More on trunk shows



Further to yesterday’s post, retail blogger Bish Shops alerted me to the following news on trunk shows:

NEIMAN MARCUS PLANS SHOWS TO ENTICE TOP CUSTOMERS TO BUY NEW LINES AT FULL PRICE
Upscale retailer Neiman Marcus Group Inc is to set up special trunk shows and meetings with designers for its best customers in a bid to get them to buy new fashion items at full price.

Engaging Neiman’s core, wealthy customers are the retailer’s “best chance of turning the tide” of deep discounts that is drowning company profits, chief executive Burt Tansky said yesterday.

“The challenge that we have is to get the customer back into the store to buy at full price, because none of us can continue to sell at promotional prices and deep discounts,” Tansky told the National Retail Federation annual convention in New York. “First of all, there’s no advantage to it. Second of all it leads to hell … and it’s got to stop.”

Privately-held Neiman Marcus is testing several marketing ideas across its 40 signature stores, including bringing in groups of 20-30 shoppers for special events, Tansky said.

“We have a number of things going on and already we are starting to understand that our customer, the affluent customer, will come into the stores if we create the right environment,” he said. He noted that some clients said they felt uncomfortable “shopping ostentatiously… Our challenge is to break through that mindset”.

[Source: WGSN]

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Digging the new: Retail concepts



A few weeks ago, Susie Bubble blogged about the ace Norma Kamali service whereby you buy something online and only pay if you decide to keep it. My first thought was ‘what a great service (if a bit trusting).’ When times are tricky in retail it’s good to see someone doing something innovative to entice customers. Little did I realise the service is nothing new. Despite the doubters who scoffed, ‘what a daft idea, people will just take the piss’, it transpires the service has been operating successfully for about 8 years. Another service I read about is that of Dublin boutique, Smock (Unit 5, 20-22 Essex Street West, 8, +353 (1) 613 9000) which has recently instigated a crunch-friendly six-week deposit system to allow customers to reserve items and pay them off gradually. Saving up for things…how retro!

I’ve said it before and I don’t mind saying it again, we need clever ideas in retail if we are to be encouraged to keep the economy afloat. Just wheeling out same-old trends isn’t going to do it anymore. Fantastic Man magazine alerted me to the great concept of Filippa K’s Second Hand store at Hornsgatan 77 in Stockholm which works like a dress agency (take in your old Filippa K clothes and they will give you a percentage of the resale price) while the now-defunct Shop at Maison Bertaux encouraged customer loyalty with its regular 10%-off days to its mailing list customers. And why not bring over the US concept of the trunk show? Matches fashion director and buyer, Bridget Cosgrove told me recently that 3 years ago when they did a Phoebe Philo trunk show it did phenomenally well as did a Roland Mouret one. I would be well up for attending a trunk show if I knew Christophe Decarnin or Current/Elliot would be advising me in person.

Another Susie Bubble heads-up, new LA mall Space 15Twenty grabbed my attention. A clever idea by Urban Outfitters, it ‘creates the opportunity for Urban Outfitters to collaborate with creative brands we find inspiring and interesting’ according to the info on its site. Not just shops, it also comprises music, film and art experiences alongside an Urban Outfitters store which will feature one-off installations by different designers each month.

On the subject of Urban Outfitters, blogger Jennifer Z at Gemmifer reports on a fab exhibition called Swarm on the first floor of Anthropologie in the Rockefeller Center. I’d love to see more stores doing exhibitions. Dover Street Market did a Stephen Jones one, Paul Smith has done photography ones…if something brings customers to your store and promotes an artist at the same time, surely that’s a cool thing?

The branded pop-up shop is a concept touched upon by my blogging buddy Sarah Rabia at Planner No Prefix. Sarah raved about the Monocle magazine pop-up shop in Marylebone which sells a carefully curated selection of kit for the discerning Monocle reader (think limited edition Valextra notebooks and Headporter tote bags). Now I’m fantasising about a Lula shop…or Teen Vogue! I would also love to see Liberty or Selfridges give over a small area to a designer or other creative to curate with items (fragrance/books/accessories/food) of their choosing*. Miranda July would get my vote, followed by Tim Walker and Alexis Mabille.

*Updated 19th March 09… seems this may be happening at Barneys

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Quote of the day



‘One night, he [Stephen Sprouse] phoned up and said, “I’ve got a present for you. Can I drop it over?” And he came over with an “Iggy on the Cross” painting. It was fantastic. I lined the painting in black lights so it would glow and my neighbours from across the street started complaining because they could see it through the window and thought it was blasphemous. I was like, “Whatever.” And I just kept the curtains drawn from then on.’
Kate Moss remembers Stephen Sprouse in the newly published Rizzoli book

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Whatever Next?




Until I was sent a complimentary one to try out (thanks LG!), I didn’t even know what a netbook was. Now they’re bloody everywhere! I love the concept – a lightweight, compact laptop that’s easily transportable – and clearly so do many others. The latest development of the netbook is the ‘digital clutch’. (Why do marketing people think the only way to market technology to women is by giving things fluffy fashion and make-up related names? Anyone would think we can’t relate to stuff if it’s not connected in some way to the way we look.)

Anyway, HP started it with their Vivienne Tam-designed* ‘digital clutch’. According to the blurb, it’s “a digital clutch that complements this spring’s outfits perfectly. Weighing just 1.1kg, the 10.1 inch HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Edition is both lightweight and ultra-portable. It also features a wrist lanyard ring so that you can carry it in your hand without it slipping to the floor.” Tres chic.

Not to be outdone, the latest Sony Vaio has an 8-inch screen and is ‘small enough to fit in many pockets’. Hmmm, I don’t know many pockets that big but you know, maybe that could be something for designers to think upon for SS2010…?

Finally, from next month, UK high street fashion retailer Next will be selling £99 ‘handbag-sized’ netbooks to appeal to women-on-the-go. Expect a brace of UK fashionistas of the Henry Holland/Giles/PPQ type to be enlisted for netbook-decorating purposes…

*Note, she didn’t design the actual computer, just the fancy floral casing.

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