Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. Ollivier, Great to see
Speaker 1: you again. I think it's been a year since we
Speaker 1: last spoke.
Speaker 2: Yes, good morning, room, and welcome in Bloomingdale's. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I think the last time we spoke was also, of
Speaker 1: course the big window unveiling that you do every year
Speaker 1: here at Bloomingdale's flagship store in Manhattan. This year, of course,
Speaker 1: it's a big takeover, big partnership that you've had all
Speaker 1: year long with Burberry.
Speaker 3: Oh, we've been working like for a year and a
Speaker 3: half to build this partnership and to make that happen
Speaker 3: such a special moment, this you know, holiday moment, this
Speaker 3: window and vale. It's really a big deal for Bloomingdale's
Speaker 3: and always a great moment for all our ecosystem and
Speaker 3: all stakeholders.
Speaker 4: So you know, I was speaking with the CEO of Burberry.
Speaker 1: I was teasing him about an American basically taking over
Speaker 1: one of the most iconic British brands, and of course
Speaker 1: you're a Frenchman who's now running one of the most
Speaker 1: iconic American retail brands out there. But there are a
Speaker 1: lot of parallels between both what each of you do
Speaker 1: when it comes to the type of consumer that you're
Speaker 1: trying to appeal to. It's luxury, but it's it's broad,
Speaker 1: it's diverse, I should say, right.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's very right.
Speaker 3: I think first, you know, it's a long, lastic partnership
Speaker 3: with Barbery that we're very proud of, and you know
Speaker 3: we've been navigating. It's two heritage brands. There is a
Speaker 3: strong legacy. I think there are one hundred and seventy
Speaker 3: years old. We're one hundred and fifty years old. It's
Speaker 3: a very long history, long legacy, and we're both working
Speaker 3: on reinventing the future of this brand and preparing the future.
Speaker 3: So that's really really amazing. But you're right, there are
Speaker 3: a lot of you know, it's two icons united together
Speaker 3: and about storytelling, about heritage, about but also about innovation.
Speaker 2: This is really what we're building.
Speaker 1: We'll talk a little bit more about that, because as
Speaker 1: we start to talk about these legacy brands and sometimes
Speaker 1: fall out of favor and then we see this resurgence
Speaker 1: in them. I know a lot of that is because
Speaker 1: of the work that you do behind the scenes. Some
Speaker 1: of that are just cultural shifts. When you look at
Speaker 1: the recent success the Bloomingdale's has had reigniting sales growth
Speaker 1: and just getting people to talk about Bloomingdale's a lot more.
Speaker 3: What trow of that, I think it's really about, you know,
Speaker 3: coming back to the origins. What we want to build
Speaker 3: right now with the team is actually rebuilding the next
Speaker 3: golden age of Bloomingdale's.
Speaker 2: We heard a lot about.
Speaker 3: Bloomingdale's in the seventies, in the eighties when it was
Speaker 3: really the place to go. And actually, you know, right now,
Speaker 3: what we're trying to build is really recreating these destinations
Speaker 3: Bloomingdale's and we're an icon, but we have to reinvent ourselves.
Speaker 2: It's also what Josh is doing with Burbery.
Speaker 3: This is what we're aiming to do at Bloomingdale's with
Speaker 3: one key focus is actually handhand saying bringing back customer experience,
Speaker 3: customer delight in our stores and really based on building
Speaker 3: relationship connections.
Speaker 2: E's raw. This is what is making us different.
Speaker 1: So what do you want your stores to be? And
Speaker 1: not just the flagship. I know, the flagship is always
Speaker 1: going to be the jewel, It's always going to have
Speaker 1: the best of everything. But as you look at your
Speaker 1: stores around the countries, the ones that are in smaller cities,
Speaker 1: smaller markets.
Speaker 4: What do you want those stores to build?
Speaker 3: You know, my dream I think for both our brand
Speaker 3: talkers and our customers to be the destination when you
Speaker 3: come to New York, but also our local stores in
Speaker 3: the different regions. It's really to be the destination. My
Speaker 3: secret dream is actually when customers on Saturday noon close
Speaker 3: the door of their house, the first thing that actually
Speaker 3: think about is actually coming to Blooming Deals, whether they
Speaker 3: spend or not, just spending time enjoying being there, connecting
Speaker 3: with people, saying new things, newness, you know, finding a
Speaker 3: small product, a big product, but just being astonished by
Speaker 3: what's happening.
Speaker 2: That's what I would love people to feel.
