Retail
Global design company, West Elm, a portfolio brand of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM), the world’s largest digital-first, design-led and sustainable home retailer, announced today the launch of a new collaboration with Joseph Altuzarra, the founder and creative director of luxury women’s ready-to-wear fashion brand, Altuzarra. The Joseph Altuzarra for West Elm Kids collection features furniture with elevated finishes as well as textiles and decorative accessories that are infused with Altuzarra’s own hand-drawn motifs. Created as a love letter to his two daughters, the sophisticated collection celebrates the signature artistry of Altuzarra while maintaining kid-friendly functionality.
Macy’s smaller stores feature elevated fitting rooms with larger spaces, lounge areas, full-length mirrors, and selfie moments, creating an inviting atmosphere. The rooms also offer “styling carts” that help customers explore the latest trends from head to toe and provide a seamless and personalized experience.
Inspired by the time-honored ikat dyeing technique where dye penetrates unevenly and creates a blurred, hazy effect, the 18”x18” pillows in the collection feature a printed ikat design in double-sided, soft-sueded velvet with a concealed zipper. The pillows are available with or without a luxurious down-alternative vegan insert. All SmithHönig pillows are hand-sewn and made-to-order in the company’s Dalton, Ga. facility.
Consumers who wanted to shop in-store sometimes and online at other times forced retailers to become omnichannel, offering their wares through brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce sites. But omnichannel is not enough. Consumers increasingly want to shop in the “phygital world,” where technology speeds and improves the in-store browsing and buying experience.
A match-made-in-heaven partnership between Parker Heath and Ayara was born from a chance meeting at Las Vegas Market, where Parker was exhibiting to gain further exposure for his own brand, Par Ker Made. What blossomed was the Par Ker Made x Ayara luxury removable wallpaper collaboration.
Oliver Gal to Host “Start With Art” Expert Panel at The Point During 2023 Fall High Point Market
Online shopping and cheaper, faster shipping options have facilitated the rise of DTC brands, and with online shopping continuing to grow, it makes sense that DTC would grow, too.
In a survey conducted by consumer experience and insights firm WD Partners last year, more than 71% of respondents said they shop secondhand at least once a month. Some 11% do so daily. (I’m thinking most of those folks are collectors or resellers themselves; some might be people with shopping addictions.) But another 26% shop secondhand weekly and 33% do so monthly. Their reasons vary: Some like the fun of seeking out “treasures.” Others want to save money and still others like the sustainability of buying used items or, in the parlance of auto dealers, preowned products.
Wanting to create a store that draws local shoppers back again and again as they refresh their decor or pop in to find a special gift, interior designer Shaolin Low has opened Woven by Shaolin in Kailua, Hawaii.
We’re also seeing a generational shift in how people view shopping and buying. Why is this happening? Because the older generations were accumulators and the younger generations, well, not so much. we have a generation of accumulators shedding their belongings and not restocking. And we have younger generations who are less interested in shopping as sport and more worried about the environmental impact of their purchases. Oh, and they have relatively fewer financial resources than some previous generations at the same point in their lives.