RETAIL: Caryn Lerner exits Holt Renfrew,

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Chanel believes it’s time to lure lip gloss addicts back to lipstick — and the company hopes to do it with Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Colour, a long-lasting, hydrating collection that will be launched in March. A global launch, Rouge Coco will be in about 700 specialty and department stores in the U.S., and industry sources estimated it could do more than $13 million in the U.S. in its first year on counter. For more, see page 5.

Women’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • January 8, 2010 • $3.00

By Alexandra Steigrad The GRiNch Was DeNieD iN December — and retailers gladly accepted consumers’ gift of a markedly brighter earnings outlook for the fourth quarter.

Neither economic anxiety, high unemployment, low consumer confidence nor a weekend snowstorm

were able to keep consumers from working off some of their pent-up demand and making their appointed shopping rounds last month, leaving retailers with better-than-expected same-store sales results, higher margins, lower inventories and, in many cases, improved earnings expectations.

The results stood in sharp contrast to the dismal numbers of December 2008, which were marked by widespread declines, deep discounts and consequent low margins and excess inventory.

But no one is quite ready to celebrate just yet, cautioning their outlook for

Up at Last: Strong December Comp-Store Sales Give Retailers Hope

See Retailers, Page 12

Page 1 Friday

WWDFRIDayBeauty

BEAUTY: Few bright spots

at holiday for prestige

beauty firms, page 5.

MEN’S: Nat Nast co-founder Patty Nast Canton departs, page 9.

FASHION: Louis Vuitton pre-fall, page 10.

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WWD.COM

• More images from Matthew Williamson’s men’s line

• Behind-the-scenes video of the Burberry Spring 2010 campaign

shoot with Emma Watson• All the looks from the Louis Vuitton

pre-fall 2010 collection• Beauty Roundup: Jan. 8, 2010• Online this weekend: Week in

Review and Story of the Week

2 WWD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010

By David Moin

Caryn Lerner is out as president and chief executive officer of Holt renfrew, Canada’s premier luxury chain.

Lerner has been replaced by Mark derbyshire, who was chief talent officer for Wittington Fashion retail Group, the holding company for Holt renfrew in Canada, selfridges in the u.K. and Brown thomas in ireland.

“there was a discussion between the board and Caryn and it was agreed it was time for new leadership,” said John Crean, a spokesman for Wittington. “We are happy with the performance of the organization, overall, given a difficult year…but the board really felt that now is the right time for new leadership.”

derbyshire is not a merchant and rarely does a human resources executive make the leap to ceo. in addition, the switch at the top comes just before the Winter olympics next month in Vancouver and as Holt renfrew seeks to capital-ize on the expected increased traffic to Canada.

However, leadership changes often occur at the beginning of a new year, after a company has had time to digest its results, and derbyshire is well versed in the Holt renfrew business. Before his stint as chief talent officer, he was Holt renfrew’s vice president of human re-sources from 2004 to 2007. derbyshire also has experience in operations, planning, marketing and brand building, and holds an M.B.a. in mar-keting and strategic management.

“Mark has displayed tremendous leadership and business acumen over the six years he has been with our organization,” said W. Galen Weston, chairman of the privately held Wittington.

derbyshire also held the title of vice presi-dent of Wittington, which credited him as “an au-thority on driving profitability through people at selfridges, Brown thomas and Holt renfrew.”

“it’s not just about employing the best peo-ple,” derbyshire said. “it’s about building the best teams that provide our customers with un-paralleled service.”

Lerner had an eventful five-year tenure at Holt renfrew, striving to bolster its luxury appeal on a global level. she opened new stores in Vancouver

and Calgary, stepped up remodels, partic-ularly at the Bloor street flagship in

toronto and the Montreal flagship, and rebranded the business with a magenta and gray stripe design for packaging, signs, hangers, logos and advertising.

in addition, Lerner reclaimed ownership of the store’s shoe

business by phasing out the Brown shoe license, returned children’s

wear to the offering after a 20-year absence, and solidified relationships with

key designer brands, including Chanel, Gucci, prada, akris, Giorgio armani and ermenegildo Zegna. But the Vancouver opening in July 2007, Holt renfrew’s first store launch in 10 years, marked her biggest achievement.

Lerner will continue as an independent con-sultant to Wittington.

Before joining Holt renfrew, Lerner was named president and chief marketing offi-cer of escada usa inc. in 1998 after spending seven years at in sales at the company. she left escada in 2003 after a tough period for the brand. a company-wide review of the overall business resulted in her departure. previously, Lerner had been was a senior manager of on-Q, a former division of QVC, and held positions at Bloomingdale’s and Jones new york.

it is believed that Barneys new york had con-tacted Lerner as one of the candidates to fill its long-vacant ceo slot, but Barneys seems to have put the search on the back burner.

By Luisa Zargani

MILAN — the possibility of bankruptcy is loom-ing over Mariella Burani Fashion Group follow-ing the resignation of its financial adviser, which failed to renegotiate the group’s debts of 492.6 million euros, or $679.7 million at current ex-change, as of the end of november.

the group’s financial adviser, Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario spa, has failed to renegotiate MBFG’s debt with more than 40 banks, and quit at the beginning of the year, as revealed by MBFG this week. Creditors include deutsche Bank, Bank of China, Cariprato and Barclays Bank plc.

on dec. 30, the italian apparel manufacturer stated it was negotiating with Lebanese invest-ment bank Gulf Finance & investment Corp. to create an escrow account of 50 million euros, or $69.5 million, to be employed as a capital in-crease, and the Burani family also has voiced the intention of finding additional funding, but guar-antees have yet to be provided. in september, the group said it was seeking additional funds of 83.5 million euros, or $122.1 million, needed to cover losses in the first half.

italy’s stock market watchdog, Consob, has been checking on possible irregularities con-nected to trading in MBFG’s shares, which were suspended on the Milan Bourse in september. in addition, the Guardia di Finanza, or Finance Guard, an italian police force under the author-ity of the Minister of economy and Finance, has been searching the group’s offices in Milan.

MBFG produces the Mariella Burani fashion line; holds licenses with Vivienne Westwood for the designer’s anglomania collection, John Galliano for jewelry and aquascutum for foot-wear, and its holdings include the Mandarina duck brand, among others. Mandarina duck, together with other leather goods accesso-ries labels including Braccialini, Baldinini, Coccinelle and Francesco Biasia, is part of antichi pellettieri spa, controlled by the group,

and widely considered to be one of its most suc-cessful and desirable assets.

“We can’t be at ease, but we have faith that there is no interest or desire to see these brands fail,” said riccardo Braccialini, president of Braccialini, adding that antichi pellettieri is “healthy” and that 2009 sales at the tuscan firm founded by his family were in line with those of 2008, reaching 65 million euros, or $90.3 million. “We are very pleased with these results,” said Braccialini.

in July, Giambattista Valli signed a five-year licensing agreement with MBFG for the produc-tion and distribution of his namesake line, start-ing with the fall collection. the designer could not be reached for comment. in March, MBFG also inked a deal with La perla for the produc-tion and distribution of its ready-to-wear line.

the group sold its stakes in jewelers Calgaro srl and rosato srl in early 2009 to focus on ap-parel and leather goods, which together account for more than 90 percent of its turnover.

at the end of november, the group’s debt amounted to 492.6 million euros, or $679.7 mil-lion, compared with 488.9 million euros, or $674.6 million, at the end of october and 478.4 million euros, or $636.2 million, at the end of June. dollar figures were converted at average exchange rates for the periods to which they refer. sources here say the difficult economy bit into the group’s per-formance, and also the Burani family expanded its holding over the past decade too quickly and relied too much on bank financing.

MBFG posted net losses of 142.1 million euros, or $188.9 million, in the first six months of 2009, compared with net profits of 3.9 mil-lion euros, or $5.9 million, in the same period last year. the company attributed the drop to an “impairment test,” or devaluation of assets, for a total value of 72.5 million euros, or $96.4 mil-lion. sales fell 24 percent to 246.1 million euros, or $327.3 million, in the first half compared with the same period last year.

— With contributions from Alessandra Ilari

Derbyshire Replaces Lerner at Holt Renfrew

Financial Problems Mount at Burani

WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2010 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.VOLUME 199, NO. 5. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in January, July, October and December, two additional issues in April, May, June, August, and November, and three additional issues in February, March and September) by Fairchild Fashion Group, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by Condé Nast Publications: S. I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, President/CEO; John W. Bellando, Executive Vice President/COO; Jill Bright, Executive Vice President/Human Resources. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40644503. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 886549096-RT0001. Canada Post: return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich-Hill, ON L4B 4R6 POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615–5008. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008, call 800-289-0273, or visit www.subnow.com/wd. Please give both new and old addresses as printed on most recent label. Subscribers: If the Post Office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. If during your subscription term or up to one year after the magazine becomes undeliverable, you are ever dissatisfied with your subscription, let us know. You will receive a full refund on all unmailed issues. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions and reprint requests, please call 212-630-4274 or fax requests to 212-630-4280. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.fairchildpub.com. Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive these offers and/or information, please advise us at P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008 or call 800-289-0273. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETURN OR LOSS OF, OR FOR DAMAGE OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO, UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE.

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14FASHIONIt’s a modern-day “Love Story” at Louis Vuitton as Marc Jacobs looks to Ali MacGraw’s varsity style from the 1970 film for his pre-fall lineup.

GENERALMany retailers beat their own December same-store sales forecasts, leading to a slew of positive fourth-quarter earnings projections.Chanel is placing the company’s lip color bets on a new long-lasting and hydrating collection called Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Colour.Santa visited mass chains over the holiday season, but along with delivering sales gains, he loaded some of their profits into his bag.New color technology at Revlon and corrective color innovation by Physicians Formula are leading the makeup launches in the new year.Patty Nast Canton, who cofounded men’s sportswear brand Nat Nast 10 years ago and was its creative director, has exited the company.Nicolas Bos has been promoted to president and ceo of Van Cleef & Arpels in America, replacing Emmanuel Perrin.

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“I think the consumer is significantly more positive than

a year ago. The overall situation is easier to read. I’m not saying it looks great, but we can plan for it better than we did in the past.” — Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and chief executive officer

of Macy’s Inc., on December comparable-store sales. Page one.

TODAY ON

.comWWD

WWDfriDayBeauty

CORRECTIONexcessspace retail services estimates there could be about 10,000 store closings in the u.s. this year, including 6,000 to 8,000 in the first half, across all venues including malls and power, strip and outlet centers and streets. this was incorrect in a story on page one, Wednesday.

QUOTEDAILY

A look from Matthew Williamson’s mens collection.

Mark Derbyshire

Caryn Lerner

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4 WWD, friDay, january 8, 2010

The Beauty Report

Beauty Report Double

By WWD Staff

For prestige beauty retailers and manu-facturers, it was a bob Cratchit Christmas.

While a few retailers were able to breathe a sigh of relief, others were picking at their meager returns. by all reports, most not for attribution, the fragrance business continued to be tough. but both retailers and their vendors managed to find their way through the financial minefield and emerge mostly intact. and there were a few bright spots, like marc Jacobs’ new fragrance, lola, and Viva la Juicy by Juicy Couture.

bloomingdale’s sidestepped the dreaded possibil-ity of a another december downturn — its fragrance business registered a single-digit gain for the holidays, according to sources. the retailer’s parent, macy’s inc., reported a 1 percent comp-store sales gain for the five weeks of december, ended Jan. 2. but no mention was made of the company’s beauty business.

Howard Kreitzman, vice president and divisional merchandise manager of cosmetics and fragrances at bloomingdale’s, declined specifics. “We’re feeling pret-ty good about the way it turned out,” he said simply. “the business improved continually over the course of the fall season.” He described the holiday selling effort as “a solid performance.”

