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DAILY EDITION MAY 1, 2019

Report Financial Woes Card Fresh Face Fashion. Beauty. Business. Future NFL-ers Sonia Rykiel enters Hugo names Liam Payne as fumble with receivership as it seeks brand ambassador. their style. a buyer. Page 3 Page 20 Page 2

BUSINESS NMG Mulls Selling Off Mytheresa ● It's been an eventful year for Neiman’s, involving launching a transformation plan, restructuring debt, opening in Hudson Yards and taking a stake in Fashionphile.

BY DAVID MOIN

The Group, in another maneuver to fix its debt-laden capital structure and focus on core businesses, is considering selling Mytheresa, the Munich- based luxury web site purchased by the company four-and-a-half years ago. The company also disclosed Tuesday in a filing that its string of comparable sales gains has been broken. For the company’s third quarter, which ended last Saturday, a 1.3 percent to 1.9 percent decline in comparable revenues is expected to be reported. Yves Saint Laurent 1977 Chloé 1974 Neiman’s also expects to report a decline in adjusted earnings before CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

BUSINESS

Celine 2019 Strikes Back ● Canada’s homegrown luxury retailer has been investing big to upgrade and expand stores and strengthen ties with world-class designers.

BY DAVID MOIN After sitting back and watching competitors enter its territory, Canada’s Holt Renfrew is renovating, modernizing and embracing the creme de la creme of the luxury market. “Catching up is really the way to say it,” Mario Grauso, the president of Holt Renfrew, told WWD. “We were a little behind for a certain amount of time. Now we are getting to the place we should have been a few years ago.” For the -based Holt Renfrew, “catching up” means investing in the Tod's 2019 Yves Saint Laurent 1973 Y/Project 2019 Yves Saint Laurent 1973 business — $400 million Canadian for a spectrum of brick-and-mortar, e-commerce, omnichannel and technology projects that began in 2017 and conclude in 2020. It also means defending the home turf. A Bourgeois Primer Long the only upscale department store in Canada, the 182-year-old Holt Renfrew One of fashion’s more contentious styles, “bourgeois” roared back for fall 2019, has since the Nineties witnessed luxury retailers from Tiffany to trickling adopted by an array of designers. WWD looks back at the origins of the word, its revival into downtown and onto Bloor in the Seventies, and its subversive appeal on pages 6 and 7. Street and Yorkville Avenue in Toronto, and in the past four years, Nordstrom and

Celine,Tod’s and Y/Project photographs by Giovanni Giannoni; All others from the WWD Archive from Giannoni; All others Giovanni by photographs and Y/Project Celine,Tod’s CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 14 MAY 1, 2019

