Value Retail: Designer Brands Need To Start Taking Outlets Seriously

Value Retail, which operates designer malls through out Europe, says that the time where luxury brands can treat their outlet stores and “dumping grounds” for unwanted products is coming to an end.  The outlet operator says that the value-conscious shopper is a serious and motivated spending player, but luxury merchants need to cater to them with some of the same enthusiasm they are more likely to shower upon regular retail customers.

“The notion of what’s acceptable as an experience is shifting as consumers travel more and the Internet makes it easier to compare prices and services,” said Value Retail CEO Scott Malkin in an interview with Bloomberg last week. “We’ve reached a tipping point.”

Value Retail saw its gross sales on the rise about 13 percent his year, which is roughly on pat with last year’s growth.  Tourist shoppers, particularly coming from China, have pushed the bulk of that traffic.  The company intends to continue to expand in Western Europe, where it already has nine locations—or villages.

The company is also pushing directly into China—its first Chinese outlet open in May in Suzhou with a second one planned for Shanghai later in 2014. Malkin has said overall, he would like to see five total outlets in China.

 

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