Kreitzman said the fragrance business was driven, as usual, by a combination of classic brands augmented by a trio of new fall launches — Jacobs’ lola, followed by Viva la Juicy and prada amber.

He noted the extra selling day before thanksgiving and Christmas was a huge plus and the fact that Hanukkah was celebrated earlier (dec. 11) than last year kicked the business into gear.

Kreitzman also asserted the store’s strategy of emphasizing value propo-sitions by boldly listing the amount of savings on fragrance gift sets “worked well.” He said the rate of sell-through “was a little better than last year and the dollar value was higher.”

asked to sum up the lesson of the holidays, Kreitzman replied: “What it says to me is that the consumer is getting a little more relaxed.”

spirits also are rising at another manhattan-based specialty store, barneys new york. “Fragrance was really good. For the month of december, it was up double digits,” said bettina o’neill, vice president and divisional merchandise manager for cosmetics and fragrance. “in 2008, it was a very tough holiday season,” she added. “the bottom dropped out in october, so we were [comparing] against those numbers. there was a nice comeback overall. best-selling brands at barneys this holiday season included Frédéric malle, le labo, acqua di parma, byredo parfums and serge lutens. “they were all very healthy,” said o’neill.

looking ahead, o’neill said, “i feel confident, hav-ing had a decent december. We’re ending the season. Fragrances were up high-single digits, [and] i think spring will definitely be better than last year.”

However, the joy was not widespread. “it wasn’t an easy Christmas for anyone, including us, but we did have some bright spots,” said dennis Keogh, senior vice president of marketing for Coty prestige, naming Jacobs’ lola — said to be the top women’s launch this fall — and Calvin Klein’s new men’s entry, CK Free, as standouts. For Christmas, euphoria and a teaser size of Vera Wang’s new glam princess scent also had robust sales. to fur-ther promote euphoria sales, Coty did retailer-specific gifts-with-purchase — including gourmet chocolates with macy’s and amaryllis bulbs for dillard’s — for euphoria, promoting the campaigns with tV advertising.

Keogh added while sales were tough for the industry in 2009, beauty companies are in a much better place this year because they’ve learned how to manage the market conditions. “the bottom dropped out in fall 2008, and then we had a year to figure out how to ad-dress that as an industry,” he said. smaller inventories and fewer launches were among the strategies.

the npd group has not released its december results. but highly incomplete preliminary reports indicate men’s and women’s fragrances combined for a drop of 4 percent for the month of december, com-pared with a minus-10 percent decline last year. and the business improved in the final week of Christmas. in those five days before the holiday, women’s fra-grances were up 4 percent and men’s, 6 percent, ac-cording to sources.

those figures are an improvement over what was expected. For the year to date through the end of november, fragrance sales were down 11.7 percent for women’s fragranc-es and down 13 percent for men’s, according to npd. one source cal-culated that, if newness was subtracted from those numbers,

women’s fragrances were down 20 percent and men’s, 26 percent.

Keogh is pragmatic about industry condi-tions going forward. “given how horrific fall 2008 numbers were, i think everyone expect-ed comps would be better,” he said. “things are still tough. i think if we end up with single-digit declines, everyone will be happy.”

Keogh noted while 2009 was tough, Coty held onto its share of market. “We improved our trend 10 points in december over november,” he said. “We had conserva-tive plans, and we beat those plans.”

For Christian dior perfumes, the holidays dished out a relative feast for color cosmetics and treatment, but a paltry meal for fragrances.

according to industry reports, J’adore, the brand’s biggest women’s fragrance, managed to finish the year flat, while sustaining a 2 percent dip in november and december in a stubbornly bearish scent market. miss dior Cherie, which was launched three years ago, did better, finishing the year 7 percent ahead and gaining 2 percent during the holiday period.

terry darland, president of north america for Christian dior perfumes llC, declined to discuss the fragrance figures. but she noted J’adore made the

year while scoring a number-one Christmas ranking in miami, its top market. but she described the overall fragrance market as tough and disappointing — at least until the final days, when the tide eased a bit. “you had to work for every sale,” she said. it was a completely different story for dior’s color and treatment, which was up 10 percent for december, and 12 percent for the last two months combined. Color was up 14 percent for december and skin care increased 8 percent.

For spring, the widespread expectation among re-tailers is the first half will continue to be difficult for the fragrance business, especially those without new product launches, she said. those brands can “expect modest increases, up 1 or 2 percent.”

in makeup, however, dior has a new mascara, extase of diorshow, that made a promising

debut in sephora during the last two weeks of december. as a result, the brand’s beauty

business could be up 8 or 9 percent for spring.

as for Christmas, retailers with good news were hard to come by. However, a

number of industry executives were poring over fresh data and render-ing verdicts, strictly on a not-for-attribution basis.

“everyone was expecting abso-lutely awful sales,” said one source. “that

didn’t happen.” the executive added that most prestige brands ended the season anywhere from up 5 percent to down 5 percent.

skin care and fragrance held their ground for the most part, while color did not gain as much, said sources. gift sets — which, unlike in 2008, weren’t

sharply discounted — were popular, said sources, and the week between Christmas and new year’s was good for many. “all in all, the balance sheet looks good for both manufacturers and retail-ers,” said an executive.

another analyst estimated the beauty market in prestige distribution was down 3 to 5 percent for december, which was a 2 point improvement over the year-to-date trend. Fragrance suffered the most with perhaps a high-single-digit decline and skin care did best.

lord & taylor’s beauty business was said to be down 8 percent and neiman marcus’ to

be down 15 percent. “[neiman marcus] itself did well, but beauty was down,” said one in-

dustry executive. “beauty was underperform-ing the company, which was very unusual. a lot

of it was because they had so many promotions before december — 20 percent off cosmetics, $50 gift cards and then 10 percent off. by the time december rolled around, people were done.”

said ginger reeder, vice president and spokes-woman at neiman’s: “We don’t report those kinds

of numbers.”dillard’s had “a horrific Christmas,” said one source.

sephora and ulta were said to have mixed results. on the flip side, said sources, macy’s and bergdorf goodman’s pres-tige beauty businesses were said to be up, and nordstrom was said to be up 6 percent in beauty sales. executives could not be reached for comment at lord & taylor, sephora, macy’s, bergdorf goodman and nordstrom.

Certain areas of the country were said to be harder hit than others, with California, michigan and Florida experiencing especially tough business.

“some niche brands — including bond no. 9 — broke through the clutter, but in a lot of ways, this was a Christmas about classics, a modest Christmas with dramatic margin improvement,” said one source, who added of smaller inventories and more narrow orders: “this Christmas was about market stabilization — it’s hardly poised for growth. We need to make sure that we don’t make this a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

steiner leisure ltd. marKed tHe Completion of its $100 million acquisition of bliss World Holdings inc. from starwood Hotels inc. this week by ringing the nasdaq opening bell in manhattan on thursday.

“this is a well-established u.s.-born brand,” said leonard Fluxman, president and chief executive officer of steiner leisure, “and this acquisition extends our port-folio so we can continue to grow the beauty category.”

members of the bliss team, decked out in the brand’s signature robin’s egg blue, were on hand distributing

free glamour gloves, which are designed to moistur-ize the hands, to passersby in times square and they joined Fluxman on stage during the bell ringing with cheers and applause.

“bliss has revolutionized the day spa industry,” said Fluxman. “it’s about fun, edgy, chic products with a broad range appeal, which makes the brand unique.”

bliss’ sister brand, laboratoire remède, was also acquired in the deal.

— Belisa Silva

Bell Rings for Bliss and Steiner

Fragrance Finds Way on Rough Road

A MAC outpost at Nordstrom at Main Place in Santa Ana, Calif. Right: Marc Jacobs’ Lola.

Leonard Fluxman

5WWD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010

The Beauty Report WWD.COM

Chanel exeCutives believe now is the right time to seduce consum-ers back into the habit of using lipstick — and are placing the company’s lip color bets with a new long-lasting and hydrating collection called Rouge Coco hydrating Creme lip Colour.

“Women seem to have forgotten how to apply lipstick,” lamented Peter Philips, Chanel’s global cre-ative director for makeup. “We have a whole generation of lip-gloss girls. now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with lip gloss — but there is something so feminine about the act of applying lipstick. i want to make lipstick as easy to apply as lip gloss, and for a long-lasting formula to feel comfortable on the lips.”

Rouge Coco, which will launch in March, is intended to become one of the brand’s lipstick pillars and will replace the existing hydrabase line, said andrea D’avack, president of Chanel Fragrance & beauté.

“in the u.s. and Japan, lip gloss is about half of the lip category,” said D’avack, noting that is not true of the French market. “We think Rouge Coco is a real step forward in terms of customer benefits. it has a com-fortable texture and sophisticated yet very wearable shades. We be-lieve it will appeal to a wide variety of consumers.”

“Rouge Coco is one of the most im-portant launches from the house of Chanel in 2010,” said John Galantic, Chanel’s u.s. president. he asserted that the new product will develop into “an iconic new makeup pillar” for Chanel.

every one of the 30 shades in the line — each $30 — is named for a part of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s life, such as Mademoiselle, a soft pink; Camelia, a deep rose, and Paris, a bright red. the colors are broken down into four color fami-lies: Roses-Pinks; Reds-Corals; violets-berries, and neutrals-browns. shade selections globally will vary by market, Philips noted. in the u.s., Chanel will offer nine shades in the Roses-Pinks cat-egory; eight in the Reds-Corals family; four in the violets-berries category, and nine in the neutrals-browns category.

an additional seven shades will circulate internationally. “the needs

of women globally require this,” said Philips. “We needed more than one beige, more than one pink; in fact, the color range overall is mainly beiges and soft pinks — but skin tones vary from region to region, as do shade preferences.”

While declining to discuss spe-cific ingredients about the formu-la, D’avack noted that the line in-cludes hydratendre Complex, said to soften, soothe and condition lips, as well as boost their ability to hold in moisture.

the lipstick’s case harkens back to Chanel’s history: it is black metal closed with a wide gold ring, replac-ing the black plastic used most often recently. the brand’s signature in-terlocking Cs are both on the outside and the inside of the cap, and the Chanel name is carved into each bul-let, noted Christine Dagousset, ex-ecutive vice president of Fragrance and beauté for Chanel.

in the u.s., Chanel’s color cos-metics are distributed in about 700 department and special-ty stores, including saks Fifth avenue, neiman Marcus and bloomingdale’s. the line will also be available at chanel.com.

French actress vanessa Paradis — who first appeared in Chanel ad-vertising in 1994 in a campaign for

the brand’s Coco fragrance — will be featured in the Rouge Coco advertis-ing, which was shot by Jean-baptiste Mondino. “vanessa has been very linked to the house over the years, and she represents a young, sophis-ticated woman who we also believe will be the consumer for Rouge Coco,” noted D’avack.

both print and tv ads have been shot; in the u.s., print advertising will begin in March fashion, beauty and lifestyle magazines. tv has not yet been confirmed for the u.s. market.

While none of the executives would discuss sales figures or ad-vertising spending, industry sourc-es estimated Rouge Coco would do about $13 million at retail in the u.s. in its first 12 months on coun-ter. industry sources estimated Chanel would spend about $11 mil-lion on advertising and promotion in the u.s. during Rouge Coco’s first 12 months on counter.

— Julie Naughton

LONDON — Clarins is about to add a youthful bloom to its skin care portfolio.

starting this month, the French beauty brand will introduce Daily energizer, a five-unit treatment line concocted with consum-ers between 18 and 25 years old in mind.

