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Articles about look
eBay’s makeover: new logo, new look, new era Friday, 14th September 2012
Photo credit: eBay Inc
eBay this week unveiled a new logo as it says “the time felt right” to embrace a new era of e-commerce.
Famous for its online auctions and deals, eBay’s new logo keeps the brand’s strong colours of red, blue, yellow, and green, but does away with the jumbled, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to favour a sleek, thin and in-line logo design.
eBay Inc executive Devin Wenig on Thursday said the new branding reflects a shift for the retailer away from auctions and collectibles and towards full-priced, buy-it-now merchandise.
"The eBay logo is known the world over, so changing it was not a decision made lightly. The time felt right," Wenig, president of eBay Global Marketplaces, wrote in an email to employees.
"It's eBay today: a global online marketplace that offers a cleaner, more contemporary and consistent experience," he wrote.
The new logo will be rolled out across the company’s websites for autumn, ready for the winter’s peak sale season.
Posted in E-Commerce, Online retail, Retail Industry Tagged ebay, new, logo, look, announcement, launch, design, brand, branding
Phil Wrigley: High street model is “irrelevant” Thursday, 2nd February 2012
Majestic Wine chairman and former boss of New Look, Phil Wrigley, has described Mary Portas’ review of the high street as the “right diagnosis, wrong prescription”.
Speaking at Oxford University, Wrigley said the traditional high street model is “almost completely moribund,” stating: “It is irrelevant to the needs of shoppers today, let alone tomorrow.”
Wrigley went on to say that parking feeds, out-of-town centres and the growth of online shopping meant traditional high streets were in the midst of a “real, genuine and irreversible crisis,” before adding that: “Unlike Ms Portas, I don’t think we can continue to try to muddle through supporting the traditional high street model.”
Tagged highstreet, majestic wine, majestic, wine, mary, portas, phil, wrigley, chairman, boss, new, look, irreversible, oxford, university, business, my, retail, media, news
New Look reports 3.6% rise in like-for-likes Thursday, 12th January 2012
The fashion retailer on Thursday reported a 3.6 per cent increase in sales over the festive season, but will proceed with caution in the coming months.
After holding back its half-year results in November, and the departure of its chief executive Carl McPhail last year, retail analysts were led to believe trading had been poor for New Look in 2011.
Figures released this morning show UK like-for-like sales fell 3.7 per cent across the 40 weeks to 31 December, representing New Look’s financial year to date, compared with the same period a year earlier. Total sales excluding VAT were down 1.7 per cent in the same period.
New Look’s Christmas trading bought more positive news, with UK sales excluding VAT rising 3.4 per cent in the five weeks to 31 December. Like-for-like sales at stores opened for more than a year rose 3.6 per cent in the same period.
“Our recent performance demonstrates that our hard work is beginning to pay off and we are pleased that both sales and profitability are responding positively,” said Alistair McGeorge, executive chairman of New Look. “We are nevertheless mindful that we are operating against a backdrop of a tough and potentially worsening economic climate and remain cautious about the outlook for the next few months.”
Retail analysts are likely to agree with New Look’s outlook. Speaking to the Financial Times, independent retail analyst Nick Bubb, said: “The numbers were helped by soft comparative figures and more promotions, I suspect, rather than ‘self help’ initiatives. However, all boats float on the same tide and the British Retail Consortium recently noted that the whole clothing market was strong in December, though weaker in October and November, and this theme is being borne out in results from other retailers this week.”
Posted in fashion Tagged new look, new, look, carl, mcphail, fashion, retail, group, trade, christmas, brc, british, consortium
New Look director departs for The White Company Tuesday, 6th December 2011
New Look’s chief operating officer Will Kernan is the latest director to leave the struggling retailer.
New Look has been without a boss since the departure of Carl McPhail in March, and it is understood Kernan was an obvious bet to become chief executive on the fashion chain in the future.
Kernan will instead become chief executive at The White Company after nearly 12 years with New Look. It is not known at this time if a replacement has been found for his position.
New Look executive chairman Alistair McGeorge said: “I and the rest of the Board would like to thank Will for the contribution he has made to New Look during his time in the business.
“We wish him all the best in his new role.”
Kernan said: “I am proud to have been part of the team that has helped build such a strong high street brand, and I am excited by the fresh challenge that the role at The White Company offers.”
