The Store Blog

The Store would like to invite WPP clients and agencies to our sustainability in retail event on the 23rd September. Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP will open the day.

When:      23rd September 2008

Venue:     Le Meridien, London

Time:        8.30am till 6pm

Contact:   Maria Larsson The Store, Phone: +44 (0) 207 318 4900

Registration: www.regonline.com/thestorelondon

Download Agenda.pdf

TOPICS INCLUDE:
• What does sustainability mean to the consumer? What do consumers expect from  retailers and what are the implications for manufacturers and
brand owners?
• How consumer attitudes to buying and paying a premium for sustainable products might be impacted by an eco-nomic downturn.
• What impact will the Kyoto 2 conference have in carbon targets and how will that impact the strategies of retailers and brands.
• How to protect and enhance your corporate reputation in the sustainability space.
• Retailers case histories in sustainable retail initiatives from across the globe.
• Where sustainable retailing and marketing meet, a review of the issues and best cases from around the world.
• Why GM foods are back on the agenda and where will the debate go in the next 12 months.
• The retailers, manufacturers, brand owners and consumers, it’s a partnership in the green economy but how does each play their part?
• Packaging in a sustainable environment - what are the issues and innovative solutions.
• Trends in sustainable materials and products.

Run on the Bank or iPhone Mania?

You'd be surprised (at least I was) at how many shoppers are still waiting in line for the new iPhone. While the Chinese queued up for the first Apple store in Beijing, Americans stood in lines all over the country this past weekend for a new iPhone 3G.  It's starting to feel a little like a run on the bank.  By Sunday all the major Apple flagship stores were sold out.

Middle aged professionals and college students alike can't wait to get their hands on their new phones. As one put it, "with the cost of gas, what else is there to do?"

Californian's are more concerned with getting their money from the bank while Chicagoan's are more interested in the latest technology.

Gwen Morrison, The Store

A beauty supply store...with the most delicious skin care products

I was just reminded of this lovely store when asked to purchase a “pampering” gift for someone.  I knew Sabon was the perfect place.

Lavender apple, lemon mint and chamomile vanilla are just some of the scents wafting from Sabon, an Israeli soap store featuring an immense collection of all natural, organic beauty products.  All the soaps, lotions and scrubs are handmade, contain natural ingredients and smell absolutely divine!  The body scrubs are my favorite.  They are amazing for exfoliation and are made with salts and minerals from the Dead Sea.  The scrubs range from $30, which is on the pricier end but well-worth the indulgence.  They also offer an array of other skin care products like cleansers, masks and polishers.  Though I have yet to try these facial necessities, I’m sure they’re just as delectable.

                                                 

Sabon’s in-store ambience is very tranquil with lovely fragrances lingering, hanging crystal chandeliers, organic wood shelving and floors, and neatly organized glass jars containing their luscious products.  The staff is very knowledgeable and will lead you to their pretty water basin for their must-have, hand-washing ritual.  The staff member will slough off dead skin cells with one of their scrubs, lather on some lotion and leave your hands feeling as soft as a baby’s bum!   It’s truly experiential.

                                                

The philosophy at Sabon is healing of the mind, body and spirit. They have been very successful and their growth in the States has been enormous.  Initially, Sabon opened a store in NY and rapidly expanded into the Chicago and LA markets.  The product essentially sells itself but the total experience also contributes to growth.

Anyone who is obsessed with organic beauty products or searching for the ultimate pampering gift, Sabon is the store for you.

- Jenna Fisher

This is why I love Topshop...

Hi, my name is Emily. It is my summer holidays at the moment and any 16 year old who has just finished GCSE’s can understand the brilliant feeling of freedom that comes with the end of exams. At the moment I am currently enjoying work experience at WPP and feel very grown up as I commute up to London each day. Not only have I had the chance to learn about everything that goes on in a very interesting and very large company, it has been one of my first times that I have visited the city without the intention of shopping. Of course, when, as one of my first tasks, I was offered the chance to write a blog for my favourite stores, I jumped at the opportunity.

As a teenager it seems inevitable that whenever I venture into Londonwith friends, we find ourselves on Oxford Street, or, more specifically, in Topshop. Every effort has been made to make visiting the store an experience and indeed it is fast becoming a tourist hotspot, especially for young trendsetters of today. Now that Topshop adverts have been featured in Vogue and Kate Moss has designed her own exclusive range, its popularity has dramatically increased, after five minutes inside; it is not hard to see why.

Down on the lower ground floor I find myself in heaven. The vintage section is full of new and exciting designers with enticing names, ‘Peekaboo’ being my favourite. The abundance of cutting edge clothes, including impressive candy pink tutu skirts causes me to feel lost. I do not know where to begin and so I resolve the issue by having a drink at the café, cleverly installed for tired shoppers and bored boyfriends.