“the beauty industry has tar-geted the antiaging category so much that it has perhaps forgot-ten a little the young generation in today’s perfumeries,” said Clarins president isabelle herbreteau. “Clarins’ mission is to educate our customers. We aim to attract the young generation to prestige and qualitative skin care.”

herbreteau added the company also means to help young consum-ers to learn about and enjoy using a complete beauty routine.

Clarins developed Daily energizer specifically to suit young women’s skin care preferences. the line includes Cleansing Gel, a foaming wash, which includes moringa extract to counter-act the effects of pollution. Wake-up booster, a lotion meant to be applied after cleansing, is said to tone and re-fresh skin while improving radiance, thanks to a cocktail of green coffee, red currant, white tea and cocoa extracts. the line’s moisturizing offer comprises a cream-gel, a cream and a lotion with sPF 15. their formulations include vitamin C, turmeric, alchemilla and ginkgo biloba.

“the line addresses ladies in between their teenage problem of acne and their first signs of aging in their thirties,” said herbreteau. “During this time, young

women usually do not have major skin prob-lems — they [want] a balanced and perfect [complexion] without little imperfections.”

according to herbreteau, the idea was to make prestige treatment formulations avail-able at prices adapted to young women’s

budgets, too. Product sizes are slightly smaller than is tradition-al for Clarins, for instance, allow-ing for accessible price points.

“Many of them are not 100 percent convinced that they need skin care, so we need to motivate them and give them products at a price that means they don’t have to sacrifice anything else,” she said.

in France, a 75-ml. tube of Cleansing Gel will retail at 13.52 euros, or $19.36 at current ex-change; a 125-ml. bottle of Wake-up booster will run for 20 euros, or $28.64, and the moisturizers will each be priced at 31.81 euros, or $45.53, for 30 ml.

to reach Daily energizer’s tar-get audience, Clarins will plough 80 percent of the line’s advertising budget into online marketing. ads will include the strap line, “My First Clarins.”

samples, including sachets, also will be used to promote the line, which industry sources estimate

will generate $25 million to $30 million in its first year on counter.

Daily energizer will bow in europe, ex-cept the u.K., this month. it will be intro-duced in the u.s. and asia next year.

— Brid Costello

aCCessoRies DesiGneR taRina tarantino hopes her collection will be the newest jewel in sephora’s lineup, with a sparkle-plenty color cosmetics line that will bow online in February and in sephora stores in March.

best known for her fanciful jewelry and accessory designs, tarantino was a model and a freelance makeup artist for a num-ber of years before turning to designing.

“i created the line i wanted to use my-self,” said tarantino, who founded her com-pany in 1995 with hus-band alfonso Campos. inspirations for her jew-elry range from sixties cinema to Japanese culture, from victoriana to vintage collages; she plans to explore these themes in her beauty ef-forts as well.

“[tarina] sees her line not only as a well-designed makeup collec-tion, but as an accessory,” said sharon Rothstein, senior vice president of marketing for sephora, noting that the line’s sil-ver and pale pink pack-aging is finished with tarantino’s signature rhinestones. “We think it will appeal to girls of all ages. What is so appealing is that it has a sense of optimism and whimsy.”

the core collection includes 24 shades of eye Dream hypershadow, a pressed eye shadow formula with high pigment payoff; three shades of Magic hour Cream shadow, which are water resistant, crease-resistant eye shadows; 13 shades of eye Dream hyperliner, a waterproof eyeliner; Fleur De lash, a thickening mascara in one shade; 12 shades of Gem Gloss, a plump-ing and hydrating lip gloss; 12 shades of Conditioning lip sheen, a lightweight lipstick; five shades of Dollskin Cheek, a long-lasting blush; eight shades of Dollskin Powder, a micronized, buildable compact powder; sparklicity shimmer Dust for the

body and hair; sparklicity Pure for the eyes, lips and cheeks; Pearl Glow Primer; a five-piece brush set, and a powder-blush brush. limited edition fashion-trend color collections will be brought to market twice a year, noted tarantino.

Prices range from $17 for each eye Dream hyperliner to $69 for a five-piece brush set.

“We are planning a significant and in-tegrated marketing plan for tarina’s line, which will be supported with animation,

storefront window dis-plays and gondolas,” said Rothstein, adding that tarantino will make personal appearances on behalf of her brand. the line will also re-ceive extensive online advertising support, said Rothstein.

While tarantino and Rothstein declined to comment on projected sales, industry sources estimated the tarantino beauty lineup could do upward of $8 million at retail in its first year on counter. it will be in all 250 of sephora’s north american doors and on-

line at sephora.com.the tarantino line represents another

peg in sephora Presents, the retailer’s strategy of cocreating exclusive lines for its stores. other brands in this category include sephora by oPi, an exclusive nail color line, and Kat von D beauty, a collec-tion created with the tattoo artist-reality tv star which includes fragrances, color cosmetics and tools. “We want to give our clients a true editor’s voice, and be both a trendsetter and a trend creator,” said Rothstein, adding that the lines draw new fans into the store. “sephora Presents is our ability to give voice to unique beauty brands that we believe will be destination brands for our consumers.”

— J.N.

Chanel’s Quest: The Sexy Lip Clarins Aims for Youth Market

“Women seem to have forgotten how to apply lipstick. ”

— Peter Philips, Chanel

Tarantino Adds Sparkle to Sephora

The ad visual, featuring Vanessa Paradis.

Itemsfrom Tarantino’s line.

Clarins’ Daily Energizer

Cleansing Gel.

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6 WWD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010

Mass Retailers Glimpse Recovery The Beauty Report

By Faye Brookman and Molly Prior

NEW YORK — Santa visited the nation’s mass retailers over the holiday season, but along with delivering sales gains to many, he loaded some of their profits into his bag.

Rampant price promotions, buy-one, get-one-free deals and deep discounts after Christmas threaten to cut into some retailers’ bottom lines. For instance, during vis-its to stores in New Jersey, shoppers spotted coupons for $5 off fragrance gifts sets priced $24.99 and up, and spend-$50-and-get-$20-off deals.

But, learning from last year’s ho-hum holiday, most retailers entered the season with leaner inventory levels to ward off serious damage.

Several retailers, including Target and Ulta, emerged from the season feeling positively jolly.

Target’s net retail sales for the five weeks ended Jan. 2, gained 5 percent to $9.74 billion, from $9.28 billion in the prior-year period. The retailer’s December compa-rable-store sales increased 1.8 percent.

“December comparable-store sales were much better than expected, as stronger-than-anticipated guest traffic throughout the month drove sales growth in a broad array of merchandise categories, including apparel, electronics, toys, food and health and beauty,” stated Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and chief execu-tive officer of Target Corp.

Ulta also enjoyed the spoils of the holiday season. The beauty merchant’s net sales for the seven-week holiday period surged 18.2 percent to $262.2 million, from $221.9 million in the prior-year period. Comparable-store sales for the holiday gained 7.9 percent, compared with a decrease of 5.8 percent last year. As a result, Ulta has raised its fourth-quarter fiscal 2009 expectations, and now forecasts quar-terly sales in the range of $388 million to $392 million, up from its previous guidance of $362 million to $376 million.

Lyn Kirby, Ulta’s president and ceo, stated, “The combination of dynamic marketing, compelling offerings and enticing value drove an 8.8 percent increase in customer traffic, which led to a better-than-expected performance for the holiday season. The period also benefited from a less promotional gift-giving environment across retail versus last year, especially in apparel.”

Drugstore chains had a tougher go of it, with both Walgreens and Rite Aid reporting declines in comparable-store sales.

In aggregate, retailers across all channels successful-ly weathered the season. Retail Metrics Inc., a research firm, predicts retailers will yield a 1.8 percent increase in December comparable-store sales. The gain would represent a solid rebound from 2008, which marked the worst decline in more than 40 years. December also ben-efited from an extra selling day before Christmas.

“The holiday was slightly better than the ini-tial estimates, but better with a grain of salt,” said Neil Stern, a senior partner at the retail-consulting firm McMillian Doolittle. “Last year was abysmal.”

Despite glimmers of recovery, “Everybody will remain very cautious,” Stern said, citing high unem-ployment and uncertainty in the housing market and finance industry. “Beauty is one category that withstood all the prior recessions, but that doesn’t seem to be the case this time,” he said.

In the mass market, beauty did reemerge as a contributor to sales gains after nearly five years of taking a back seat to electronics. Shoppers looking for value sought out fragrance and gift sets once again. But frugality was the ultimate victor.

“The Coty fragrance business fared well with strong new launches, heavy adver-tising and value coupons,” said Mary van Praag, senior vice president of sales for Coty Beauty.

“December sales of fragrance did pick up after the poor weather the weekend before Christmas, offset by the extra day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. In addition to Christmas sets, basic stock continues to improve with more retailers hav-ing improved the merchandising of fragrance,” she said.

At CVS Pharmacy, fragrance was a standout category over the holiday season and throughout the year, said a company spokeswoman. Fragrance sales over the holiday gained double digits over the prior year, she said.

CVS would not comment on the factors driving growth, but several industry watch-ers said the drugstore chain bought more aggressively this year.

Walgreens, suggested a few industry sources, had a tougher time with the fra-

grance category, as it bought a leaner assortment. It’s a move sources credited to Walgreen’s Customer Centric Retail initiative, designed to overhaul the front end of its stores. Walgreens could not be reached for comment.

Walgreen’s December sales gained 3.6 percent to $6.3 billion, from $6.1 billion in the prior year, while comparable-store sales decreased 0.3 percent. Front-end sales, or nonpharmacy sales, ticked up 1.5 percent last month, while comparable store front-end sales slid 3.1 percent, due to what the company stated was its “decision to take a cautious approach to buying this year’s seasonal inventory.”

Rite Aid also felt the pinch of frugal shoppers. The drugstore chain’s total stores sales in December declined 3 percent to $2.09 billion, from $2.16 billion. The chain’s comparable-store sales decreased 1.8 percent in December with front-end same stores sales down 2.3 percent.

A few retail buyers said this year their chains sold more fragrance sets than cos-metics sets. Designer scents fared better than mass brands. One merchant said fra-grance in large sizes — or what she called a “jug of juice” — did well.

On the beauty side, companies said the nail care brand Sally Hansen nabbed sales.CVS Pharmacy did not divulge which particular brands sold best, but a spokes-

woman said nail color has replaced the lipstick index, the theory that in tough eco-nomic times, women will continue to buy lip color. “Nail polish [sales] overall were off the charts,” she said, adding that CVS’ holiday nail color sets, which included

10 shades with a nail file, had their best performance this past season.

CVS also reported mascara sales remained strong, and that the con-

sumer is still responding positively to new technology, including the recently introduced L’Oréal Paris Telescopic Explosion Mascara.

Target used its Web site, circulars and Target-To-Go locations to reinforce its image that it is an affordable and convenient option for fantastic gifts, said a com-pany spokesman. To entice shoppers to buy online, target.com expanded its free shipping offer on purchases of $50 or more on all orders placed between Nov. 1 and Dec. 20 to 100,000 items, up 50 percent from the prior year, said the spokesman. In beauty, patterned hair appliances (think Zebra print) continued to sell briskly. In hair appliances, affordable price points hovering around $19.99 ruled. Natural gift sets, from companies like Burt’s Bees, also did well. In fragrance, the standout sets were Usher for Men and Paris Hilton.

Now, post holiday, retailers are playing an internal game of deal or no deal. There is a growing concern about the extensive use of deals to spur sales, but at the same time, retailers worry about the impact of some vendors potentially walking away from buy-one, get-one-free offers this year. In a sense, the industry is caught in a vice as far as this popular promotional tactic.