Speaker 1: Do you feel customers still want to come physically into
Speaker 1: stores like this, particularly department stores.
Speaker 3: I should say yeah, I'm absolutely convinced about that. You know,
Speaker 3: it's not because we're living in a digital world. Like
Speaker 3: actually people will stay you know, in their home, not
Speaker 3: living their house and just being you know, on their couch,
Speaker 3: on their sofa with their computer. I think people need connection,
Speaker 3: They need relationship even more than before now that we
Speaker 3: have these you know, digital devices and all these social
Speaker 3: media as it's raw, I think people seek for relationship
Speaker 3: and This is what we're refocusing on right now, is
Speaker 3: bringing experiences, not only great products, but really bringing experiences.
Speaker 3: Is that create the conditions of relationship. People wants to
Speaker 3: connect and we want them to connect at Bloomingdale's.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the relationship that you have
Speaker 1: with your brand partners because when we talk about the
Speaker 1: evolution of the department store, one thing that hurt it
Speaker 1: was the idea that a lot of brands started selling
Speaker 1: on their own, whether their own stores or eventually obviously
Speaker 1: with their own e commerce operations. So there was another
Speaker 1: channel for people to get Burberry or to get Chanel
Speaker 1: or whatever other products they want. But you still maintain
Speaker 1: those partnerships in a very strong way, and I am
Speaker 1: curious as to what the balance is and making sure
Speaker 1: that those dollars flow through Bloomingdale's.
Speaker 3: You know Roman Historically, I think over the past probably
Speaker 3: thirty years, I think particularly US department stores probably lots
Speaker 3: to bid their DNA, and probably you know, the strategy
Speaker 3: of the deputment stores and the strategy of the brands
Speaker 3: probably diverged a bit. Our goal right now is to
Speaker 3: bring them back together and realign the strategy of the
Speaker 3: brand and the strategy of debutment stores. What does that mean.
Speaker 3: It means that actually the brands invested a lot, not
Speaker 3: only on products and newness, but on experiences, storytelling, market branding,
Speaker 3: and we were obsessed about, you know, optimazing our financial model,
Speaker 3: about investing in digital, investing in data. I think we
Speaker 3: have to bring back these experiences to the customer. We
Speaker 3: want to cascade this brand storytelling to our customers. This
Speaker 3: is why we need to invest in our stores. This
Speaker 3: is why we need to give space to our brand partners.
Speaker 3: This is why we have to keep bringing innovation and
Speaker 3: new nests in our stores to keep the excitement going on.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about this particular holiday season. I mean,
Speaker 1: times are a little bit challenging economically, and there's been
Speaker 1: a lot of talk about how much capacity the consumer
Speaker 1: has to spend. Are you feeling optimistic about what people
Speaker 1: will spend on this year?
Speaker 3: You know, I'm actually couciously optimistic. The trend over the
Speaker 3: past few months has been amazing at blooming Dale's.
Speaker 2: So we feel pretty strong.
Speaker 3: You know, we feel pretty strong about our customers feedbacks,
Speaker 3: about our partner feedback, about the current trend that we're experiencing,
Speaker 3: and we're building such a great event for this holiday
Speaker 3: season that we're convinced that we resonate very very well
Speaker 3: with the customer.
Speaker 2: You know, the customer now now three years ago was
Speaker 2: all about luxtory, high, lextury, etcetera.
Speaker 3: We can feel that customer changes, behavior changes in a
Speaker 3: bit a bit more to high, low, to contemporary to luxury,
Speaker 3: and you know what, this is exactly what Blooming Tell's about.
Speaker 3: So we feel very very strong about these holiday season.
Speaker 1: How are you anticipating having to have any sort of
Speaker 1: meaningful discounts sort of above and beyond what would normal
Speaker 1: be normal for the holiday season.
Speaker 2: This is not what we're planning. I think.
Speaker 3: You know, we feel very very strong about the storytelling
Speaker 3: that we're cascading about, you know, telling the story of
Speaker 3: the brand, telling the story about this happy together about
Speaker 3: you know, these activations we're bringing the store. The excitement,
Speaker 3: the vibration, the energy in the store is absolutely amazing,
Speaker 3: and I'm convinced that actually will resonate very very well
Speaker 3: with what customers are expecting for this holiday season.