Holt Renfrew Strikes Back CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Saks Fifth Avenue have planted stores in Toronto, , Ottawa and Vancouver. In Canada, Nordstrom has six stores and Saks has three. Asked about the impact of Nordstrom and Saks, Grauso replied: “Our volume has only gone up. We have heavily differentiated in this market. That is our approach. It starts with the type of environments we build. It continues with the service we provide, which is heavily concentrated on the experience. The activities that we program into these stores are at a very high level and very fun for the customer. The personal shopping is very special. “But I go back to that environment piece. They are just not building environments like us. We have only grown since I joined A rendering of Holt Renfrew,” in September 2016. Holt Renfrew’s The entrance to Holt Nordstrom’s Vancouver flagship, opened soon-to-be redesigned Renfrew Yorkdale, in fall 2015, has become a top door for the facade on . leading to men’s wear. Seattle-based upscale department store Holt Renfrew’s chain. “There is room for both of us in renovated beauty Vancouver,” said Grauso. hall in Vancouver. “[Copresident] Pete Nordstrom did a great job in that market. But I think we do it differently and that’s why we coexist well.” In a wide-ranging interview, Grauso outlined Holt Renfrew’s master plan. Among the projects in the works: • Renovating 90 percent of Holt Renfrew Vancouver, which sources say is the retailer’s largest-volume location, accounting for about 400 million Canadian dollars of the company’s 1.2 billion Canadian dollars, or $800 million, in annual sales. The project, nearly done, brought the vendor shop count to 87 from 45, with more shops to come. There’s been a 40,000-square-foot expansion, with space gains in women’s footwear, beauty, personal shopping and men’s wear, and new handbag, ready-to- wear and cosmetic floors. • Holt Renfrew Ogilvy in , which software for improved merchandising history, to the shopping bag and adding became the retailer’s largest location at and finance systems, and upgrading the name to the Holt Renfrew moniker. So 250,000 square feet through the addition point-of-sale systems for better customer I think everything we could do to reference Redesigning Holt of 40,000 square feet by converting office service and integrations between online the history we have done.” space and from the adjacent Hotel de la and in-store merchandise information. Grauso began the tour for a guest, eager Renfrew Ogilvy Montagne, which was demolished. The Last year, the Joor automated system of to show off the reimagined beauty floor six-level flagship overhauled its beauty and buying was implemented and a European and other transformed areas. He believes Structural upgrades, spaciousness and letting the light in. distribution center opened near Milan to they exemplify recent upgrades or those men’s floors and is remaking the fifth floor Those were some of the key objectives for personal shopping, activewear, seasonal get goods to the selling floors faster. underway at other Holt Renfrew locations. architect Jeffrey Hutchison set forth on accessories and men’s and women’s “Three years ago we started all of this. Beauty was relocated from the main redesigning the interiors of Holt Renfrew outerwear; the third floor for women’s It will all be complete in Q3 of 2020,” floor to the concourse level and expanded Ogilvy in Montreal. designer and advanced contemporary; said Grauso. to 28,000 square feet from under 10,000 “Because of all the windows, Ogilvy the second floor for women’s footwear, “The old management team had asked square feet. That’s enabled larger vendor was known as ‘the store of light.’ So I really modern collections and jewelry, and the for capital but we really started all these beauty shops, generally 500 to 600 square embraced letting in natural light. I tried to bring that history back,” said Hutchison, main floor, which will house “world of” projects when I joined. Nothing had been feet each, as well as branded shops for of Jeffrey Hutchison & Associates, which designer boutiques, each with ready to designed or done. When I started we were fragrance and treatment rooms called had support from Lemay, a Montreal-based wear, leather goods and fine jewelry. able to actually go in and decide how to “cabines.” There are 30 skin care, fragrance architectural firm, on the project. • Yorkdale, Holt’s second largest-volume deploy the capital.” and color shops including exclusive The store is connected to the Four store at about $250 million Canadian in On a recent Friday, Grauso visited shops for Chantecaille, Charlotte Tilbury, Seasons Hotel and private residences and annual sales according to sources, will Holt Renfrew Ogilvy, located on Saint- , Clé de Peau, Erno has a new expansion façade designed by expand by 10,000 square feet, bringing Catherine Street W in Montreal. Hudson’s Laszlo, Gucci Beauty, La Prairie, Maison the Gensler, while the main stone facade has it to 129,000 square feet. The main floor Bay and Simon’s operate moderate-priced Christian and Sisley, as well as shops been restored and preserved. He also felt that Ogilvy, which he is being overhauled; large shops for department stores in Montreal, but there’s by Tom Ford, , La Mer and . characterized as a great example of a Louis Gucci, Dior and , each selling men’s virtually no luxury competition in town. Fragrance shops include Byredo, Sullivan-inspired Chicago building should and women’s merchandise, are being The Ogilvy store has a long history. It was Chopard and Bastide, also exclusive to the have a very open, spacious floor plan that introduced through space attained from founded 150 years ago as Jas. A. Ogilvy & market, as well as , Creed, , embraced “the vocabulary” of the original a former Anthropologie store, and larger Sons, purchased by the Weston family in Hermès and Jo Malone. They compliment columns, because they’re so predominant, personal shopping suites are being added. 2011, and renamed Holt Renfrew Ogilvy the multibrand fragrance area and the situated every 20 feet. • The Toronto flagship, 50 Bloor Street last March. scent shop. There’s also a sunglass shop, Hutchison also said the building had to be structurally upgraded. “Montreal is in a W, is expanding and renovating the Keeping the Ogilvy name is a nod to the a “clean beauty” section selling such seismic zone equivalent to San Francisco. women’s footwear, beauty and leather historic significance of the store to the city, brands as 111 Skin and Grown Alchemist, Upgrading was tricky. New cross-bracing goods areas. A Colette Grand Café is being though other impressions from the past an Hermès beauty prototype, and pop-up was put in a very sensitive way to make created and men’s wear will grow by 55 remain. Ogilvy’s Romanesque stone facade spaces for “animations,” such as color sure our objectives were not impacted.” percent. Men’s is being repatriated from and stately interior columns have been demos and product launches. Interiors in fashion areas feature the former freestanding Holt Renfrew retained, though the columns have been The floor feels spacious with 10-foot- sumptuous dark gray stone and natural men’s store at 100 Bloor Street W, which capped with octagonal surrounds for LED wide aisles and partitions no higher than oak floors, glass, metal and fabrics to convey a warm, rich, yet still neutral palette. opened in 2014 and will eventually close. lights hidden in the troughs, and Ogilvy’s five feet to see clear across the expanse. Recycled components were also utilized. Additionally, e-commerce is finally being signature plaid now appears on the classic “If you don’t allocate the space, it’s not The concept was to provide “a strong conducted in earnest, after shutting down Holt Renfrew shopping bags. going to be a calm shopping journey,” vocabulary for Holt and to let the brands years ago, tip-toeing back in last year with “We are being very respectful of the observed Grauso. “It’s a calmer, more express themselves,” Hutchison said. “We just beauty offerings, and, as of last month, Ogilvy brand because It means so much in residential feeling that allows vendors created the right balance.” In beauty, the selling all categories. this market,” Grauso said. “We have taken to convey their own spirit. The brands idea was to “keep it very clean and light,” There have also been investments in every precaution we could take, from personalize their shops but it still feels like he added. — DAVID MOIN IT, with the company converting to SAP absorbing the staff and referencing the our architecture.” That’s due to the ► MAY 1, 2019 15