Television and online retailers said holiday beauty sales outperformed last year’s results but, “It wasn’t easy,” said QVC’s Allen Burke, with the treatment and makeup categories taking center stage. Below, comments from Burke, HSN’s Michael Henry and Drugstore.com/Beauty.com’s Kathleen McNeil on how their respective stores’ holiday beauty sales capped 2009.

— Andrea Nagel and M.P.

Allen Burke: I think it’s fair to say that results were better than last year. It wasn’t easy. Maybe we as retailers are getting better in terms of how good you have to be to excite the consumer. The customer has always been in a situation where they would buy if you

were enticing enough…but we are not where we were last year or the year before, and we are not going back there. You have to have great offerings. I think she is tired of the usual stuff that you throw at her — the free shipping and handling, the discount. You have to excite her with product. What emerged as popular was treatment, which normally we don’t think of as a holiday offering but it is very much so in terms of devices. We have had incredible results with Clarisonic and Tria. In classic treatment, we had strong business with Philosophy and Dr. Perricone, and also we had some new entries with Kiehl’s. I don’t mean to leave out color — we were strong in Bobbi Brown, Mally and Laura Gellar. But if I had to choose the place that was the

most pleasant, I would have to say it was treatment. We have very high expectations for 2010 with an aggressive plan and would probably say more aggressive than any other retailer including doing something with Kim Kardashian and her fragrance in February, and Ken Paves and his hair line.

Michael Henry: Beauty sales in December were phenomenal. The category is very close to having strong double-digit increases over last year. The one segment that is really gathering traction is our prestige range. Prestige was negligible last year with less than 2 percent of our total sales, and this year it was well more than 10 percent. Driving that is Lancôme. We also dropped Tresor scent strips in our direct mail pieces and Tresor is the fastest-selling item out of the whole program. In fragrance, the highlight was the Sean John appearance where we sold $500,000 in product in less

than an hour. We had a kit event with our independent brands, which was successful, such as the Benefit kit that had all of their minis. I think this time of year, customers are always looking for the product story and something unique and giftable, but they are also shopping price point. The $35 to $49 [price range] is a winner.

Kathleen McNeil: We attracted shoppers online with new initiatives such as the 12 Days Of Christmas, running three to six offers — ranging from free shipping to gifts with purchase — each day. Competition heated up early, and we responded by offering limited-time free shipping throughout the season. On Beauty.com, limited edition items and gift sets, including Stila’s Mini Lip Glaze Collection for $25, also did well. Devices continue to sell briskly, particularly the $149 Mia Sonic, a new entry price point from Clarisonic.

Treatment, Color Lead TV Sales

Inside a Walgreen’s store. Left: Wet ‘n’ Wild’s holiday palette.

7WWD, friDay, january 8, 2010

The Beauty Report WWD.COM

NEW YORK — Rimmel is giving retailers the royal treatment.To herald Rimmel London’s 10th year of distribution in the U.S., the color

brand is launching its largest number of new items ever. There are also fresh graphics to help fortify the brand’s position in the mass color business, includ-ing a pressed crown in powders to reinforce its British heritage.

Rimmel remains the number-one brand in the U.K. and has the honor of ranking third in Europe. The brand has an estimated worldwide volume of about $700 million.

Now, Coty-owned Rimmel plans to extend its grasp on America where it is approaching the 21,000-door mark. That’s impressive growth from its debut as an exclusive in Wal-Mart in 2000. “We are focusing on building it here,” said Rick Goldberg, vice president of Rimmel Cosmetics, as he displayed the new lineup.

Growth has included expanding Rimmel’s reach, from mass merchants such as Wal-Mart to drugstores including Walgreens and CVS, as well as food-and-drug combination chains. Many combo stores are enlarging beauty depart-ments to capitalize on America’s obsession with one-stop shopping while also finding products that boost profits. Rimmel, said one grocery non-foods exec, fits the profile of cosmetics that work in a grocery-combi-nation store environment.

At a time when retailers are consolidating duplicate brands and stockkeeping units in their beauty departments, Bill Boraczek, se-nior vice president of cosmetics marketing at Coty, said Rimmel is unique. “No one else is doing what we do. We are bringing the London look to America at an affordable price.”

The items, for example, retail from $3.49 to $7.99. Boraczek be-lieves Rimmel is underspaced in many doors, and as chains perform productivity analysis, some are offering more real estate to Rimmel, which commands an average of 3 to 4 feet in most accounts. While many mass brands claim to lure shoppers from prestige channels, Boraczek is con-fident that many shoppers entering mass doors for other purchases are stopped in the aisles by the colors and excitement offered by Rimmel.

One key to success is that, although at first blush Rimmel appears to appeal to a younger audience, its reach penetrates a larger range of women looking for modern colors and products, the Rimmel team said.

The items reflect efforts to stay on top of trends. An observer eyeing the trays of the new items shipping into stores now can’t help but notice a mascara in a hot pink package — The Max Volume Flash Mascara. Rimmel had a bit of a hit last year with Sexy Curves mascara, which was singled out by retailers such as Duane Reade as a success for 2009. Building on that success, but offering a different type of coverage, is Max Volume Flash. According to Goldberg, the mascara delivers 14 times more volume. The Lash Expand formula is enriched with collagen to fatten lashes and Keratin for stronger, sleeker, shinier lashes.

“And we’re very excited about the brush, which is supersized and our biggest brush ever,” noted Goldberg. The product is designed with hollow bristles for opti-mum flexibility and perfect “lash loading.” Available in black and extreme black, it retails for $7.19.

Also in the eye category is a new mono eye shadow called Glam Eyes, with bold

colors including spicy bronze, posh peacock, royal violet and celestial sap-phire with high impact. The pressed powders are embossed with a quilted pattern with Rimmel London’s signature crown.

Moisture Renew Lip Colour is a new SPF 18 formula and a cutting-edge Self Adapting Moisture Complex featuring hyaluronic acid, collagen and vi-

tamins A, C and E to nourish lips. There are 24 shades in an elegant metallic purple case. Suggested retail is $6.79.For those who prefer gloss, Rimmel introduced Royal Gloss. The wet-looking

gloss is available in pearly shades in scents of bubble gum, chocolate and peach and is priced at $4.99.

Face is a growing business at Rimmel and the firm hopes a new Lasting Finish Blendable Blush and Highlighter will keep the momentum rolling. The blush is of-fered in four shades and the Blendable Blush and Highlighter comes in trip palettes. Both are priced at $4.99. With bronzers also serving up golden opportunities, Rimmel has a new Sun Shimmer Maxi Bronzer for face and body retailing for $7.99.

Finally, in nail color, Lasting Finish Pro Nail Enamel ushers in a new era for Rimmel nail color with upscale packaging and salon quality. “We do know a thing or two about nail products,” joked Boraczek, referring to the expertise gained when Coty purchased Del Cosmetics. The finish is said to last up to 10 days. Moreover, there is a wide-angled brush for fast and mistake-free application. With more than 800 fine-textured bristles, the brush is designed to adapt to any nail shade and re-quires fewer strokes to apply. This new nail line is available in 31 colors and will retail for $3.99.

The nail color is a vivid example of how the two beauty companies have dovetailed so well as part of the merger, said Boraczek. “We’ve really learned from each other.”

Beyond the array of new items, Goldberg said Rimmel has advertising planned to kick off next month as well as a greater use of social networking, including bloggers.

By Rachel Brown

URBAN DECAy COSMETiCS AND OPi PRODUCTS have gone down the rabbit hole with “Alice in Wonderland” so consumers can get inspired by the up-coming movie when they peer into the looking glass.

Disney Consumer Products approached the two Southern California-based companies about a year ago to con-sider licensing agree-ments enabling them to interpret the characters in director Tim Burton’s take on the Lewis Carroll book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” for beau-ty products. They quickly signed on, intrigued by the enduring tale of a young girl, the magical world Burton could dream up and the well-known actors in the film (Johnny Depp plays The Mad Hatter and Anne Hathaway is The White Queen.)

“Burton is dark and edgy, yet everything he does is really beautiful at the same time,” said Wende Zomnir, Urban Decay’s creative director and co-founder. “i felt it was a perfect match for Urban Decay to do a palette based on his vision.”

The resulting palette, a $52 limited edi-tion “Alice in Wonderland” version of Urban Decay’s Book of Shadows products, is cov-ered in a pattern with teapots and cups, and opens to reveal a pop-up drawing of Alice, recently shrunken by the “drink me” bottle contents, in the

mushroom forest. inside, there are 16 shadows with “Alice in Wonderland”-related names, such as a bright blue called Alice, and a white shade called White Rabbit, as well as two travel-size 24/7 Eye Pencils and one 0.13-oz. Eyeshadow Primer Potion.

Suzi Weiss-Fleischmann, OPi executive vice president and creative director, described herself as thrilled to work on the “Alice in Wonderland” project. “Everybody wants to be somebody. if they like an actor or ac-tress, they can associate a nail lacquer with their character, and it gets them closer,” she said. “These collaborations draw the consumer more and more to a movie and a [nail lacquer] color.”

There are four $8.50 OPi nail lac-quers in the “Alice in Wonderland” set: Absolutely Alice, a blue glitter; Thanks So Muchness, a red shimmer; Off With

Her Red, a vivid red, and Mad as a Hatter, a black multiglitter shade.

Rolling into stores this month in advance of the March 5 movie

release, the lacquers will be sold at Ulta, J.C. Penney,

Dillard’s, Pure Beauty, BeautyFirst, Chatters,

Regis, Trade Secret and Beauty Brands.

Also entering stores is the Urban Decay palette, which will be available at Sephora, Ulta and Macy’s. At

Sephora, Zomnir detailed there are Alice-themed endcaps and point-of-sale merchandising displays set up like a bookshelf to showcase the “Alice in Wonderland” product,

and tabletop displays at Ulta with enlarged renditions of the interior of the palette. it is estimated the Urban

Decay “Alice in Wonderland” palette will generate more than $4 million in sales.

Johanna Mooney, Disney Consumer Products’ di-rector, health and beauty, explained the “Alice in Wonderland” beauty collaborations are intended to build buzz and help Disney engage a broad audience. “if you look at Facebook on Urban Decay, even though they haven’t officially announced the Book, people are already asking about it,” she said. “Knowing that the Urban Decay consumer base finds it exciting that Urban Decay is partnering with Alice and Disney, that is exciting for us. it makes a woman think about Disney in a different way.”

While Disney has permitted images from its “Alice in Wonderland” properties to be on beauty products in the past — Goldie used Alice in products for Bath & Body Works three years ago and Gianna Rose Atelier launched soaps featuring characters about two years ago — Urban Decay and OPi are the first beauty brands to translate Burton’s ideas and are aimed at cutting-edge beauty consumers older than typical Disney car-toon watchers. younger, mass consumers, however, will also be privy to “Alice in Wonderland”-branded beauty products when a line produced under license by Townley Cosmetics hits Wal-Mart and Hot Topic, among other retailers, this summer.

Mooney believes the new “Alice in Wonderland” beauty products could move fast and become coveted by collectors. it has happened before. Mooney noted Carol’s Daughter’s “The Princess and the Frog” mer-chandise called A Magical Beauty Collection sold out in less than a day on the hair care brand’s Web site, and a Disney Couture Minnie Mouse handbag retailing for $100 was priced as high as $3,000 on eBay last year prior to the holidays.

“All i am hearing is that people can’t wait to get their hands on that thing,” said Zomnir of the Urban Decay palette. “i suspect we will see quite a few of these on eBay.”

For her part, Weiss-Fischmann admitted the most memorable outcome of the “Alice in Wonderland” col-laboration would be an encounter with Depp. “My re-quest is that i want to meet him,” she pronounced, “or, at least, [get] a picture that says, ‘With love to Suzi.’”