I must further congratulate Topshop. Whilst sitting down at the café I notice various signs encouraging shoppers to be an ‘ecochick’ by offering unwanted clothes to the store and buying fair-trade designs such as those by ‘People Tree’. It is a real, positive attempt to make a difference by introducing a conscience to clothes shopping. 

Refreshed, I rejoin my friends whose only complaint is not the queue for the extraordinary changing rooms, or the vast number of shoppers constantly filling each floor. No, the only criticism we have to make is the price. Topshop is not cheap and never will be and so it has become more common to browse as opposed to actually buying everything on offer.

However, at the end of the day as we leave the store ready to return home, I find myself clutching a strapless summer party dress by ‘whereareyounow’. I may have a considerably lighter purse but I also have a broad smile and a fashionable investment for my wardrobe. I am willing to pay the extra price for an individual item of clothing that I feel expresses part of who I am. That is why I go to Topshop. By paying a little extra it is possible to break away from the replicated high street trends. And that is what being a teenager is all about. Finding out who you are and presenting your individual, intriguing character to the world. Topshop helps me do just that.

Emily Barrett

Retailing In The Green Economy: Getting Serious about Sustainability. 23rd September 2008. London, England

Save The Date 28th September 2008. London, England

A part of its fundamental commitment to Retail Worldwide, The Store WPP is hosting a one day conference examining and discussing many aspects of Sustainable Retailing.

Opened by Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP the day will be highly thought provoking as well as providing unique insight and actionable ideas. A must not miss event for anyone involved in retailing, supplying to retailers, involved or interested in sustainability, the green economy and corporate responsibility.

Topics include:

What does sustainability mean to the consumer? What do consumers expect from retailers and what are the implications for manufacturers and brand owners?

How consumer attitudes to buying and paying a premium for sustainable products might be impacted by an economic downturn.

What impact will the Kyoto 2 conference have in carbon targets and how will that impact the strategies of retailers and brands?

How to protect and enhance your corporate reputation in the sustainability space.

Retailers case histories in sustainable retail initiatives from across the globe.

Where sustainable retailing and marketing meet, a review of the issues and best cases from around the world.

Why GM foods are back on the agenda and where will the debate go in the next 12 months.

The retailers, manufactures, brand owners and consumers, it’s a partnership in the green economy but how does each play their part?

Packaging in a sustainable environment- what are the issues and innovative solutions.

Trends in sustainable materials and products.

From more information contact Maria Larsson

What Are Your Top Stores?

We at The Store would love to know what your top stores are. Please let us know by filling out a short survey by clicking on the link below. We will let  you know the results.

Thanks...

David

Click here to let us know your top three stores

A curious mix of cash strapped Londoners and European bargain hunters take advantage of early discounts on Regent Street

Yesterday afternoon the sun was shining over Regent and Oxford Streets, it was the perfect weather for shopping and many people finished work early to take advantage of the early discounts stores have started to promote to generate sales. Body Shop offered 50% discount on selected items that were merchandised right at the front of the store luring in passers by.

Desigual offered "sexy" price of a 30% discount so their pos claimed. If you haven't yet visited the store on Regent Street I recommend a visit to this Spanish fashion brand that offers a very different store look to your average high street outlet. Well worth a visit for some store inspiration with a sense of humour but… prepare yourself because the clothes comes at a price which (do I dare to say..) are far more than they look and feel (a fairly basic vest top cost £44!!). Although it did not stop Wendy, a good friend of the Store who is over from New York buying a jacket there despite the horrendous dollar pound exchange rate …but it did look sensational on her. The prices in Desigual are competing with Armani Exchange which is  just a few stores up the road but has the advantage of luxury brand status.

At Benetton shoppers were flocking around the sales tables ready to get grab a basic item for half price. The lady to the right in the picture is a typical example of the growing trend of shoppers who save on the basics but are happy to splash out on luxury items, is there a Gucci handbag tucked in that Gucci shopping bag she is carrying?...

We Londoners might be feeling poor and cash strapped at the moment but we are seeing loads of European tourists (or at least those who are in the Euro zone) on the streets and carrying multiple shopping bags. UK retailers are happy to welcome Euro tourists who, with a combination of a strong Euro to pound exchange rate, are seeing London prices as bargains and that’s before the additional benefit of sale prices. I guess this is why Paul Smith is saying that his London stores have never been as busy- unless Wendy has been there as well!

Maria

Meal Solutions Go Social

While leaders in the US Grocery market are surviving and even thriving, we're seeing some interesting niche concepts pop up in the Chicago area.   The Kid's Table (http://www.kids-table.com) offers classes for parents and kids to learn how to prepare and enjoy meals together.  Out with the nuggets and in with the healthy stuff!  Families prepare food together in classes and learn how to enjoy more exotic tastes.