Speaker 1: Let's get to the idea of what exactly you're selling,
Speaker 1: because when I hear you talk, you don't seem like
Speaker 1: you're selling a product, you're selling an ethos or a
Speaker 1: lifestyle or whatever you want to do, and that's going
Speaker 1: to be difficult because you're also selling something that can change,
Speaker 1: you know, in a minute. You know, customers just decide
Speaker 1: they want to feel something different. So how do you
Speaker 1: sort of do you keep up with that? Do you
Speaker 1: follow them or do you try to lead?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a great point.
Speaker 3: We're selling products first, Yeah, but I think it's how
Speaker 3: we're selling this product that matters. I think the section
Speaker 3: that the buyers and fashion directors have done is absolutely amazing.
Speaker 3: We have treity gift shops, you know, with low price point,
Speaker 3: highest price point, with the trend and newness extra. They
Speaker 3: spent a year actually selecting the right products. And I'm
Speaker 3: very very proud about the exclusive products, about the selection
Speaker 3: that we've made because I'm convinced that actually there's something
Speaker 3: for everyone at Bloomingdale's. It's also what's making Bloomingdale's very
Speaker 3: special compared to other department stores is actually truly believed
Speaker 3: that actually everyone can find something to buy and to
Speaker 3: gift at Bloomingdale's. But to right, our job is to
Speaker 3: be always at the edge, always, you know, finding the
Speaker 3: new trends, discovering the new trends of teams are flying
Speaker 3: the world to find the new upcoming trend and to
Speaker 3: bring it to our customer new brands, small brands, big brands.
Speaker 3: It's very important that actually we keep bringing this trend
Speaker 3: because is exactly what our customers are looking for.
Speaker 1: I'm curious with some of the newers, the upstarts that
Speaker 1: are looking to sort of break in. I know, certainly
Speaker 1: here at the flagship just walking through it, I seek
Speaker 1: you've embraced a lot of you know, what would normally
Speaker 1: be obscure brands and sort of brought them to the
Speaker 1: public's attention. How do you find those folks? Did they
Speaker 1: come to you or do you sort of search them out?
Speaker 3: I think this is where there's two things, you know.
Speaker 3: I think this is where we have to open to
Speaker 3: a world. You know, when you're talking about just being
Speaker 3: American leading an iconic British brand and maybe in French,
Speaker 3: I think right now it's actually the market is global,
Speaker 3: and it's very important that we keep our eyes wide
Speaker 3: open on what's happening.
Speaker 2: In the world.
Speaker 3: So yes, we're very much, you know, paying attention to
Speaker 3: American brands and new US brands, but we actually open
Speaker 3: our eyes on the world on when it's coming to
Speaker 3: new brands and really are fashion directors and our buyers
Speaker 3: are very very very connected, you know, traveling the world
Speaker 3: to find these small brands emerging trends in different countries.
Speaker 3: Could be in Korea, in Japan, in Europe. So it's
Speaker 3: it's very interesting what's happening right now. And you have
Speaker 3: so many now with digital world, social Media's so many
Speaker 3: emerging trends, new brands, niche brands, and it's very exciting
Speaker 3: to be part of this world right now.
Speaker 1: Is there a sense when we talk about the re
Speaker 1: emergence of Bloomingdale's in terms of its sales growth that
Speaker 1: is sustainable long term based on the current strategy that
Speaker 1: up in place.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, because it's not a you know, it's not a
Speaker 3: short on smooth even.
Speaker 2: That is happening right now.
Speaker 3: It's actually we're working on the you know, underlying strategic
Speaker 3: pillars that actually are bringing these roles. What is coming
Speaker 3: about where we're talking about great brand and great products selection,
Speaker 3: what is coming about customer experience? What is about you know,
Speaker 3: a top customer relationship that we're building right now. All
Speaker 3: these fundamentals and great marketing events. We're working on what
Speaker 3: is making Bloomingdale special and more relevant on the market.
Speaker 3: We're not working on the trend on short term trends.
Speaker 3: It's really with a long term vision about building these
Speaker 3: new golden edge of Bloomingdale's. So getting great products with
Speaker 3: a great environment, with great marketing activations, and building amazing
Speaker 3: relationship with the customer. I think that's is forever.
Speaker 4: Who do you think is your primary competitor?
Speaker 2: We have actually deal right now. The competitions is multiful.
Speaker 3: When you think it could be you know, pure players online,
Speaker 3: small DTC brands, it could be social media, social commerce.
Speaker 3: Of course, traditional department stores are part of that. So
Speaker 3: it's an ecosystem. But you know, it's important not to
Speaker 3: be too spread and unfocused looking at too many players.