Rimmel Grows Reach, Launches Largest New Product Mix

Beauty Firms Find ‘Wonderland’ With Licenses

“Alice in Wonderland” items from OPI and Urban Decay.

Rimmel’s event site. Left: Rimmel’s Lasting Finish Pro Nail Enamel.

criticalmassFaye Brookman

by

By Molly Prior

Move over “Mad Men.” Bare escentuals has Bypassed Madison avenue, choosing instead to hang around the water cooler for advertising inspiration.

on the heels of its quirky, attention-grabbing love Matte cam-paign, the beauty firm will introduce rethink What Matters, an Internet and mobile marketing effort designed to reflect the senti-ment of its customers.

In the past, the company has relied heavily on tv advertising with its long-standing informercial format, said Bare escentuals Inc.’s chief executive officer leslie Blodgett.

“We listen and engage with our consumer all the time,” said simon cowell, senior vice president of marketing, adding that early last year the tone of the discussion changed in the wake of economic turmoil. “We said, ‘Why don’t we invite ourselves into the conversa-tion.’ We came up with the slogan rethink What Matters.”

the aim, he said, is to elevate the conversation beyond cosmetics.cowell and the creative team gathered in Blodgett’s office to

brainstorm, and by the end of the session they had scrawled 50 tag lines across a white board. From there they whittled the list down to 15. like the love Matte effort, rethink was created in-house, and the company will work with ad agencies to executive the campaign, which will be launched on Jan. 22 and will run through June.

In keeping with Bare escentuals’ wink-wink approach to market-ing, the tag lines are intended to be interruptive to spark conversa-

tion. For instance, one ad reads, “rethink Going Bare in public. B a r e M i n e r a l ’ s spF 15 Foundation feels completely weightless, but gives you all the flawless coverage you want. like you are wearing noth-ing at all.”

the ad messag-es will blanket the outdoors, includ-ing bus shelters, billboards and building scapes. on its home turf in san Francisco, the company will plaster the ads throughout the powell street Muni metro station, traf-ficked by a throng of commuters and tourists and locat-ed underneath the Westfield shopping center, home to a

Bare escentuals boutique. each of the ads directs consumers to re-thinkwhatmatters.com.

the microsite, slated to launch Jan. 22, will present visitors with a weekly topic to discuss, and their comments will be posted on Facebook and twitter, said cowell.

“the site will be very personal and also superficial,” quipped Blodgett. “you need both to be truly happy.”

It’s that irreverent sense of humor that drove the spirit of the campaign, said cowell. the beauty firm also is partnering with Facebook to run a variety of “engagement ads,” including video, polls and fan page invitations. a Flickr page will launch at the same time.

a company-filmed video, featuring employees holding post-ers declaring what they are rethinking, will be posted on the site, youtube and run on a tv loop in Bare escentuals’ boutiques. Blodgett said her poster declared “empty nest,” as her son will enter college next fall.

Bare escentuals will take its message to the streets of san Francisco, from Feb. 2 to March 28; new york, april 5 to May 2, and chicago, May 5 to June 6, by dispatching its Quickie van to each city. the van, branded rethink What Matters, pops up into a mini bou-tique complete with chandelier and a team offering “makeunders,” shade matching services and samples for lip and eye products and its original and Matte foundations, which will be increased to 20 shades from 15 next month. to drum up excitement, cowell said the company will tweet about the location of the van, which will be con-stantly on the move.

referring to the company’s creative process, Blodgett said, “one of my lines to the team is, ‘Why should I care?” the aim, she added, is “more talk, less makeup.” “that makes a bigger impact.”

8 WWD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010

The aim is “more talk, less makeup. ” — Leslie Blodgett, Bare Escentuals Inc.

Mass Makeup Gets Techy and Natural in ’10 Bare Escentuals’ Latest Wink The HBA Report WWD.COM

By Andrea Nagel

neW IteMs For 2010 contInue to roll out to store shelves, with new color technology at revlon and sustainable packaging and corrective color in-novation by physicians Formula among some of the most relevant launches to hit the cosmetics aisle.

at revlon, two new franchises are entering the scene: colorBurst, a 20-shade lipstick line, and photoready makeup, a foundation and powder col-lection.

executives at the leading mass market lip brand said they saw an opportunity “to offer new technolo-gy,” according to donna Baird, vice president of mar-keting, hence colorBurst’s lip-hugging formulas that use weightless, high-pigment color-release technolo-gy called elasticolor. shades were selected by revlon global artistic director Gucci Westman. colorBurst, a prestige-positioned range with an embossed revlon stamp on the lipstick, will sell for $8.99.

photoready makeup “uses coated pigments that bend and reflect light,” said annette Falso, vice president of worldwide marketing product develop-ment for revlon, a must-have for the high-definition generation. “We started to think, how can we bring [hdtv] to the consumer and make it relevant?” she said of the idea behind photoready. the foundation has been formulated to “take you through the business day and into dinner” with photochro-matic pigments. revlon, which has the number-one mass foundation franchise with colorstay Makeup based on dollar volume, “did intense consumer testing with all types of different light-ing, making sure she looked nice from one environment to the next,” Falso said.

Formulas are oil free, fragrance free and have an spF 20. packaged in a pump bottle and available in 12 shades, photoready will sell for $13.99. there are also three shades of photoready powder, as well as a translucent finisher, which will sell for $12.99.

revlon also is launching an Illumination collection, which includes age defying spa Face Illuminator, a brush-on cream to be worn with or without foundation. to promote Illumination, revlon is putting together a campaign called “revlon says: Illuminate,” which will feature actress Jessica Biel in ads, who is making her debut as a revlon spokeswoman this month.

Famed photographer Mario testino shot all of revlon’s print ads for this year, which fea-ture a bevy of celebrity spokesmodels, including Jessica alba for colorBurst lipstick, halle Berry for photoready and elle Macpherson for age defying.

at physicians Formula, chief executive officer Ingrid Jackel said this year will see more consumers interested in natural cosmetics, and makeup sales growth over the next five years will stem directly from natural beauty items. With that in mind, physicians Formula kept its focus on natural ingredients and sustainability for many of its first-half launches. Bamboo Wear, perhaps its most notable effort, is a line of naturally sustainable Bamboo silk Face powder and

Bamboo silk Bronzer formulas, to be placed in a bamboo compact, complete with a brush and

mirror, which will be sold separately. each powder and bronzer offers three

shades and is formulated to even skin tone, absorb excess oil and smooth skin’s surface. Formulas are free of parabens, synthetic pre-servatives and synthetic fragrances. the com-

pact comprises two compartments — one that houses a powder refill and one that has a full-size

mirror and bamboo brush applicator. Jackel said the compact “will last forever” and will sell for $6.95.

refills will sell for $9.95. physicians is taking minerals to corrective color

with its Mineral Wear franchise, launching three new items that have been formulated to address hiding imperfections, evening out skin tone and highlight-ing skin. there’s a talc Free Mineral correcting concealer, which includes a trio of corrective cream concealers packaged in snap-in vials. each set includes a natural concealer (to cover) and a pink concealer (to highlight). consumers can choose whether they want their third concealer to

either address dark circles and other bluish imper-fections (delivered with a soft yellow concealer) or

correct blemishes and red imperfections (found in the soft green concealer). Kits will sell for $8.95 each. there’s

also a talc-Free Mineral correcting powder, which blends pink, green, yellow and natural tones to deliver a primer, corrector and

skin tone evener in one pan. the correcting powder compact includes a mirror and a brush and will sell for $13.95. a talc-Free Mineral Illuminating powder duo spF 16 allows users to create their own foundation shade to highlight and contour. available in three shades, it will sell for $13.95 and be available in March.

the firm also is launching healthy Wear, a new platform that meshes with physicians Formula’s medical heritage and includes three products that aim to give a burst of color to skin while also protecting it from uva and uvB rays. there’s healthy Wear spF 50 tinted Moisturizer, a first of its kind to the mass market, as well as a healthy Wear spF 50 powder Foundation, and an spF 50 pressed Bronzer, each of which will offer four shades and sell for $14.95.

Jackel said the firm has been working on sunscreen boosters so healthy Wear formulas can reach very high spF levels without having to use too much sunscreen. “the sunscreen boost-ers triggered the healthy Wear line,” she said, adding that formulas have spFs made with zinc oxide and titanium, but that the spF boosters allow for about two-and-a-half times longer protection. healthy Wear will carry a skin cancer Foundation seal.

sources noted that physicians distribution will drop to 23,700 this month from 29,500 as the brand exits Walgreens. physicians would not confirm the loss of Walgreens as a retail partner. overall, Jackel said she is “satisfied” with the brand’s performance “as our top retail partners for 2010 have plugged us into their national campaigns.”

physicians, the mass market’s leader in bronzers and concealers, is working on a high-end makeup line for a prestige european retailer.

Physicians Formula’s Bamboo Wear sustainable bamboo compact and Bambuki brush.

ColorBurst lipstick.

Advertising is slated to launch Jan. 22.

WWD.COMWWD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010 9

By Nina Jones

Matthew williaMson is bringing his color-drenched aes-thetic to the men’s wear arena.

February will see the debut at retail of williamson’s first men’s capsule collection, featuring items such as cashmere sweat-ers in vivid green, electric blue and deep pink; silver gray cotton silk t-shirts with an embellished beetle motif and silk and wool scarves adorned with star and paisley prints. “i’d wanted to do men’s wear for a long time,” said williamson, adding that if the initial spring collection is well received, he’ll expand the line into “suits, shirts and jackets.”

earlier this year, williamson tested the men’s wear waters when he produced a few men’s looks as part of the collection he designed for h&M, a project he described as “kind of a starting

point” for his own men’s col-lection. Prices for williamson’s men’s line start at 195 pounds, or $310 at current exchange, for a printed wool scarf and run up to 450 pounds, or $717, for a printed cashmere sweater. the collection will be sold at williamson’s stores in london, new York and Dubai and at the label’s online store beginning next month, and also will be car-ried at harrods’ designer men’s wear department in london.

williamson said he sees the collection as “luxury, everyday pieces.” and while the designer said he’s approached the collec-tion in the same way as he would women’s wear, he appreciated being able to road test the looks. “it’s a nice change, from a design point of view, that i can put the garments on myself and work on a product that’s appropriate for me,” said williamson.

By David Lipke

PattY nast Canton, Co-founder of men’s sportswear brand nat nast, has exited the company, wwD has learned.

Canton launched the south norwalk, Conn.-based brand in 2000 with her sister, Barbara nast saletan, who remains with the company as executive vice presi-dent of sales. Canton was presi-dent and chief executive officer of nat nast until april 2009, when lawrence DeParis was named to that position. he was a former president and ceo of escada Usa. Canton assumed the creative di-rector title at that time.

while Canton and saletan founded the company and named it for their father, they only hold a minority stake in it. outside investors own a control-ling stake in the brand and that

may have led to Canton’s exit, said sources. the investors had pumped more money into the company over the past year, further diluting Canton and saletan’s stake.

Reached thursday, Canton declined to provide details on her departure, but noted: “i started out in my basement 10 years ago and invented this company. there are lots of di-rections to go and things to do in the future.”

DeParis also declined to elaborate on the departure, but said Canton’s responsibilities as creative director will principal-ly be assumed by Kerry Ryan, nat nast’s longtime vice presi-dent of design. Ryan joined the company in 2002.

saletan did not return calls for comment.

