Tag: retail business

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Fashion

Fashion Lowdown Preview

Today, I read Gucci’s sales fell 10%. Sales in China saved the copernicus luxury brand from collapse. Last week LVMH put the brakes on Superstar Rhianna’s fashion line after two years. These stores are not a surprise in the current environment where consumers are in a holding pattern. The Black and Paper Fashion Lowdown report has been in the planning stages for a few weeks. I got tied up with other features. Also, the daily news from the fashion and retail world floods my in box. Keeping up with the fashion industry headlines evolved int a full time job. I read the daily using press. One grim reminder after another on the new world we are navigating. Layoffs, bankruptcies, unsold merchandise, the end is not around the corner. 2020 was a great reveal. 2021 will be reality.

Shopping Mall mothballed since December.

After having conversations with fashion professionals from around the world, my conclusion is: Uncertainty. A reset will happen, a slimmer. more grounded business.

I promise to make the Fashion Lowdown podcast. 

Categories
Fashion

Shopping in the New Normal

The second part of my reports on Shopping in the New Normal. The world is changing really fast. 

Categories
Fashion

Berlin Reopening-Friday

The city has eased the lockdown but shoppers are staying away from malls.   Demand has dissolved.   The “New Normal” for the short term means less consumption.  

What makes it hard to buy? The constant reminders of the Coronavirus.  A Mood killer! 

Categories
Fashion Feature

Macy’s,,,, REALLY!

I checked on family members the other day. Like everyone living in a lockdown, I reached out for a long conversation. Thankfully, everyone is OK. 

Not The Place!

The talked shifted to malls and shopping. What happens for the re-openings? Macy’s, the mall staple, when I was young the department store was a first stop. According to my sister, not anymore. It’s no secret the chain has suffered over the years. But I had no clue how bad things had gotten. A backstory, management in the early part of the century went on a buying merging spree. Buying Federated Department Stores, then May Company creating a massive coast to coast power retail brand. The problem, shoppers shifted to online buying, brick and mortar stores felt old fashioned. Secondly, the company became highly leveraged. Unable to react quickly as customers left to other shopping experiences. The company made some concept store changes. Then announced more closures. Macy’s became a wondering company without a soul.

2+2

Back to the conversation with my sister, Shopping! I asked her about going to Macy’s. The “GOD NO” response said it all. Their shoe department is awful. Shoe are left out, stacked in boxes for you to get them yourself. Not even organized! There is no sales person. When in a service industry, cutting customer service seems the same as 2+2=3.

“They need new buyers because the clothes are bad. Who would want to wear anything? I stopped going to Macy’s a long time ago”.  I got the perfect example of a lost retail customer because of the short sighted nature of those in charge.

My reaction to my sister not buying shoes.

I am writing this story based one of the retailers local store, not a flagship location. However this tale could be a gage for a wider picture.  Macy’s has been in retreat mode for years posting erratic sales, falling numbers, and site closures.

If a store cannot entice my sister to buy a new pair of shoes.  That says a lot!


Categories
Fashion

Here is Fashion in 2020

The Coronavirus has changed every business in ways we have yet to digest. Business models will crash. In fashion, retail brick and mortar stores have struggled competing against online sales. The end is near for many storied chains. The crash in consumer demand will put the last nail in the coffin. Habits will change, malls will seem like relics of a past civilisation.  

The print magazine is on its last leg. Carrie Bradshaw reading Vogue over coffee in a New York cafe was the stuff of fashionistas dreams. Collectors get your plastic wrap ready. 2020 will usher in the last print issues for many titles. Because retail stores have closed for the outbreak. Buying toilet paper and pasta has taken precedent over the latest Spring Kors bag. Many brands will stop buying ads. Because of  high overheads, publishing houses will struggle with new rounds of cost cuts.

Influencers face a balancing act. The travel influencer field has collapsed, like the industry. Anyone want to buy a plane ticket today? Freebies with cut, copy, and paste, stories will begin to feel trivia. Brands will now employ tighter messaging to engage consumers in the troubled times. Daily doses of wannabes aspirations will feel out of place. Who cares about a daily selfie. It maybe time to get real job. The new real influencers are medical workers.

In a quick update.  I wanted to mention the factories producing clothing.  They have completely shutdown in many parts of the world.