Heavily Vested
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WALKING MODERN THE WALK MILLY TERESA PALMER AND ANALEIGH MILLY UPDATES TIPTON STAR IN THE ROM-COM ITS IMAGE. ZOMBIE FLICK “WARM BODIES.” PAGE 5 PAGE 9 DOUBLE THE NUMBER Belk Sets Strategy To Expand Flagships By DAVID MOIN BELK INC. IS fortifying its fl agships as part of a mas- ter plan to reach $6 billion in sales within fi ve years. Under the new strategy, Belk, which last year gen- erated $3.78 billion in revenues, will invest $140 mil- WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2013 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY lion on up to 15 stores to convert them into bona fi de fl agships through enlargements, remodels or pumped- WWD up assortments of “premium” brands, or some combi- nation thereof. In addition, Belk will open two new fl agships, in Dallas and Huntsville, Ala., in 2014. The Dallas store will be the retailer’s fi rst fl agship in Texas. Belk currently has 15 fl agships, meaning that in a COLLECTIONS few years, the 301-unit department store chain could practically double its fl agship count. In the next three years, “we believe we can pick up FALL $75 million in incremental revenues by investing the 2013 $140 million in the locations,” Belk president and chief merchandising offi cer Kathryn Bufano told WWD in an exclusive interview on the fl agship strategy. Retailers like to refer to many of their stores as fl agships, sometimes too loosely. But Belk offi cials say they have clear criteria for the designation. To qualify, Belk offi cials said, the store must be around 160,000 square feet or larger in size, must have a strong enough assortment to convey the company’s new messaging about Southern, modern style and must have a halo effect on other Belk stores within a 50-mile radius. Heavily There are also minimum volume requirements, which Belk executives declined to reveal. They are believed to be a pretty wide range, depending on the size of the store and its geography. “A fl agship really needs to have a fi rst-class premi- um brand assortment,” explained Ralph Pitts, execu- tive vice president over real estate and legal, among Vested his other areas of responsibility. “We are looking at It looks like a coat but it’s not. For some of the stores we have that are large enough to be fl agships but don’t have the full fl agship assortment. his fall (yes, fall) Thakoon Addition SEE PAGE 6 collection, Thakoon Panichgul riffed on “classics reimagined,” delightfully tweaking traditional men’s wear and tailored motifs. Digital’s Data Drive Here, his sturdy vest worked in By RACHEL STRUGATZ shearling and a medley of wools, worn over a matching top and WEB SITES NEED to have more than just a pretty interface. skirt. For more, see WWD.com/ Until now, much of a brand’s or retailer’s digital fashion-news. presence was based on aesthetics and how their digi- tal fl agship or Facebook page looked. But as pressure to see a return on investment mounts, customer data will become a key differentiator between those that succeed and those that don’t. Brands like Kate Spade, Rebecca Minkoff, Tory Burch, Coach, Burberry and Sephora excel in the space because of the attention paid to science as well as art. Now, a slew of solutions and new sites — Fashion GPS, Olapic and Fohr Card among them — are available to help more brands track facts and fi gures. Maureen Mullen, director of research and advi- sory for New York University think tank Luxury Lab, or L2, in December told WWD that the use of data will “make or break” a business in the next fi ve to 10 years, particularly the use of data in a multichannel environment. “You’re going to start seeing titles like ‘data scien- tist’ emerge in organizations, and quickly those peo- ple will become some of the most important in terms of driving customer value,” Mullen said, drawing a comparison to 2010 when the “hottest job” across re- tail and luxury was a social media manager. From a data perspective, she declared that Amazon is the prime example of an e-tailer seam- lessly capturing this information online. (For more on Amazon, see story, page 12.) PHOTO BY KYLE ERICKSEN SEE PAGE 12 2 WWD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2013 Kors Teams With U.N. Hunger Program paign. The watches come in two the Briefing Box By marc karimZadeh sizes, with the smaller one retail- ing for $295 and the larger for in Today’s WWd New York — michael kors is $325. each watch sold will allow putting the fight against world hun- for 100 children to be fed through ger at the core of his philanthropy. the wF P. in addition, kors is The