Speaker 3: We're very clear on what is our vision, what is
Speaker 3: making us different and where we want to go. And
Speaker 3: this is what really matters. All the energy, all the
Speaker 3: teams and all our partners right now actually working with
Speaker 3: us to achieve this vision that we're having for the
Speaker 3: future of Blinder.
Speaker 1: What's the balance between retail selling in the physical retail
Speaker 1: stores and your e commerce strategy.
Speaker 3: I think it's very complementary for me. Of course, digital
Speaker 3: will keep growing. It's a fast growing channel for us,
Speaker 3: and it's been the case for many years. I think
Speaker 3: we have seen more and more transactions happening online. But
Speaker 3: for me, Roman, the best way to actually invest online
Speaker 3: is keep investing in the stores. The best branding investment
Speaker 3: we can make as a debuttment stores is investing in
Speaker 3: the store. When you close your eyes and you think
Speaker 3: about your best blooming the experience, you will never think
Speaker 3: about a box in front of your door. Yeah, you
Speaker 3: will think about a moment in the store where you
Speaker 3: found the great product we're not expecting so by someone
Speaker 3: that actually, you know, created a relationship with you and
Speaker 3: you had such a great moment that what is the
Speaker 3: best investment for us in terms of branding, in terms
Speaker 3: even about digital.
Speaker 1: Investment, because that's something that's always intrigued me because the
Speaker 1: e commerce experience to it by default is basically transactional.
Speaker 1: Most people do it for convenience, and going into a
Speaker 1: store much more experiential. Either you want the help or
Speaker 1: you want just the feeling of being able to browse
Speaker 1: and just find what you want by happenstance, which is
Speaker 1: a little bit different as to what people do online,
Speaker 1: they usually go on with a very specific purpose, looking
Speaker 1: for a very specific thing.
Speaker 4: I do see my two completely different businesses.
Speaker 3: I think these behaviors out changing a bit. Now people
Speaker 3: are browsing exploring online, they won't all some inspiration.
Speaker 2: This is why.
Speaker 3: Also we're evolving our digital platform to go to be
Speaker 3: a bit more editorial, more inspirational, and then it's very
Speaker 3: complimentary to the store experience. What matters is to have
Speaker 3: a perfect alignment between your digital platform, social media's e
Speaker 3: commerce platform, app and.
Speaker 2: Your physical experience.
Speaker 3: That what really matters because it's not the same story.
Speaker 2: So people are.
Speaker 3: Browsing, looking online, then coming to stores, sometimes shopping in
Speaker 3: the store, sometimes shopping back on the online. But it's
Speaker 3: a very seamless experience, and this is really what matters.
Speaker 1: Obviously, in the holidays season, a lot of attention gets
Speaker 1: showered upon blooming Dale's, primarily for the window on daling
Speaker 1: and everything else. Once the holidays are over, how do
Speaker 1: you sort of keep that momentum going?
Speaker 3: I think you know it's a yes. Holiday moment is
Speaker 3: a special moment and when you love department store, you
Speaker 3: love that moment. This is the moment where actually customers,
Speaker 3: brand partners, colleagues are all together and celebrating this great moment.
Speaker 3: This is the PIX season in terms of sales, but
Speaker 3: this is the PIX season in terms of experience, in
Speaker 3: terms of joy, and this is what we want to bring.
Speaker 2: To our customers.
Speaker 3: Ultimately, we're selling products that people don't really need, so
Speaker 3: they feel good and we want them to feel good.
Speaker 3: So it's such a great moment. But actually the momentum
Speaker 3: that we're saying didn't start for holiday. It's started, you know,
Speaker 3: months and years ago, and we just keep the pace
Speaker 3: right now. So we have new events, we have new
Speaker 3: marketing activation that are coming, we have new brands coming
Speaker 3: in the store right now, we have new ideas. So
Speaker 3: I think it's just a kickoff of what's coming and
Speaker 3: twenty twenty six is going to be a great year
Speaker 3: for Bliomingos.
Speaker 1: I want to just talk a little bit about the
Speaker 1: window display is not only what you're doing tonight for
Speaker 1: the big unveiling, but year round. I mean, you obviously
Speaker 1: have a nice rotation over the year, and I know
Speaker 1: people who will deliberately make sure they walk down their
Speaker 1: at aven or Luxington Avenue on their out of their
Speaker 1: way on their way to work or wherever, just to
Speaker 1: see those windows. Where does the inspiration for that com
Speaker 1: Is that a decision that you are involved in making
Speaker 1: or do you leave that to your creative team?
