Victoria's Secret To Close 53 Stores in 2019 As Global Auto Sales Also Drop In Major Spending Shifts

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Victoria's Secret To Close 53 Stores in 2019 As Global Auto Sales Also Drop In Major Spending Shifts

American teenagers no longer hang out at the mall like generations past. Their lives are far more complex and demanding; then add in the high priority of digital culture and online shopping in their lives. Their fashion fav brands often aren’t even sold in America’s shopping malls.

Last week was a brutal one for American retailers. L Brands made the decision to close 53 Victoria’s Secret stores in North America. Gap Inc. announced that it will close 230 stores in the next two years. J.C. Penney weighed in with 18 new department store closures. Earlier in February Payless announced the closure of 2,500 in America.

It’s not all bad news. Planet Fitness Chief Executive officer Chris Rondeau said his business is immune to e-commerce’s effects on brick-and-mortar, making it a good mall tenant, writes Business of Fashion.

“Our business can’t be Amazoned. We’re un-Amazonable,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “We do about 5,000 workouts per gym per week, about 8 million workouts a week in the U.S., so look at how much traffic we drive to these centers every day. And the majority of those visits are Monday through Wednesday; most retailers are busy on the weekends, so we’re a great co-tenant for these retailers to drive that traffic.”

Book | 'The Rise of Fashion and Lessons Learned by Bergdorf Goodman by Ira Neimark

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NEW | The Rise of Fashion and Lessons Learned at Bergdorf Goodman by Ira Neimark

Via Amazon: From lavish events attended by high-profile personalities such as Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher, Jacqueline Onassis, and Yves Saint Laurent to the latest creative ventures of Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Michael Kors and Donald Trump, Ira Neimark, the legendary leader of fashion luxury retail, recounts how he and his talented fashion and merchandising team brought Bergdorf Goodman to its leadership position an approach, he shows, that continues to inform the most successful designers and business leaders today. While his personal anecdotes focus on how and why Bergdorf helped build the fashion industry during one of the most exciting periods in its history the late sixties through the early nineties the author also shares his views on how contemporary retailers have increased profits by skimping on service, resulting in the loss of customer loyalty. The Rise of Fashion and Lessons Learned at Bergdorf Goodman is a valuable resource for anyone who aspires to succeed in the business of luxury fashion.

About the Author: Ira Neimark is a legendary retail executive whose career spans several decades. As Chairman and CEO of Bergdorf Goodman he set records for the company over 17 years of his masterful leadership. During his tenure, he opened the largest luxury Men?s Store on Fifth Avenue. He also distinguished himself in top management/merchandising posts at Neiman Marcus Group, B. Altman, G. Fox, Gladdings, and Bonwit Teller.

The author is director of Hermes of Paris, and director emeritus of The Fashion Institute of Technology Foundation. He served as adjunct professor of retail marketing at the Columbia University Business School. The governments of Italy and France awarded him the prestigious Cavaliere Della Republica and the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters, respectively, as well as the Medal of the City of Paris.