designer is launching an launching a text-to-donate pro- Denim from exclusive, long-term partnership gram to raise further funds. Gsus Sindustries, with the United Nations world kors is also releasing a public which showed at Food Programme, which aims to service announcement, which fea- Bread & Butter help solve the international hun- tures several celebrities, includ- in Berlin. ger crisis with food assistance for ing Bette midler, seth meyers, those in need, especially moth- Patti hansen, kyle macLachlan ers and children. and karolina kurkova. “we wanted to contribute in a The Psa is available on kors’ way that would make a real differ- various social media platforms, ence in people’s lives,” said kors. including destinationkors.com. “Joining forces with the world “over the years, i’ve had the Food Programme enables us to do great fortune of traveling the that. The fact is, hunger is a solv- world and experiencing new able problem and i’m proud that Michael Kors created two watches for cultures and people,” kors said. we can be a part of the solution.” the “Watch Hunger Stop” campaign. “and if there’s one thing i’ve as a cause, feeding the needy learned, it’s that millions of peo- has been dear to kors for a long time. he has been ple all over the world are struggling to feed them- a supporter of God’s Love we deliver, the New selves, and their families, every day. i want to lend Belk Inc. is fortifying its flagships as part of a master plan to York-based nonprofit that delivers daily meals to my voice and my efforts to this international cause.” reach $6 billion in sales within five years. PAGE 1 people with severe illnesses, for more than two de- wFP executive director ertharin cousin added cades and made a $5 million donation to the orga- that by working with the designer, “we will gener- As pressure to see a return on investment mounts, data will nization last october. ate more attention as well as much-needed resourc- while kors’ financial commitment to the U.N. pro- es in support of wFP’s efforts to end world hunger. become a key differentiator between those Web sites that gram was not disclosed, he plans to raise millions our vision of the future is a world where every per- succeed and those that don’t. PAGE 1 through a series of campaigns, events and special son has access to the quality and quantity of food products, including two unisex watches launching required to not only lead a healthy life but to also The names of seven factories that subcontracted work to the this march as part of a “watch hunger stop” cam- reach his or her full human potential.” Smart Export Garment Ltd. factory, where seven garment workers died in a fire over the weekend, have been found. PAGE 3 Hennes & Mauritz has named South Korean designer Minju Kim the winner of its international H&M Design Award. PAGE 3 Rodriguez Tapped as Wool Ambassador Celia Birtwell has teamed with Uniqlo for a capsule clothing rodriguez’s participation is collection that will launch in the U.K. on March 21. PAGE 3 By Lisa Lockwood Narciso part of woolmark’s re-branding Rodriguez efforts in the U.s. market “and Milly has designed a new logo reflecting the line’s more The wooLmark co. has reinforces The woolmark co. as modern and contemporary point of view. PAGE 5 named Narciso rodriguez as am- the world’s best-known textile bassador for merino wool in its fiber brand,” said mccullough. he The revival of Halston is taking a major step forward next No Finer Feeling global market- noted that the New York office has month with the opening of three Halston Heritage stores and at ing campaign. been dormant since the financial least 10 this year. PAGE 6 ads will appear in fashion crisis “and now we’re reestablish- magazines in the fall touting the ing The woolmark co.’s profile versatility of merino wool as a and presence in this very impor- Teresa Palmer and Analeigh Tipton, the female stars of the fiber. rodriguez will include me- tant market. additionally our am- zombie rom-com “Warm Bodies,” sat down for a chat about their rino wool pieces in two upcoming bassadorial partnerships are our friendship and respective careers. PAGE 9 collections and will champion way of reaffirming our commit- the benefits of wool as a luxury ment to the fashion industry.” Condé Nast on Tuesday handed out its annual best-in-class fiber. starting with rodriguez’s mccullough became acquaint- awards to 2012’s best-performing publishing executives. PAGE 9 fall collection, being shown dur- ed with rodriguez when the ing New Yo r k Fashion week designer was one of the judges Nordstrom has tapped Olivia Kim, who most recently was Feb.