Canton and saletan found-

ed the company with a line of upscale, retro-inspired bowl-ing shirts that were based on designs that their late father popularized in the Fifties and sixties. nat nast originally founded the brand in Kansas City, Mo., in 1946, but it had fall-en into disuse after he sold it in the late sixties.

over the past decade, the two sisters revived the name and grew the company into a full gentlemen’s sportswear collection that is now sold in more than 600 department and specialty store doors, including nordstrom, saks Fifth avenue and Mitchells. the brand is known for its casual, vintage-inspired em-b r o i d e r e d shirts and u p s c a l e knitwear. WWD

Men’s

By David Moin

anDRew Jennings is on the Move again. a retail globetrotter, considering all the high-

level assignments he’s held around the world, Jennings just concluded a three-year run at the helm of woolworths south africa, based in Cape town, where he triggered a whirlwind of change. he’s ready for some change himself.

“i have now completed my contract with woolworths and [am ending] on a very high note — major sales and profit increas-es and some impressive market share increases,” Jennings told wwD. “the company has asked me to become an adviser over the next three years, depending on my next assignment.”

Jennings said he was consid-ering some job possibilities, but has not made a decision. though he’s a native of london, it is be-lieved he is eager to return to the U.s. and lead a company within the fashion-retail sector.

at woolworths, the 39-year retail veteran held the title of group managing director. among his accomplishments, he shifted the corporate mentality from product focused to consumer centric and injected a handful of mod-ern and contemporary fashion labels into the pre-dominantly moderate-price private label to meet the demand for brands from south africa’s emerg-ing black middle class. he was on a drive to el-evate women’s and men’s apparel and accessories to a level closer to the chain’s high-end food of-fering and implemented a merchandising matrix

with good, better, best pricing on one side of the grid, and classic, modern and contemporary styl-ing on the other — to guide the buying and distri-bution decisions for different doors. it’s the same grid Jennings helped implement at saks inc., where he spent a turbulent two-and-a-half years as president just before joining woolworths.

at the south african retailer, Jennings also es-tablished a product design studio, a 10-day “buying

academy” for buyers, associate buyers and planners to train in the basics of gross margin cal-culations, and a customer-rela-tions management department with a database of more than two million customers.

women’s, men’s and ac-cessories is almost entirely private label and represents 55 percent of the chain’s total volume. Food is 45 percent of the business and is 90 per-cent private label, 10 percent brands. woolworths, known as “woolies,” is considered a mass merchant for middle and upper incomes.

the company generated rev-enues of 21.8 billion rand, or $3 billion at average exchange,

and net profits of 952 million rand, or $131 million, in the fiscal year ended June 30.

Prior to woolworths and saks, Jennings was president of holt Renfrew in Canada, deputy chairman of Brown thomas in ireland, and managing director of house of Fraser and gen-eral manager of harrods, both in london. in the early part of his career, he worked at retailers in south africa.

Andrew Jennings Ends Stint at Woolworths South Africa

Williamson Enters Men’s Wear

Patty Nast Canton Leaves Nat Nast

A look from Williamson’s

new men’s collection.

A look from Williamson’s

new men’s collection.

Andrew Jennings

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WWD.COMWWD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 201010

By Cate T. Corcoran

What are ann taylor, Banana republic, Bebe and avon doing on sears.com? they have all joined the retailers’ online mar-ketplace, which debuted in July but which Sears officially unveiled only thursday.

Sears and Wal-Mart are becoming more like amazon and eBay online, allowing other firms to sell products on their site. Wal-Mart launched its marketplace in august with a mil-lion products. Six months in, Sears has 10 mil-lion items from more than 1,500 sellers across 400 categories.

the potential for revenue and profits is significant, said Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru.

“the margins should be high,” she said. “they don’t have to house any inventory and it’s just pure profit that it pushes to their bottom line. It helps to subsidize the rest of the business where they have to aggressively compete on cost.”

the marketplace is an outgrowth of Sear’s Shop your Way program, which offers multi-channel shopping such as ordering from a mo-bile phone and picking up in-store so customers never waste a shopping trip, said a spokesman.

“the idea of increasing the assortment is right within that strategy, and that’s the idea

behind the Marketplace, which is bringing in even more products and making them avail-able to our customers,” he said.

Sears and amazon take a similar approach with three options and fee structures. Sellers can simply display their goods on sears.com and pay a small fee when shoppers click through to their site. alternatively, sellers can set up a store on Sears that uses the Sears’ shopping cart, but do their own shipping. lastly, sellers can ship goods to Sears for stor-age and let Sears handle fulfillment.

Fees vary by category. For clothing, ad-vertisers pay 75 cents a click. For clothing that is sold on the Sears site, sellers pay a flat monthly fee of $40 plus 15 percent of the selling price. there is also a monthly fee of $40 for fulfillment, in addition to storage fees that start at 45 cents a cubic foot. amazon’s fees are comparable.

amazon does not break out Marketplace revenues or profit figures. Industry experts es-timate third-party items make up at least 20 to 30 percent of units sold on amazon.

“there’s a long way to go before Sears or Wal-Mart would start to see those sorts of numbers,” said Mulpuru. “how well [Sears] merchandises it and how good the offers are will determine its ultimate success, which re-mains to be seen.”

MIcroSoFt hopeS to IntereSt retaIl-ers in its software and services by promoting its Star Style retail concept next week at the national retail Federation trade show and conference in new york. Introduced in Italy in September, Star Style is the new name for any customized Microsoft projects in the areas of digital marketing and e-commerce.

Microsoft’s retail group now focuses on digital marketing and e-commerce, business insight and store systems such as point of sale, said paula paravecchio, the software giant’s market development director for europe, the Middle east and africa.

the company has updated its vision of advanced retailing to include video, mobile and social networking.

at the Star Style launch at a film festival in Italy, Microsoft showed videos from louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, chanel and Dior on the

wall and on its tabletop touch-screen com-puter called Microsoft Surface. the Vuitton video is an updated riff on the famous Guy de Maupassant story about a diamond neck-lace, instead focusing on a Vuitton bag.

Video — whether online, on mobile phones or in the store — is important to cre-ate an emotional connection between cus-tomers and retailers, said paravecchio.

another idea is that stores can com-bine text messaging with clienteling to au-tomatically send customized messages to customers when they walk into a store, she said. one Italian specialty chain that uses Microsoft customer relationship manage-ment software plans to test sending text messages to customers soon. Many retailers have used text message marketing to send discounts to customers.

— C.T.C.

Microsoft Brings Star Style to NRF Show

SAVING FACE: The fashion world may be enamored with bloggers — but not when they post future advertising images without permission. Images from the spring-summer campaigns from the likes of Dior, Balenciaga, Celine and others have been circulating on Modelinia, Fashionologie and other sites this week, ahead of their appearances in February magazines, causing puzzlement and consternation at some design houses. Fingers have also been pointed at the new blog of Love magazine, which acknowledged some ads — including those of Loewe and Givenchy — were posted with the blessing of designers, while others were snatched from fellow blogs. “This was a genuine human error, made in enthusiasm, and it was certainly never our intention to upset anyone, in particular designers we hold in such high esteem,” Love editor in chief Katie Grand said, assuring “practical steps have been taken to ensure no unauthorized campaign content can appear on the blog at any point in the future.”

Meanwhile, no famous faces were revealed chez Celine. Instead, for the French house’s first campaign in a year, designer Phoebe Philo kept faces out of the frame altogether to emphasize the intricate details and heighten the subtle luxury of her debut runway collection for spring-summer. Juergen Teller shot the campaign in London last October in his unblinking style, using a variety of models: Carmen Kass, Lisanne de Jong, Jacquelyn Jablonski and Valerija Kelava. Kass may be visible in a forthcoming spot focusing on Celine’s eyewear. The media budget was not disclosed, but was characterized as well above 2008 levels and destined for titles throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe. In the U.S., Vogue, W and Harper’s Bazaar will carry the spots. — Samantha Conti and Miles Socha

POPULAR COUPLE: One knew but still went ahead with it, while one claims he didn’t. In either case, it’s unclear what’s next in the growing furor over the use of images of President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama in ads for Weatherproof and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, respectively.

For now, Weatherproof can keep its billboard up in Times Square showing the President in one of the company’s jackets on the Great Wall of China. Freddie Stollmack, president of Weatherproof, was playing “telephone tag” with the White House on Thursday but hadn’t heard back by press time. Stollmack told WWD he was previously unaware he needed to contact the White House to use the President’s image on the billboard, adding he thought a payment to the Associated Press for the image was all that was necessary. (The AP contract does stipulate, however, that approval from the subject in the photo must be gained by the organization using the image for commercial purposes.) “The White House has a long-standing policy disapproving of the use of the President and First Family’s name and likeness for advertising purposes,” said Bill Burton, White House deputy press secretary, in an e-mail to WWD.

As for the AP, a spokesman said the issue was between the outerwear firm and the White House.

In addition to the billboard, the ad was offered to The New York Times, New York Post and WWD, all of whom rejected it.

But while Stollmack said he was unaware of the White House’s policy, a PETA official said the group totally knew about it — and decided to ignore it. The organization this week used an image of the First Lady in a “Fur-Free and Fabulous” ad, alongside Oprah Winfrey, Tyra Banks and Carrie Underwood. Ingrid Newkirk, PETA’s president, said the First Lady’s office confirmed several months ago in an e-mail responding to a question posed by the group that Michelle Obama does not wear fur. On the basis of that alleged confirmation, Newkirk said PETA felt it was within its rights to use Obama’s image in the ad, which is being displayed on a van sponsored by PETA, which is handing out hot cocoa in the Washington area, and in print ads in Washington metro stations. Newkirk said the White House legal counsel’s office recently called about the ad campaign but did not threaten legal action at the time. “The White House legal counsel’s office called us to point out they couldn’t promote, fund or endorse the campaign,” said Newkirk. “I pointed out to them that we understood that, which is why we never asked them.” Newkirk maintained PETA’s ad campaign is not for fund-raising but to raise awareness, which is why she felt the organization did not need White House permission.

For now, Newkirk said PETA has no plans of discontinuing the ad campaign, despite the call from the White House. Meanwhile, the White House is said to have contacted PETA and asked them to stop using the advertisements because they are misleading and suggest the approval or endorsement of the President, First Family or the White House, which they did not receive. — Amy Wicks and Kristi Ellis

FORBES SELLS ANOTHER ASSET: Forbes has agreed to sell its Manhattan headquarters at 60 Fifth Avenue to New York University for an undisclosed sum, although reports last month had a potential sale price of $55 million. The transaction with NYU was done with no real estate agent and Forbes will remain in the building as a tenant, under a five-year leaseback agreement. The company moved into 60 Fifth Avenue in 1962. “Selling our building to New York University is gratifying and appropriate,” said Steve Forbes, chairman and chief executive of Forbes and editor in chief of Forbes magazine. The sale infuses some cash into the company, which posted a 30 percent drop in ad pages last year at its flagship title, laid off approximately 100 workers and auctioned its wine collection. — A.W.

NEW AT CHANEL: Iana dos Reis Nunes is joining Chanel Inc. as executive director, public relations for fashion, fine jewelry and watches, effective Monday. In this role, dos Reis Nunes will work on developing and implementing strategic public relations plans to increase the brand’s recognition in fashion, fine jewelry and watches. She will report directly to Rebekah McCabe, Chanel’s senior vice president, public relations. Dos Reis Nunes is joining from Louis Vuitton, where she spent the past 10 years, first at the company’s Paris headquarters and most recently as public relations director for the brand’s North American division. At Chanel, she is succeeding Gretchen Gunlocke Fenton, who left last fall to join Tod’s. — Marc Karimzadeh

MEMO PAD

By Alessandra Ilari

MILAN — as sales season began this week in many Italian cities, hordes of shoppers swarmed the streets looking for bargains to start the new year.

