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