens and husband Ben. Bonbon became Bonpoint. The next three decennies saw the brand expanding exponentially and globally.
In 2003 Edmond de Rothschild Capital Partners saw the potentiel and bought 70 % of the firm's capital all the while leaving complete freedom to the founding family.

So what's so special about Bonpoint? Is it it's retro-contemporary designs? The colours and prints do bring back memories of our favourite dresses and shoes from so long ago. Today, from an adult perspective they make sense now... they are not just pretty but also synonymous with quality and practicality. Clothes that are exactly what our inner child wants our actual child to wear, and styles that our actual child agrees to wear.

Bonpoint

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Opening bell on wall street

This article from CNBC illustrates the constant striving for perfect luxury location. No comments on my part are necessary.


By Julia Boorstin
CNBC

NEW YORK - It’s something businesses have always tried to follow. Go where the money is. But, Wall Street seemed to be an exception. Despite the billions in lower Manhattan, luxury retailers shied away. Until now. Wall Street just isn’t worker bees; it’s power brokers with money to burn and expensive tastes.
Luxury brand dealers are no longer expecting Wall Street to come uptown to them, they’re profiting from moving their Madison Avenue names down to Wall Street. Tiffany and French luxury house Hermes are some of the latest companies announcing new locations, both steps from the New York Stock Exchange. The financial capital’s pin stripes and narrow streets are drawing high-end names with one very important thing – money.
While some of the wealthiest people in the country work there, two out of three on Wall Street make $136,500 a year on average. They have nowhere close to spend that mad money. Luxury automaker BMW was among the first to move in and cash in, and to learn luxury spending goes beyond year-end bonuses.

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Rinascente in Spring

PPR will definitively conclude sale of Department stores Le Printemps to the Borletti family (30%) backed by RREEF (Deutsche Bank - 70%). Both parties mentioned that this transaction will only be final after European Comission approval (may take 5 weeks). The sales figure mentioned is of 1,075 billion Euros.

Maurizio Borletti, CEO of Rinascente department stores, announced that the printemps stores will be focusing on luxury as well as developping online sales.

Borletti also mentioned he would be investing 280 millions Euros in 5 years. Le Printemps department stores employs 5.287 in 17 stores.

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GenXers - Y they shop.

Once apon a time there were stores who had friendly, discreet and professional staff. Sales assistants that actually assisted you. Personnel that was proud to show you around. Shopping in luxury brand stores was a rounded experience. Clients were faithful to a brand.

Does this still exist?

I would like to react to a survey held by American Express on High Net Worth Individuals. Although it's not that recent, it underlines an important trend.

American Express GenX luxury survey

To sum up this survey, BabyBoomers have more time on their hands and have accumulated more "goods" during their lifetime and are therefore more inclined to invest in luxury experiences

The twist is that, even though GenXers don't have much time on their hands (active professionals), they will spend as high a percentage of their incomes on luxury experiences as Baby Boomers. Is this an education thing? Have they been brought up to favour "experiencing" over "having"?

In a market place that is saturated with household name luxury brands, how do you grab those GenX shoppers? After all they represent over 20% of clients. More importantly - how do you keep them coming?
What if shopping rebecomes an experience?

As the demand for luxury goods exploded in the late 90's so did the expansion of retail networks. This expansion was so rapid that some brands were not always keeping up with standards in high service. It didn't matter so much at the time. Business was booming. Numbers were up. Who cared? Nonchalence and aloofness became luxury retail staff trademarks. I guess it was their way of dealing with frantic boulemic shoppers.

After 2001 this all changed. As people started asking themselves "what is it all about?" so the luxury industry started concentrating on basics again. Product and clients. After having invested on sophisticated CRM programs,luxury brands are starting to invest in their staff with sales and product training.
That's all very well. Staff will be able to perform well and inform clients about the product and brand. But something is still missing to be able to call shopping "an experience".

Faith.
Faith in the task, faith in the team, faith in the brand. Just as GenXers believe in a luxury brand's inherent quality, store staff should believe in their product. Sharing their enthousiasm and therefore enhancing the emotional value of the product. Connecting with their clientele on this product level creates a positive experience - for both shopper and staff.

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Paris is a village

Having worked for years in luxury stores, my opinion is based on "onhand experience".
Points of sale have gone through many phases in the recent decade but one factor has always remained the same

"location, location, location" - yes but which one - and how?

I won't be able to give you insider information on Paris real estate. It's Up's and Up's are still a mystery to me. Shop locations, however, are not.
As customer types vary, and the luxury industry has gone from "connoisseur clientèle", "luxury consumers" to "me generation" back to "easthetically aware", so have locations varied. To be able to offer complete sensory shopping experience, stores have moved or opened in various locations, creating rollercoaster trends in real estate (and spanning as many client types as possible).
In 1992 the Faubourg Saint Honoré was a narrow street with only Hermès and Lanvin as shopping highlights. The top location at that time was Ave Montaigne. Things have changed, although Ave Montaigne still is THE thoroughfare for luxury shopping (parking space "oblige"), Fbg St Honoré now looks like a quaint luxury disney village, Dolce, Prada and Chanel all hobbly topply one next to the other. The adjacent streets have scrubbed up and the whole area is now populated by logo bag carrying tourists.
Also, let's not forget the creation in the late 90's of a whole new luxury epicenter in Saint Germain- big uproar at the time. The low key french intelligencia inhabited this area and definitely did not want an Emporio Armani Megastore there.
There was a project to fashion another center on the Marché Saint Honoré (due to the creation of a passage from place Vendome) following the huge success of Colette. This project was abandoned after Sept 2001. This area now houses "createur" brands.

So, ok, luxury stores are to be found all around. The "triangle d'or" - golden triangle - which traditionally spanned the area from Ave George V to the Champs Elysées to Ave Montaigne, has now extended to 3 poles : Montaigne-Fbg-St Germain.
Some brands choose to be present in all locations (eg Prada).

Is uniformity in visual identity still relevant in a tentacular luxury distribution schema?

As my experience goes, local clients will not be very faithful to one point of sale within a same brand and city. Sympathy for a particular sales assistant aside, of course.
Marketing gurus have been too busy reenforcing international VI unity in points of sale to fathom the impact this may have on local clients. These are screaming to be identified. Generally this population lives in the same area as the store and has strong ties to it. If these upmarket neighbourhoods have a history, aura or particular ambiance (eg Saint Germain) why not take it into account? (generally, that's why the space is so expensive)
This may also work for out of town clients. Instead of seeing an exact replica of their home store, they may appreciate the diversity and creativity of a coherent yet different space.
In an age where luxury stores are competing for clients who are becoming increasingly needy of personal identification, does a brand need to impose heedlessly it's unique vision, or is the future

translating brand image to geography?

PRADA STORES

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