With many stores slashing price tags by up to 70 percent, lines formed outside both de-signer boutiques and midrange stores, with up to a two-hour wait in some cases. the shopping frenzy also spread to stores such as abercrombie & Fitch and Moncler, which don’t discount. according to Federmoda/confcommercio, the Italian retail and commer-cial association for fashion, Italian families will spend an average of 418 euros, or $ 599 at current exchange, on apparel and accessories during sales season, for a total of 6.1 billion euros, or $8.8 billion. the reve-nue equals a 21 percent slice of the sector’s total volume. the average per capita expenditure will total 174 euros, or $250, ac-cording to confcommercio. Davide Bordono, town coun-cillor for retail and commerce in rome, said the number of consumers taking advantage of the winter sales season grew by 20 percent compared with last year. the government legally mandates the dates sales season can take place in Italy in both January and July.

la rinascente, Gucci, prada, Dolce & Gabbana, hogan and alberta Ferretti were among the most crowded stores.

on Jan. 2, the first day of the sales period, Monica Ferreri, head of communications at la

rinascente, reported record sales of 2 million euros, or $2.87 million, as more than 60,000 peo-ple flocked to the department store. Management was forced to rearrange the direction of the es-calators to ease traffic flows. Discounts ranged between 30 to 50 percent and best-selling wom-en’s apparel items were tailored pieces.

angelo cavalleri, retail manager at hogan, noted a 22 percent increase in at-tendance although the brand doesn’t mark down its classic sneakers. “aware of the air of crisis, we ordered less fall merchandise to

avoid excess stock so fall was in general a good season for us, heightened by a positive beginning of sales season,” said cavalleri.

laura casali, the manager at alberta Ferretti, saw shop-per traffic rise by at least five percent as consumers spent an average of 750 euros, or $1,076, for the house’s spe-cialty — pretty dresses.

over at Missoni, sales were also brisk with discounts of 30 percent and clients picking up patterned knitwear and scarves.

the McarthurGlen outlets around Italy also registered heavy traffic, with further dis-counts of up to 50 percent off

the already marked down merchandise. During the first weekend of sales, the castel romano outlet counted 75,000 visitors, a 15 percent increase against the same period of last year, while the one in the Veneto region saw traffic up by 40 percent to 45,000.

— With contributions from Luisa Zargani and Alessandra Turra

Sears Expands Scope With Online Marketplace

Sales Season in Italy Brings Out Consumers

The Celine campaign.

More than 60,000 people visited La Rinascente on the first day of sales.

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The New Yorker

85Th aNNiversarY issueA Double Issue on Sale Closes Call Beth Lusko, Associate Publisher, at

February 8th–21st February 2nd, 2010 212-286-4454 or beth_lusko@newyorker.com

12 WWD, friDay, january 8, 2010

Financial

2010 remains guarded.Many companies reporting December comparable-store sales Thursday

beat their own internal expectations, which led to a slew of upgraded fourth-quarter earnings guidance from retailers including Macy’s Inc., Kohl’s Corp., Nordstrom Inc., Limited Brands Inc., Aéropostale Inc., Destination Maternity Corp. and, in the red-hot off-price channel, The TJX Cos. Inc. and Ross Stores Inc. Others, such as Sears Holdings Corp., said they would top analysts’ estimates.

While TJX and Ross generated the largest increases for the month — 14 and 12 percent, respectively — December was especially kind to upscale department stores, which were battered especially hard by the recession. Easier comparisons and over a year of adaptation to the tougher consumer landscape helped Saks Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and Neiman Marcus Inc. re-verse prior declines and post increases of 9.9 percent, 7.4 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.

Macy’s cited a strong performance at its upmarket Bloomingdale’s unit in re-porting a 1 percent increase for the month, aided by a 29.4 percent leap in online sales, and lifting its fourth-quarter guidance to a range of $1.14 to $1.18, exclud-ing special items, from its previous outlook of $1 to $1.05. “Gifts and designer brands” were instrumental in Bloomingdale’s success, the company said.

“We had a consistently positive month except for the weekend of the snowstorm, which was very tough on us considering our concentration in the markets where the storm hit, in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Northeast,” Terry Lundgren, Macy’s chairman, president and chief execu-tive officer, told WWD.

Looking forward, the Macy’s ceo cautioned that “all of those underly-ing issues that impact the consumer are still there for 2010,” and cited the nation’s high unemployment, tight credit and deflated home values.

Still, Lundgren said he was “encouraged” by recent trends. “I believe we can take market share,” he said. “Comps are going to become easier, particularly in the first half of 2010, but the consumer has more clarity today than in over a year, in terms of their jobs, their financial status and their credit situation. I think the consumer is significantly more positive than a year ago. The overall situation is easier to read. I’m not saying it looks great, but we can plan for it better than we did in the past.”

Nineteen of the 33 retailers tracked by WWD posted gains, making last month the first since May 2008 that more retailers finished the month with increases than decreases. In December 2008, WWD’s tally was dominat-ed by 28 declines to go with seven increases and three companies that were flat.

While stores have been able to limit the damage to their bottom lines by cutting expenses and inventories, they’ve had little in the way of pleasant top-line sur-prises since the credit markets went into a tailspin in September 2008.

“Comps were better across the board, especially at the high end,” said Citi broadlines analyst Deborah Weinswig, who explained that she has seen traffic im-provement in that sector since September.

The flight to value is “here to stay,” she said, but a consumer “hourglass is taking shape as high-income con-sumers benefit from the positive wealth effect created by rising equity markets and low unemployment [in that group]. At the same time, low-income consumers face a scarcity of jobs and inflation in gas and energy costs,” she said, explaining that unemployment among high-income college-educated consumers is only 4.9 percent, while it is 15.9 percent among less-educated consumers.

“Still, I think the outcome from this great recession will be that it’s OK to shop private label” or shop “for a deal,” she said, pointing to the mass channel.

At the higher end of the discount sector, Target Corp. got back on the growth track with a 1.8 percent boost as it reaped the rewards of its value-centric model, accord-ing to Weinswig, as well as people’s perceptions of it as an upscale off-pricer.

According to Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a sales tracking firm, “retailers racked up a 3 percent December same-store sales gain, which is the single biggest monthly same-store sales increase since April of 2008.”

Retailers are expected to post a 28.5 percent average gain in fourth-quarter earnings, which will most likely be re-vised upward, he said, adding that a last-minute sales surge prior to Christmas, and another afterward, “saved the day.”

Perkins said 72 percent of the retailers he tracks beat expectations, while just 28 percent missed. However, he remained “cautious on January” as inventories are low.

This will limit markdowns, he explained, but outside of gift card use, “there is no real catalyst to shop as con-sumers take a breather.”

Even below the luxury level, department stores showed marked improvement, as the group turned in a 1.4 percent comp increase, according to data collected by WWD.

While J.C. Penney Co. Inc. had a 3.8 percent comp de-cline in December, midtier rival Kohl’s Corp. continued with its recent winning ways with a 4.7 percent increase.

“We continue to see strong increases in transactions per store, indicating customers are selecting Kohl’s when they choose to shop, while maintaining their con-servative spending,” said Kevin Mansell, chairman, president and ceo of the Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based retailer. Sears, which normally does not report monthly comps, showed a 0.4 percent rise, with Kmart’s 5.3 per-cent increase overcoming Sears U.S. stores’ 4.3 percent decline. Sears offered fourth-quarter earnings guidance of $3.36 to $4.06 a diluted share, well above the consen-sus estimate of $2.65. The upbeat projection helped lift the retailer’s shares 11.6 percent Thursday to $99.18.

But not all sectors rode the rising tide. Specialty re-tailers monitored by WWD averaged a 0.3 percent de-crease for the month.

“The majority of consumers who shop at specialty do look for value,” said Hana Ben-Shabat, a partner in the retail prac-tice at A.T. Kearney. Shabat noted that while “it is very diffi-cult to categorize” across the group, shoppers are still largely taking a “cautious approach” as unemployment is high.

She also said that, when looking at December’s re-sults, one needs to consider all the planned promotions during holiday. Saks, for instance, ran its designers’ sale earlier than usual, she said.

“I think we will see a bit of a dip [in comps] following the clearance of January inventory,” she said, adding retailers should see steady increases toward the end of the year. “It will be very difficult to return to pre-recession levels.”

Nonetheless, companies that will continue to “thrive” during this difficult period will do it based on compelling product, said Citi specialty analyst Kimberly Greenberger.

“If you’re not differentiated, you’ve got to have a value proposition,” she said, pointing to Abercrombie & Fitch Co., which is struggling to obtain either. The teen retail-

Old Navy and Saks each posted increases in comparable-store sales in December.

Old Navy and Saks each posted increases in comparable-store sales in December.

Retailers Cautious Even as December Comps Rise

“I think January might trend up but I don’t think February will hold. I’m not ready yet to say we have a trend. ”

— Bjoern Petersen, HP Enterprise Services

december same-store sales December november october 2009 2008 % change % change % change % change

DePartment StoreS bon-ton -2.6 -5.8 -6.0 3.1

dillard’s -7.0 -5.0 -11.0 -8.0

J.c. Penney -3.8 -8.1 -5.9 -4.5

Kohl’s 4.7 -1.4 3.3 1.4

macy’s 1.0 -4.0 -6.1 -0.8

neiman marcus 4.9 -27.5 -12.7 -6.2

nordstrom 7.4 -10.6 2.2 6.5

saKs 9.9 -19.8 -26.1 0.7

stage stores -2.2 -4.9 -12.5 -0.1

average: 1.4 -9.7 -8.3 -0.9

SPecIaLtY chaInS abercrombie & Fitch -19.0 -24.0 -17.0 -15.0

aeroPostale 10.0 12.0 7.0 3.0

american eagle 7.0 -17.0 -2.0 -5.0

american aPParel -5.0 3.0 -11.0 -6.0

banana rePublic -3.0 -15.0 -4.0 5.0

bath & body WorKs 4.0 -11.0 4.0 2.0

bucKle 6.6 13.5 1.4 4.3

cato 7.0 -2.0 0.0 0.0

children’s Place 4.0 0.0 -13.0 -2.0

destination maternity -1.2 -6.9 -11.6 -5.2

gaP (u.s. stores) 1.0 -12.0 -4.0 -6.0

hot toPic -10.9 4.3 -11.7 -2.6

old navy 7.0 -16.0 6.0 14.0

rite aid -1.8 -0.2 -0.8 -0.5

victoria’s secret -6.0 -9.0 3.0 -6.0

Walgreen -0.3 4.9 3.9 4.9

Wet seal -4.6 -12.5 -5.0 -1.3

ZumieZ 0.3 -12.3 -8.5 -8.9

average: -0.3 -5.6 -3.5 -1.4

maSS merchantS bJ’s Wholesale club* 2.7 5.9 1.0 3.7

costco* 4.0 -4.0 2.0 4.0

ross stores 12.0 0.0 8.0 9.0

stein mart -2.0 -8.5 -7.2 -4.9

target 1.8 -4.1 -1.5 -0.1

tJX cos. 14.0 0.0 8.0 10.0

average: 5.4 -1.8 1.7 3.6

taLLY: uP 19 6 12 14

Flat 0 3 1 1

doWn 14 24 20 18

total 33 33 33 33

SOURCE: COMPANY REPORTS *ExClUdES fUEl SAlES

Continued from page one

er recorded a 19 percent slide on top of a 24 percent comp dip a year ago, with the Hollister unit’s 25 percent decline weighing heavily on results.

“Hollister merchandise is lackluster, so they are having to be very price competitive,” she said. “Average unit retail company-wide is down 14 percent.”