Posted in fashion, People Tagged will kernan, carl mcphail, new look, the white company, alistair mcgeorge, fashion, chain, retail, new, look, chief, executive
UK sees 133% rise in spending from Chinese shoppers Tuesday, 13th September 2011
Spending by Chinese tourists sky rocketed in August with a 133 per cent rise from the previous month. New research has revealed Autumn/Winter 2011 fashion lines helped boost the trading during the summer month, which for the past few years has been a consistent driver for sales in London’s West End.
Money spent by Chinese consumers rose 82 per cent year-on-year for 2010, as tourists flocked to the capital in search of the ‘London Look’ made so popular by Britain’s luxury heritage brands such as Burberry, Mulberry and Pringle.
Jace Tyrrell, Director of New West End Company said: “The rich abundance of heritage and quintessentially British retail brands that London’s West End has to offer is the key driver for international shopper spend in particular Chinese visitors, who spend £1,300 per visit in the West End alone.
“It is the incredible brand mix of international and British brands, and the close cluster of top-end retail stores that puts us firmly on the map as one of the most desirable shopping destinations in the world.”
With a restricted holiday allowance, Chinese travellers were seen to be value conscious in their designer purchases, which are often available in the UK for up to 30 per cent lower than in their own country.
Speaking to press, Richard Brown, UK Vice President of international transaction provider Global Blue, said: “With 87 per cent of the average Chinese traveller’s shopping bill being spent on fashion items, we can now see how effective retailers have been at marketing themselves to this increasingly influential consumer group.
“We are also observing the success of discount fashion outlets who have marketed themselves to Chinese travellers as tourist destinations and prompting a new shopping trend for luxury brands at lower prices.”
Posted in fashion, Luxury Goods, Retail Industry Tagged burberry, capital, china, Chinese, city, High Street, increase, London, london look, look, luxury, mulberry, pringle, Retail, sale, shop, shoppers, Shopping, tourists, up, west end
There’s something about Mary... Sunday, 21st August 2011
...And it’s going down a storm at House of Fraser.Our Sunday Top 5 has been put on hold this week, because to be quite honest, we’ve been completely distracted by a small but perfectly formed concession now open three storeys above London’s Oxford Street: Pret A Portas.
Now, if like us, you’ve spent the last few years following Mary Portas through Queen of Shops and Secret Shopper thinking to yourself, “that’s all well and good Mary, but I’d like to see you try and do it from scratch,” then you better start tracking down some of your words and preparing them for lunch: after thirty seconds in the store, My Retail-Media became aware that this is what ‘banging the nail on the [retail]head’ now looks like.
Vibrant displays, strong branding (the orange shoe box wall to match Portas’ hair is a favourite) and easy-to-maintain stock levels were some of the first things that struck a chord. In a similar way to Urban Outfitters, welded metal and New York-loft style screens shutter Pret-A-Portas off from the rest of House of Fraser, leaving customers in a sort of Mary-world with her seal of approval present on every product.
What’s best, it’s done with a sense of humour. A Mary- line up of mannequins is one of the first things a customer will see entering Pret-A Portas, complete with a razor-sharp orange bob and impeccable wardrobe from the concession. My Retail Media visited half way through day two, when most staff at an opening would be flagging a little, and at the least impatient to talk with pesky industry bloggers. When we were caught taking photos of the new store design, my knee-jerk reaction was to apologise to Mark,( one of the ‘Bell-Boys’ Mary favours over shop assistants). Instead he told me to take my time, and pop over for a chat when I was finished.
Pret-A-Portas is retail therapy as it should be. As the clothing is aimed at women for forty and above, it’s a sleek stylish affair, but also understands that children and partners will need to be entertained with a Carluccio’s- meets Anthropologie- style homeware section. Mark later told us he treats the store as a home, and encourages his customers to as well:
“There’s no hard sell here. We are here to offer advice, and we encourage customers to try on anything they fancy, but beyond our knowledge, it’s our customers that make the decisions.”
As we spoke a woman tried on her fifth pair of patent mary-janes in a row, the discarded sizes now left on the floor. And yet there was no awkward scrabble to pick them up- seen so often across busy high street stores- instead creating an impression that her enjoyment of the retail experience was paramount.
To put it lightly, Mary’s cracked it. Pret-A-Portas should hold off the critics for a while, and now we’ll just have to wait to see what she can do with the rest of the high street.
To view our full photo album of Pret-A-Portas, pop over to our Facebook page.
Posted in Department Stores, fashion, Franchise & Expansion Tagged bell boy, clarks, collaboration, concession, Department Store, dress, Fashion, House of Fraser, look, mary, mary portas, orange, outfit, Oxford Street, playtex, pret-a-portas, radley, stylist