discrete, uniform signage for the brands from scratch, close it all off and reopen in and the silver metal framework, or stages. That’s hard to do.” “ribbon,” from shop to shop, which tie the When construction winds up at the floor together. Ogilvy unit in 2020, the old Holt Renfrew “The floor is really designed for vendors store two blocks away at 1300 Sherbrooke to be able to interact with clients and Street W, which opened in 1942, will close have a lot of programming going on for good. “We’re fortunate to have a store where vendors teach clients about their up the street to continue trading during products,” Grauso said. “There’s always construction. That’s not normally the case activity in beauty. There’s movable fixtures either,” Grauso said. to accommodate launches, seating in every “It’s very hard to predict the impact of shop, the shops are spacious and there’s construction on our business. I will tell you some degree of privacy, which is not the that I have been pleasantly surprised by norm for department stores. We tried to our ability to trade around construction. It make it a little more intimate.” surprised me greatly.” For shoppers, “This is a lot about Montreal, he added, “is a market where learning how to use products,” Grauso we sell far more evening than in other said. “It’s not enough to just put the markets. This is also very much a beauty The new Holt Renfrew products out there.” and fragrance market. That’s why we Ogilvy men’s floor. Holt Renfrew pop ups or “activations” devoted 28,000 square feet to beauty and Mario Grauso aren’t afterthoughts. Ten percent of the fragrance because this market is tuned into selling space, chain-wide, is devoted to it. Customers are very aware of the beauty pop ups, Grauso said. “You can’t just take trends and aware of what goes on in that a piece of the aisle for this. In the past they artisanal fragrance world.” happened when they happened. Now we Toronto, on the other hand, “is more are [encouraging] vendors to participate. typical of an urban hub, and Vancouver There is a difference in terms of the level for me is a very advanced market. That of pop up. Frequently there’s construction consumer demands the most current trends, involved, so it’s not just something you the most valued brands,” Grauso noted. take out of a box and put on the floor.” For Holt Renfrew, founded as a fur shop He cites last February’s “Prada Spirit” in City in 1837, tightening its grip on as an example, installed on the busy luxury and designer shops (often leased) The La Mer shop at pedestrian bridge linking the Vancouver is a major thrust, particularly with such Holt Renfrew Ogilvy. store to the CP Pacific Centre mall and brands as The Row, CDG Brands, Brioni, Four Seasons Hotel. Exclusive leather Berluti, Balmain, Celine and Thom Browne. accessories were presented in a swank But Grauso said, “We are upping our setting which was as much about relaxing assortment overall – even our contemporary and socializing as shopping. Another pop assortment has gotten much bigger. As we up activation was the Coco Game Centre expand, we expand everywhere. It’s not just on the concourse level of the 50 Bloor in the luxury segment. We have really built a Street store in Toronto last spring. It contemporary universe that is right for our featured custom Chanel arcade games as store. If you look at our departments, part of a Chanel beauty pop up. the assortment of sneakers has grown. When “I agree pop ups have been played you speak about this casual component, it’s out, but our definition of a pop up is very definitely all over the store.” different,” Grauso emphasized. “They’re This season, Holt Renfrew introduced more interactive with customers than they activewear into the advanced The Holt Renfrew were in the past. Sometimes there is no contemporary assortment. “When you Ogilvy Guerlain. product involved. You wouldn’t necessarily look at Cucinelli or The Row, when you think that would work for a department see sweats and cashmere, everyone is [the web site] a good tool for that.” store like us. delivering against that kind of casual E-commerce should account for 10 to 15 “We get very inspired by ,” in activewear need — I’m staring at polo shirts percent of the overall business “in the next Fast Facts on the U.K. which, like Holt Renfrew, is part and sweat jackets in Gucci.” few years,” Grauso projected. of the Selfridges Group Limited, chaired E-commerce is another growth On the omni-channel front, last fall Holt Holt Renfrew by W. , and which also owns opportunity. It’s where Holt Renfrew established an order online, pick up in store • The grip on luxury is tightening with an in Ireland, and is a Johnny-come-lately, though six service, and enabled stores to ship items influx of designer shops, often leased. The in the . months ago, Grauso recruited a new head to homes. “So far, it looks like it might turn Row, CDG Brands, Brioni, Berluti, Balmain, “Selfridges does an exceptional job of e-com, Rochelle Ezekiel, from the into something,” Grauso said. “We had Celine and Thom Browne are among the making the store come alive with all these Hudson Bay Co. not historically been omnichannel. We are important labels. activations. They are interacting with art “With e-commerce, when I joined Holt trying