The U.S. luxury market is rapidly falling into a recession (if it isn’t already there), according to Chandler Mount, founder of the Affluent Consumer Research Company. His firm’s latest survey of affluent luxury consumers (average income, about $400k) finds their financial confidence has dropped from an index of 64.2 points in June, the highest it’s been all year, to 55.6 points in October, its lowest. And the index measuring future luxury spending has declined from 58.3 points in June to 49.7 points. Downward Spiral Across the 22 luxury …
Female Retail CEOs: MIA
Only six new retail CEOs in a 2022/23 Korn Ferry study were women, clocking in at 15 percent. And even more troubling, half the companies with a previous female CEO replaced her with a man for a net loss of six female retail CEOs in the year. The study started with 31 percent of the 39 outgoing CEOs as women; it ended with 15 percent. By Pam Danziger From the sales floor to the C-suite, the retail industry is facing an unprecedented employment crisis, and none as pressing as the spate of CEO vacancies. While board members step in during …
Luxury Brands Expand U.S. Footprint: Good Thing or Too Much of a Good Thing?
Luxury retailers leased a record-breaking 650,000 square feet of retail space last year, according to a new report from JLL. Turning their attention stateside, luxury brands recognize that the U.S. is the most robust luxury market in the world, with the Americas accounting for 32 percent of the personal luxury goods market in 2022. On the other hand, China’s post-pandemic prospects are muddy, so it only makes good business sense to expand luxury brand presence in the U.S. Yet, while digesting the report I kept hearing the Field of Dreams …
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The Stars Have Aligned for Boot Barn
Newsweek just named Boot Barn to its list of top U.S. retailers for 2023. It’s an interesting list, filled with the usual suspects like Wegman’s, Trader Joe’s, L.L. Bean, Target, Costco, and Wawa, then there are the not-so-usual ones, like Boot Barn. And it wasn’t just an honorable mention but based on its score of 95.59 points out of 100, Boot Barn ranked as the nation’s number one retailer across all retail verticals included in its sector. The ratings were based on a survey conducted by Statista among 9,000 consumers, measuring each …
UNTUCKit Founder Hopes Lightning Strikes Twice
During the Covid pandemic shutdown with his company’s business put on hold, UNTUCKit’s founder Chris Riccobono got an unexpected gift. He used his newfound time to incubate a new business concept to disrupt a stagnating product category following the same process he used in the casual men’s shirt market. Biding Time “I was bored,” Riccobono shared. “I always need to be challenged, but with our stores closed, things slowed down. I started to think about another industry to disrupt where I have a problem personally that the ‘big guys’ don’t …
Retail Thieves Leave Retailers Holding an Empty Bag
After all the troubles retailers have had to contend with post-pandemic, including supply chain snafus, store staff gone MIA, rising interest rates, and inflation hitting 40-year highs that cut shoppers’ ability to spend, there’s another challenge to contend with organized retail crime (ORC). Menacing Marauders Retail theft is no longer a nuisance where a watchful store employee can discourage a shoplifter. It’s become organized and increasingly violent with smash-and-grab mobs descending on stores to loot and pillage in near 9th-century …
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Retailers: Get Ready for the Weather to Turn
For some 300 years, people have relied upon low-tech barometers to predict weather changes measured by the air pressure. When air pressure is high, it signals clear skies and fair weather. When it’s low, storms are in the forecast, and when it drops really low, a hurricane is coming. Economic Bellwethers Unfortunately, many of us don’t pay attention to the many economic barometers we have in place that predict our future. For example, some wait until after the fact to learn that our economy is taking a nose-dive following two consecutive …
An Enlightened Neiman Marcus Group Workforce Ethos
Since Neiman Marcus Group filed for bankruptcy in May 2020 and emerged four months later with $4 billion in debt, it has largely gone off our radar. The time-lapse has allowed the company time to right its ship without the prying eyes of journalists, but it’s also kept the company and the leadership of CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck from getting any recognition for how he’s transforming the company. Behind the Curtain Three years ago, van Raemdonck said, “With the successful implementation of our restructuring, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf …