DAILY EDITION DECEMBER 24, 2019 Fashion. Beauty. Business. Holiday Spirit Department stores have long attracted shoppers for more than just gift buying, but a touch of seasonal joy and whimsy as well. The interior of Galeries Lafayette, seen here, offers tidings on a grand scale. Storefronts provide retailers a chance to add some fun and fantasy to their exteriors and that holiday spirit was on display across the globe. For more, see pages 6 to 10. PHOTOGRAPH BY DOMINIQUE MAÎTRE 2 DECEMBER 24, 2019 Shoppers on Super Saturday in New York City. season overall. Business was “spotty” through most of December after a robust Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday stretch. Also, the apparel sector is generally soft, particularly outerwear due to erratic weather patterns; there are six fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, meaning shopping would be more compressed close to Christmas raising the likelihood, and the week after Christmas is important particularly for returns and gift card redemptions. Some analysts believe the shorter calendar leads to less browsing and fewer impulse and self-purchasing simply because there is less time to shop. CPG’s results are based on both store and online sales calculated from quantitative surveys conducted by the firm’s 18-researcher field team across 50 major retailers in more than 100 mall and off-mall shopping venues that CGP has tracked since 2005. Robust job and wage growth along with healthy household finances drove the increase, Johnson said. CGP’s holiday analysis tracks all Census Bureau retail categories except for autos, gasoline/ oil and restaurants. Industrial-strength promoting, weather conditions conducive to getting out and shopping, and the late Hanukkah, which began Sunday night, would have also factored into the results. While traffic at malls generally BUSINESS continues to decline, even through the holiday season, conversion rates rose offsetting the thinner footfall at many Record ‘Super Saturday’ Reported centers, Johnson observed. He also reported that online sales ● Robust job and wage growth, CGP reported Monday that Super The 2019 “Holiday Retail Index” by cumulatively comprise 58 percent of the Saturday — the last Saturday before Verizon, also showing strong shopping year-over-year growth in holiday retail healthy household finances, Christmas — beat last year’s record of $31.9 activity on the weekend, indicated there spending, and that women are shopping industrial-strength promoting, billion in sales by 10 percent. It also beat was a 15 percent increase in e-commerce more like men, with more tech spending weather conditions conducive Black Friday’s results $31.2 billion in sales, traffic on Friday; a 21 percent increase displacing apparel, and now comprising though that was expected. in traffic on Saturday, and a 14 percent 50 percent of customer traffic at Best Buy to getting out and shopping, “After a warm fall that depressed increase on Sunday compared to the Nov. and Apple. and the late Hanukkah October and early November outerwear 1-27 period. “The question now is whether…the factored into strong Super sales, retail has gained speed ever since, “Consumers were enticed both by stellar momentum leads to sustained peaking on Super Saturday — and Sunday promotions on Super Saturday and economic growth into 2020 and beyond,” Saturday retail sales. was no slouch as well,” said Craig Johnson, incentives for expedited shipping,” said Johnson said. “The week between BY DAVID MOIN president of CGP. Michele Dupré, Verizon’s leader for retail, Christmas and New Year’s is now the third He said the retail sector was paced by hospitality and distribution. “Retailers biggest week of the season and may be a “Super Saturday” sales reached a record Walmart, Amazon, Costco and Target, but on their game and confident in their ‘tell’ for the consumer.” $34.4 billion, marking the industry’s “transaction velocity” was strongest at off- distribution channel are even guaranteeing Johnson has been among the most largest single volume day in U.S. history, price chains. “The spending momentum delivery by Christmas Eve, drawing in the optimist of retail forecasters this year, according to Customer Growth Partners, was so strong that even the long-ailing last-minute shoppers.” predicting holiday retail gains of more than the research and consulting firm for the department stores had their best weekend A strong Super Saturday weekend 5 percent. Many other forecasts are about retail industry. of the season,” Johnson added. doesn’t guarantee a healthy holiday a point less. BUSINESS Holiday Shopping and the Specter of Counterfeits ● Brands have coped with the who co-chairs Blank Rome LLP’s intellectual through the border, which can make it Once verified, companies can access property and technology practice group. hard to spot fakes hidden among them, a portal to conduct searches for menace of knock-offs by “But