to get there in our way and honestly, • The Vancouver flagship is the luxury and culture. I have to say they have raised Renfrew I kind of closed it and gave it we want this online experience to mimic chain’s largest volume unit generating $400 million Canadian in annual sales. just to beauty,” said Grauso, who was the in-store experience and that’s part of the bar for us. We look to them to kind of • Ten percent of sales are done through push us, and they have,” Grauso admitted, previously president of Joe Fresh, which the reason we are going slower and being personal shopping. Of that, 27 percent is men’s. though Holt Renfrew has yet to actually like Holt Renfrew is part of the Weston very thoughtful about how we do it. I’d like • Holt Renfrew has 11 locations but drops duplicate a Selfridge pop-up. business empire. “I waited for all of our to think we give a certain level of service, a to nine with the eventual closings of the On Holt Renfrew Ogilvy’s new men’s IT work to be complete to relaunch it. certain level of visuals and a certain level of men’s store on Bloor Street and the old hall on four, Grauso cites as among the 25 We relaunched it a month ago so there assortment, and I want all of those things Holt unit in Montreal. Men’s wear is being designer shops , Brioni, Saint is a new platform. Rochelle worked on to come through online as well. It’s been a re-integrated into the women’s flagship on Bloor Street and the old Holt in Montreal Laurent and The Row, all exclusive to this with us. There are over 17,000 sku’s little harder to get there because of the level is being integrated into the nearby Holt the market, as well as Burberry, Brunello (stockkeeping units). It’s a very good we have set in brick and mortar.” Renfrew Ogilvy. Cucinelli, Celine, Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, representation of our assortment. It’s Grauso said Canada’s luxury market • Ten percent of floor space through the Gucci, Moncler and Tom Ford. not a complete representation yet. I has experienced “an enormous increase” chain is devoted to pop ups for animations There’s a new men’s footwear area feel good about the progress and there largely due to the influx of Asians with and events. including Christian Louboutin and is still a lot of work to do. We are very money and “an enormous amount of young Gucci; new men’s personal shopping late to the game but I think this was the people obsessed with designer goods.” suites designed by Martin Brûlé Studio; intelligent approach. Some of our biggest “Canada is a very welcoming country “I feel good about where we are, a grooming area with shops from Creed, brands will not necessarily transition so you have a very diverse population… especially considering what we just talked Hermès, Tom Ford and ; online with us. Chanel and Hermès are It’s amazing how tuned into luxury young about – all the construction going on. We men’s suiting features Ermenegildo Zegna, not necessarily looking for partners people are now. You’d be crazy not to are in the right place in terms of business,” Canali, Eleventy, Isaia, Paul Smith and for e-commerce. They’re doing it on focus on the young consumer. If you walk said Grauso, though there are challenges. Valentino, among other labels, and men’s their own and don’t do it with retail through and look at the assortment, you “I think the season started a little late,” designer offerings include Junya Watanabe partners typically.” feel it here. Whether it’s Bang & Olufsen Grauso added. “The weather here has been and Comme des Garcons, both exclusive to Chanel beauty can be purchased on Holt headphones or the amount of sneakers or a challenge. Somehow this year has been the market, as well as such labels as Thom Renfrew’s web site, but getting Chanel track pants we display, we are constantly tougher. It snowed in Toronto yesterday.” Browne, Balmain, Saint Laurent, Givenchy handbags and rtw on the web site is “not thinking about the younger consumer, the In Canada’s colder climate, “That pre- and Acne. necessarily something that will happen.” next Holt’s consumer. You can’t just deliver spring buy can be very tricky,” Grauso “This is a really lucky moment to be , he noted, has its product to the core Holt’s consumer.” said. “It needs to be wear-now for us and able to gut the 250,000-square-foot space catalogue on Holt Renfrew’s web site, for Retail and real estate sources depict Holt wear-now for us is very cold weather. We and create an environment from scratch,” viewing, not e-commerce. Grauso is okay Renfrew as healthy financially, well-funded really have to be careful as merchants with said Grauso. “I feel enormously fortunate with that, explaining, “You’ve got to assume by the Westons, and humming along despite weights and what can be worn now. We to be able to open a project like this. I that a lot of young people are looking online rising competition. It helps to have a home are in the coat business until May. That’s don’t think there are many department before they are shopping in store for what court advantage, lots of loyal customers, unusual for most retailers. I have a coat stores this size where you are able to start they are potentially going to buy. We find and a leg up with designer offerings. department almost ten months a year.” ■