Speaker 3: No. I think our credit teams come, you know, each
Speaker 3: time they're coming, you know, with full five ideas, and
Speaker 3: we have a creative committee and we select well of
Speaker 3: the most relevant one because it has to, you know,
Speaker 3: to be relevant for our customers. It has to be
Speaker 3: relevant from a product and as softment perspective, because we
Speaker 3: want to bring exclusive products collapse. It's right, which is
Speaker 3: very important to create more differentiation. It has to make
Speaker 3: sense from an activation energy vibe. It's raw, it has
Speaker 3: to be in the moment. It's a complex process and
Speaker 3: we're involving all different functions of the company. It's a
Speaker 3: year and a half process. We already know what's gonna
Speaker 3: happen in twenty thirty six, we're already working and what's
Speaker 3: gonna happen in twenty thirty seven. So it's a long
Speaker 3: and very exciting process.
Speaker 4: I haven't had a chance to see the windows for tonight.
Speaker 1: I assume you've had a sneak peak of what's behind there,
Speaker 1: what gets you excited for webbing and see tonight.
Speaker 3: I think it's really you know what making us exciting
Speaker 3: is actually, so the moment's going to be unique. So
Speaker 3: it's about music, joy and you know, being together. That
Speaker 3: it's very important that this is really what we're celebrating,
Speaker 3: especially with what's happening in the world. You know, with
Speaker 3: some tension, we think that actually this happy together moment
Speaker 3: holiday that we're building is really meaningful for our customers.
Speaker 3: These windows are very very special. We know we're an
Speaker 3: iconic building in New York and really want people to
Speaker 3: come see what's happening in blooming at Bloomingdale's in the
Speaker 3: windows on the facad and then check here what's happening
Speaker 3: where we are with the barbary carousel and all the
Speaker 3: new nests that's happening in the store. We're starting the renovation.
Speaker 3: We started the renovation of this building a couple of
Speaker 3: months ago, and you can start to see coming to
Speaker 3: life right now on the shoe floor, on the luxury
Speaker 3: ory to our floor. We have much more to come,
Speaker 3: but you can start to feel what's going to be
Speaker 3: the future of Bloomingdales in fifteen nine straight.
Speaker 1: Well, what is that I've seen some of those renovations.
Speaker 1: I mean, we should find out.
Speaker 4: For our viewers.
Speaker 1: The Bloomberg World headquarters overlooks Bloomingdale, so I can look
Speaker 1: out our window and see that construction.
Speaker 4: What is that space supposed to be?
Speaker 3: You know, we want to you know, on this one,
Speaker 3: we really want to build the best department store in
Speaker 3: the US. I mean it's a humble ambition that we
Speaker 3: want to achieve, but it's really bringing Bloomingdale's to the
Speaker 3: international standard of department stores, really creating a destination not
Speaker 3: only for US and New Yorkers or US shoppers, but
Speaker 3: for international shoppers. We want them to come and check
Speaker 3: what's happening at Bloomingdales. And this is exactly with this
Speaker 3: vision that we're renovating this fifteen nine Street flagship. So
Speaker 3: we started from the top shoe floor with the now
Speaker 3: luxury really were and you're going to see it's going
Speaker 3: to be like a total reinvention of the codes of
Speaker 3: blooming Dale's. So we are not forgetting the legacy and
Speaker 3: what we used to be, but it's really bringing this
Speaker 3: flagship to its new era. So that's going to be very,
Speaker 3: very exciting, and we have more to come. We also
Speaker 3: have more brands coming in so you know, we open
Speaker 3: like Bluebota four weeks ago. We have a big new
Speaker 3: opening at Channel Duplex Tonhouse that we're gonna build in.
Speaker 3: We're building the the in this building and just opening today.
Speaker 2: That's very, very very exciting.
Speaker 4: All right. Well, Olivia, you've done a lot so far.
Speaker 1: I know it's a busy time for you, and congratulations
Speaker 1: on everything that's transpiras tonight and into the holiday season.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you major wishless yet for Christmas
Speaker 1: anything on.
Speaker 3: Your list, absolutely, but I think the best for me
Speaker 3: with be like, you know, the joy in the business
Speaker 3: and everything that happening and happening, you know, everything being
Speaker 3: happy together. That's really what we want to do. All right,
Speaker 3: thank you, very happy to day. Happy, thank you, Thank you,