it’s natural that because online intellectual property attorneys said. trademarks and products, and report working with law enforcement communications do increase…the holiday “The CBP is at the border, so there the counterfeits or even potentially infringing and turning to tech. season does make the consumer more likely purpose would be to understand how they’re items that aren’t direct knock-offs, to make a mistake.” going to be able to identify the goods coming attorneys said. BY SINDHU SUNDAR U.S. Customs and Border Protection through the border that are problematic,” “It’s never going to be perfect, and conducted some 33,810 seizures in fiscal said Olivera Medenica, a partner at for some brands, there seems to be an Counterfeits are a year-round business, year 2018 of products that involved Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP. unending flow of difficulty,” Perry said but the holiday shopping spike tends to safety or trade violations or counterfeits, “They’re going to have to rely on of Blank Rome on the registry. “But draw the attention of customs enforcers and according to the agency’s website. Apparel, information from shipping label, and [work] companies are finding it useful.” brands seeking to thwart imposters seeking a accessories, watches, jewelry and footwear with local and foreign law enforcement and Brands have also turned to tracking piece of the estimated more than $140 billion account for their top seizures, according to with brands,” she said. “But it’s kind of like technology, including blockchain and QR online holiday shopping pie in the U.S. the agency. finding a needle in a haystack.” codes, that give consumers more ways The problem isn’t so much necessarily But the agency’s focus may be narrower While working with local law enforcement to check if they’re purchasing genuine whether counterfeiting itself increases than that of brands, prioritizing the health may help brands tackle the sale of obvious items, and learn more about their make around the shopping season, but more a and safety issues related to counterfeits, fakes, they’re turning to technology to and origins. matter of the volume of sales, especially experts said. Around the Thanksgiving address the problem of dupes that may For instance, LVMH unveiled in May through e-commerce, that raises the odds of shopping weekend in late November, the come from legitimate online platforms or that it was launching the first blockchain knock-offs winding up under the Christmas agency issued a warning to that effect. other seemingly credible web sites. solution to help consumers check if their tree, experts said. “For example, fake bicycle helmets Amazon, for one, updated its brand designer goods are real. According to Adobe’s holiday predictions can break upon impact, phony cosmetics registry in 2017, and has drawn in companies “I wouldn’t say that just because for November and December, online holiday can lead to skin reactions, and imitation seeking to guard against fakes in the Christmas rolls around, [brands] going shopping in the U.S. will hit $143.7 billion, a seasonal holiday lights improperly made marketplace. The registry allows companies to be more concerned,” Medenica said roughly 14 percent increase from last year. can result in fires,” the agency said at the with registered trademarks to inform of Dunnington Bartholow. “But certainly, “As the year-end comes, and the holiday time. Amazon, which in turn consults with the U.S. the problem becomes more pronounced season begins, I don’t perceive an uptick The CBP’s visibility is limited also trademark office database and the attorneys if [they] waited until the end of the year in [counterfeit] activity,” said David Perry, because of the volume of shipments coming of record on the trademark to verify it. to do something about it.” Morales Andrew by photograph Macy’s CINDY CRAWFORD KERBY JEAN-RAYMOND PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI JANE HERTZMARK HUDIS TAL ZVI NATHANEL STELLA LIBBY WADLE MCCARTNEY PHOTOS: SELECT SPEAKERS AT 2019 SUMMITS AND FORUMS 2020 CALENDAR OF EVENTS WWD Digital Beauty Forum FEBRUARY 12 | NYC WWD Retail 20/20 Forum: Tokyo MARCH 4 | TOKYO, JAPAN WWD Men’s Style MARCH 24 | N Y C WWD Culture Conference: Sustainability APRIL 22 | N Y C WWD Beauty CEO Summit MAY 11-13 | MIAMI WWD Global Fashion & Beauty Forum MAY 20 | BEIJING, CHINA WWD Retail 2030 Forum JUNE 9 | NYC WWD Influencer Summit JUNE | NYC WWD Digital Forum NY SEPTEMBER 1 5 | NYC WWD BeautyVest OCTOBER | NYC WWD Apparel & Retail CEO Summit OCTOBER 27-28 | NYC WWD Digital Forum West NOVEMBER | SF WWD Culture Conference NOVEMBER | NYC For more information, please visit fairchildlive.com 4 DECEMBER 24, 2019 BUSINESS can go anywhere. It’s just a question of after being here for 25 or 30 years, is it time for a break? Some people may Barneys Employees Speak of have anxiety about starting over. I feel bad for everybody, who works here.