As channels play a bigger role in retail, brands including Comme des Garcons and Nike are favoring boutique formats that come with lower overhead while giving online shoppers a chance to try on items and learn more about their offerings. Fashion brand Norwegian Rain has opened a 20-square-metre Norwegian Rain Compact Store in Copenhagen that's stocked with just six styles in different sizes.
Sephora will open shops inside 850 Kohl's stores over the next few years as the beauty retailer's current partnership with J.C. Penney winds down, Sephora and Kohl's said. The 10-year partnership gives Kohl's a high-profile partner in its plan to triple beauty sales, and the planned 2,500-square-foot in-store shops will give Sephora a greater presence outside of malls, Sephora Americas CEO Jean-Andre Rougeot said.
UK department store Debenhams will liquidate and close all 124 stores after talks to be acquired by JD Sports Fashion ended and its major concession operator, Arcadia, entered administration. The 242-year-old retailer will continue operating through Christmas.
London now serves as the sole headquarters for Unilever PLC after the finalisation of a merger of its dual Dutch and UK headquarters structure. Operations will continue in Amsterdam, while the move will give Unilever "greater flexibility for strategic portfolio change," said Nils Andersen, Unilever chairman.
China-based group buying platform Nice Tuan has raised $196 million in a new funding round that included Alibaba Group, bringing the total raised this year to $450 million. The platform helps farmers and food makers connect to customers including retailers, restaurants and produce consumers.
Amazon says it is reaching historic sales levels for the holiday season. The company hasn't reported its in-house sales figures, but said its independent sellers logged almost $5 billion in sales worldwide between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, up 60% over the same period last year.
Yoox Net-a-Porter Group has named Geoffroy Lefebvre its new CEO, succeeding Federico Marchetti, who will remain with the luxury company as chairman. Lefebvre currently serves as group digital distribution director for Yoox-Net-a-Porter parent Richemont, and he will start his new post on Jan. 4.
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