Last month, Kmart employee and the 2011 Young Retailer of the Year winner Jennifer Skeahan-Heugh set off on the 2012 Westfield World Retail Study Tour. In the final instalment of a two part series, she details key learnings from top brands in the UK and Italy.
Across to London and Primark, or 'Primani' as locals refer to it, has altered the retail landscape of Oxford Street pushing the focus to the far end past Bond Street. You know you're close when people with arms full of heaving recycled shopping bags begin approaching.
Away from the core main street, Primark holds its own as an EDLP retailer offering fast fashion faster and because of the volume, at ridiculously low prices.
The queue for the fitting room extends from one end of the store to the other, customers try clothes on in the aisles, and the store heaves as it serves customers through the 97 registers!
It is bedlam as what feels
like the entire population of London scrambles for the latest fashion
for a handful of pounds.
A short flight away and Milan greeted
us with the combination of fashion forward style and historical
brands that has made it famous. I'd never understood the value of
luxury brands, the point of which seemed to be a way for celebrities
to define their worth comparable to the rest of us mere mortals.
However, this view changed after a
presentation by Stefan from Dolce & Gabbana. One man who
delivered the essence of his brand with absolute clarity. A belief in
the brand and its vision so defined that it left the group clamouring
for a suit and piece of the story.
Stefan made sense of the
exceptional store merchandising and design that each of the luxury
brands in every city presented to us. But understanding the history
and story of a brand adds an entirely new dimension to what makes a
brand successful.
And herein lies the common theme from all of the cities – whether the brand is luxury or value, new or old, everyday or on-trend, living the values and the vision of the brand and reinventing to remain relevant will drive success.
One day, when I'm wearing my very own
pair of D&G leopard trimmed shoes, I will remember Stefan and
that moment when my perception of luxury brands changed completely.