Next door, My Gourmet Kitchen (http://mygourmetkitchen.com) promotes the social gathering of meals through group preparation on site.  They offer cooking stations complete with recipes, tools and organically grown ingredients. If you don't want to prepare your own, My Gourmet Kitchen offers curb side pick-up. 

Who thought we needed another burger joint?  Minnies (http://www.minnies.com) offers the alternative to super sizing, with "minnie" sizing (they call it just the right size).  The restaurant offers Chicagoans a chance to dial up the flavor and  scale down the portions.

Homemade Pizza Co (http://www.homemadepizza.com) has been in business for 10 years, and its been fun to see them grow.   With 23 stores, they've kept the focus on custom pizza orders, to pick up and bake at home. The simplicity of the concept and quality of the ingredient makes them a favorite meal solution.

Look for some of these ideas in a grocery store near you.

- Gwen Morrison

When your ambition is held back by your business model...Change the model

 

It looks likely that Apple will make a significant change to their iphone business model very soon.

Should this happen, and it looks increasingly likely, it will be a big deal. When they introduced the iphone Apple re-wrote the rules of the network operator/handset manufacturer relationship.  For the first time in a long while, the handset manufacturer had the upper hand. Apple with its iconic brand status and the Jobbs Midas touch for new product innovations and introductions insisted that only networks that agreed to two fundamental principles would become exclusive iphone sellers. One, there was to be no handset subsidy to the end consumer by the network operators, something that is prevalent in many markets. And two Apple must get a share of the network operators revenue generated from each iphone subscriber. Although figure were never released it was estimated to be around 20%. Exclusive deals with networks were entered into on this basis which excluded a number of the worlds leading providers in key markets, notably Vodafone in the UK as it refused to agree to Apples terms and withdrew.

So what changes might be coming.  Well, Apples ambitions are to sell 10 million phones in 2008. On current run rates it would mean doubling the rate of sale in the second half of the year. With the current economic conditions in key markets that is a tall order even for Midas Steve. Apples knows that market share is key for the iphone if it is to realise its ambition of redefining the platform for the mobile world.
Apple knows that the smart phone market is becoming even more competitive and to succeed critical mass must be reached as soon as possible. So Apple is set to relax the subsidy ban and all or some of the network revenue. This will have the impact of significantly reducing the cost of the phone  and driving retail sales.

Sometimes strategic ambitions trump tactical deals. Apple is a master of taking a big picture view and this is one occasion where a business model is being re-written for strategic gain in a short  space of time. Nothing stands still in the internet age.

Apples global development conference takes place on Monday and apart from the expected announcement of the new G3 iphone Jobbs being the showman he is will, I am sure, have a few surprises up his sleeve.

David

David Roth

M&S launches a limited "Sex and the City" collection this autumn

If you are a fan of "Sex and the City" and want to look as good as the ladies in the series, but can't afford the Manolo Blahnik shoes and the Prada dresses, there is some serious good news for you. M&S has signed Patricia Field (the stylist behind "Sex and the City", "Ugly Betty" and "The Devil wears Prada") to design a one off collection, which will hit the stores in October. The 35 piece collection will be available in 10 M&S stores, with selected items stocked by a further 50 stores and for you ladies who does not live close to a M&S store, but still want to get you hands on these exciting pieces there is hope because the collection will available online, phew....

This is the first time that M&S collaborated in this way with a designer and with credit crunch hitting the high street, M&S has decided to raise the game and create some excitement with their range and encouraging their customers to by something new, rather than playing it safe.

 

Picture - M&S Womens wear range for autumn 2008

M&S which accounts for 11.4 percent of the clothing market in the UK has also received outstanding reviews for their autumn women's wear range. The fashionistas has compared the range to Prada and the Autograph underwear range could easily been mistaken from something bought from Agent Provocateur.

This is not the first collaboration for Field as a designer. Selfridges in London have just released a collection of Diet Coke bottles that she created as a limited collection for the movie premiere of "Sex in the City" in London.

The bottles features a cartoon imagery, Patricia Field explains: The Diet Coke City Collection  captures today's modern women, confidant, glamorous, sexy and more in charge of their own lives, and represents the areas of life that are most important to them such as: ‘career’, ‘passion’, ‘love’ and ‘fashion’.

 

 

 

 

The price for these Diet Coke bottles which Selfridges has exclusive rights for is £1.99 each or £7.95 for four bottles.

 

 

 

 

 

gold bottle represents ‘Career’, the red bottle ‘Passion’, the pink bottle ‘Love’, and the turquoise bottle ‘Fashion’
 
 

   

Maria