The New Albany, Ohio-based retailer not only has “product issues” across the board, but “they’ve got shutters across all store windows,” she said, inhibiting consumers from seeing sales signs and new merchandise. “They don’t seem to think it’s an issue.”

Aéropostale, on the other hand, was the teen sector’s best performer with a 10 percent jump in comps. “They’ve got the best price points in the mall and a good brand,” Greenberger said.

Rival American Eagle Outfitters Inc. beat expectations with a 7 percent increase in comps, driving Brean Murray, Carret & Co. retail analyst Eric Beder to upgrade the company’s stock to “hold” from “sell.”

“While we could point to very easy com-parisons, the company did exactly what it told investors it was going to do: drive sales via strong values and pre-planned events,” he said. “We believe the customer respond-ed well, especially to the fashion-driven of-ferings.”

Gap Inc. combined its value message with more effective marketing and posted a 2 per-cent rise. By division, Gap North America and Old Navy North America posted increases of 1 and 7 percent, respectively, offset by Banana Republic’s 3 percent decline.

While the Gap division was “very effec-tive” with its weekly promotions and tele-vision campaign, Greenberger said she is “just not convinced it’s sustainable.”

Specialty retailers faring worse included embattled jeweler Zale Corp., which doesn’t report comps on a monthly basis. It posted a 9.2 percent comp decline, while mall based-retailer Hot Topic Inc. recorded a 10.9 per-cent dip. Zumiez Inc. led all retailers tracked by WWD with a 15.6 percent increase in its stock price, to $14.66, Thursday, after it re-ported a 0.3 percent increase in December comps late Wednesday.

Overall, the S&P Retail Index moved up 3.29 points, or 0.8 percent, to 417.25, out-pacing the 0.3 percent increase of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which ended trad-ing Thursday at 10,606.86. The generally positive comp results failed to move stocks significantly, although TJX was up 5.1 percent to $39.06 and Ross up 4.1 percent to $45.95. Shares of Nordstrom rose 4 percent to $38.93 and Macy’s was up 2.3 percent to $17.49, but Saks was off 3.8 percent to $7.16 and Kohl’s declined 2.3 percent to $53.46.

In the end, even though Santa showed up this Christmas, some industry experts say it might be too early to celebrate.

“Obviously it’s good news that the numbers are up,” said Bjoern Petersen, vice president and general manager of the retail industry group at HP Enterprise Services. “I think January might trend up but I don’t think February will hold. I’m not ready yet to say we have a trend.”

According to Peterson, unemployment is likely to remain high in the first and second quarters, causing the consumer to remain cautious.

“It will still be choppy for a while,” he said. — With contributions from David Moin and Arnold J. Karr

WWD.COM13WWD, friDay, january 8, 2010

Financial

0.10 0.10 Cygne Designs (CYDS) - 3200 0.10 +25.13

4.55 4.27 Tefron (TFRFF) - 1700 4.55 +21.33

15.74 14.51 Zumiez (ZUMZ) 57.6 1857545 14.66 +15.62

101.85 96.10 Sears (SHLD) - 7011748 99.18 +11.60

3.47 3.27 Wet Seal (WTSLA) 19.7 1632041 3.40 +7.59

1.30 1.20 Charles & Colvard (CTHR) - 115172 1.29 +6.61

0.150 0.14 NexCen (NEXC) - 128340 0.14 +6.06

8.78 8.08 Sally Beauty (SBH) 15.3 1155378 8.77 +5.79

2.03 1.92 Parlux Fragrances (PARL) - 52356 2.03 +5.73

14.53 13.81 Chico’s (CHS) 228.5 5066730 14.47 +5.54

10 BEST PERFoRMERS DAILY COMPANIES P/E VOLuME AMt

HIgH LOw LASt %CHANgE

7.15 6.60 Christopher & Banks (CBK) - 649694 6.68 -12.79

35.28 32.59 Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) 150.9 14287422 32.67 -9.78

5.57 5.33 Hot Topic (HoTT) 14.5 3088808 5.47 -8.22

6.38 5.99 Bebe (BEBE) 42.7 1475745 6.02 -7.95

21.39 20.23 G-III Apparel (GIII) - 143916 20.26 -5.02

14.48 14.10 Duckwall-Alco (DUCK) 70.3 8008 14.10 -4.54

45.09 42.16 Gymboree (GYMB) 13.6 1297358 43.20 -4.09

7.72 7.15 Saks (SKS) - 7737098 7.16 -3.76

21.39 19.96 Gap (GPS) 14.8 24822499 20.27 -3.66

34.99 33.80 Urban outfitters (URBN) 33.0 5852891 34.08 -3.40

10 WoRST PERFoRMERS DAILY COMPANIES P/E VOLuME AMt

HIgH LOw LASt %CHANgE

* Editor’s note: European stocks are quoted in the currency of their principal exchanges. Shares on the London Stock Exchange are quoted in pence, Richemont and The Swatch Group are quoted in Swiss francs and Hennes & Mauritz is quoted in Swedish kronor. All other European stocks are in euros.

Bos Named CEO of Van Cleef American Unit

Increases at Bloomingdale’s and in online sales lifted Macy’s

to same-store sales growth.

Increases at Bloomingdale’s and in online sales lifted Macy’s

to same-store sales growth.

Retailers Cautious Even as December Comps Rise

For more on the state of retail, see WWD.com.

By Sophia Chabbott

NICOlAS BOS HAS BEEN PROMOTED to president and chief executive officer of Van Cleef & Arpels in America, effec-tive April 1.

Bos, 38, will retain his role as worldwide creative director for the Compagnie Financière Richemont-owned fine jewelry and watch firm. He succeeds Emmanuel Perrin, who was named American president and ceo of sister company Cartier, which is also owned by Richemont, last year.

Bos will report to Van Cleef & Arpels worldwide president and ceo Stanislas de Quercize, who said his “contributions have been instrumental in Van Cleef & Arpels’ development for over 10 years.”

“As we embark on a new decade, his extensive experience and relationships within the industry will be critical to the brand’s continued dedication to the

Americas,” de Quercize said.Bos started at Richemont in 1992

at the Cartier Foundation for the Contemporary Arts working in man-agement and marketing, and closely with the artists featured in the mu-seum. He came to Van Cleef in 2000 as international director of marketing and later became creative director. He also had responsibilities related to retail strategy, boutique design and international growth.

Bos developed the timepiece con-cept for the firm, dubbed Poetic Complications, in which the watches tell a story in their design and technical movements.

The Paris-born Bos, who oversaw the creation and marketing of Van Cleef & Arpels’ California Reverie jewelry col-lection in 2009, said, “The [U.S.] has been dear to my heart and very influential in the creative development of this brand on a global scale.”

A JUDGE IN NEW YORK STATE Supreme Court has directed Revlon Inc. chairman Ron Perelman to pay more than $3.4 million to a movie develop-ment company he cofounded with his ex-wife, actress Ellen Barkin.

Perelman started Applehead Pictures in 2005 with his then-wife and her broth-er George Barkin. According to court documents, Perelman agreed to pay $468,160 to cover the start-up’s operating expenses in 2005 and an additional $3.4 million over the following two years.

The couple separated in 2006. Applehead filed a breach of contract suit in 2007, alleging Perelman refused to make the 2006 and 2007 payments. He countersued and accused the brother and sister of breach of fiduciary duty.

Justice Debra James sided with

Applehead in her decision to grant the company a summary judgment, which she signed in December and which was official-ly entered by a court clerk in Manhattan Thursday. The judge awarded the film com-pany $3.4 million with 9 percent annual in-terest dating to January 2007.

Perelman spokeswoman Christine Taylor said Thursday that the financier would appeal the decision.

“The lawsuit brought at the behest of Ellen Barkin has never been anything more than a desperate last grab for further undeserved monies following her very substantial settlement with and release of Ronald Perelman,” Taylor told WWD.

The court will continue to hear other litigation in the case, including Perelman’s counter claims.

— Matthew Lynch

Perelman Ordered to Pay $3.4M in Ex-Wife’s Suit

IN BRIEF• FASHIONOLOGIE TO CLOSE: Tween retailer Fashionologie will close its doors Jan. 21. Perhaps timing was the problem: launched just before the economic down-turn in June 2008 by prominent Angelenos Elizabeth Wiatt and Jamie Tisch, the Hollywood and online store threw craft parties for tweens and sold clothing tweens could embellish with charms. Prices started at $16.50 for a tank top and $2 for charms. A tie-in with Disney and the Jonas Brothers publicized it, and ce-lebrities such as Sabrina Bryan of the Cheetah Girls stopped by. The retailer on Thursday sent an e-mail to its customers, revealing plans to close and offering 70 percent off all merchandise.

WWD.COMWWD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 201014

Young LoveYoung LoveIt’s a modern-day “Love Story” at Louis Vuitton as Marc Jacobs looks to Ali MacGraw’s varsity style for his pre-fall lineup. Influenced by the late Sixties, Jacobs keeps his girl playful and feminine with a hint of sexiness via an ikat jacquard dress with a dramatic cutout back and an asymmetric, flirty heart-print top and skirt. For day, there are plenty of cozy plaids, wool suits and a signature blanket cape. Fur and leather accents give the collection a luxe appeal, including fox knit onto cashmere accessories, a fox bolero on a chic coat and a leather fringe dress. Phot

os b

y Ge

orGe

Chi

nsee

For more, see WWD.com.

WWD.COMWWD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010 15

The visual arTisT who goes by “Finley” will be dressing up a couple of new york City dumpsters today, and she aims to spruce up more in the months ahead.

on a mission to whip up “polite graffiti,” she will blanket two dumpsters with wallpaper donated by some set designer friends outside of the new Museum this afternoon. The pratt alum then plans to take her trash-enhancing project on the road to los angeles, followed by 10 european cities. she also said she is in talks with executives at Chelsea sanitation service about redesigning their dumpsters.

Finley, whose given name is Christine Finley, welcomes any copycats who might be inspired by her project even if they choose to do some-thing similar for ad-vertising purposes. in fact, she is so intent that she will make a how-to-jazz-up-a-dumpster short film and radio show, while she is doing just that today from 3 to 6 p.m. “i love when people take an idea and re-create it,” she said. “That’s one of the great things about art — you can beg, borrow and steal. There are no rights or copyrights. it’s all free.”

based in rome, Finley has fallen into some good fortune. eszter Cohen, a 28-year-old hungarian woman who models herself after peggy guggenheim and is using her inheritance to provide grants to Finley and other women in the arts, agreed to finance the artist’s new york sojourn. Finley will return to italy in a few days where she is the first artist-in-residence benefiting from the generosity of fash-ion designer gai Mattiolo, who plans to provide apartments, design studio space and a creative community for six or seven more. “it’s been a great place to bloom and work and grow,” Finley said.

— Rosemary Feitelberg

TORY’S NEW GEM: Justin Giunta of Subversive has been named design director of jewelry at Tory Burch, with his first collection slated for holiday-resort, WWD has learned. “I have always been passionate about jewelry, and it’s a category we want to expand,” said Burch of her new hire. “Justin’s talent and handcrafted aesthetic will take us to the next level.” For his part, Giunta will continue to design and operate his own collections, including Deviated by Justin Giunta, his new lower-price line. Since launching Subversive in 2003, Giunta’s piled on, collagelike approach to design has garnered plaudits, including the CFDA’s Swarovski Award for Accessories Design in 2009 and Ecco Domani’s first-ever award for accessories design in 2008. While his position at Tory Burch marks Giunta’s first long-term gig with another house, his past runway collaborations include Chris Benz and Trovata. He’s also done a collection for Target.

SPOTLIGHT ON BROADWAY: Bloomingdale’s knows there’s no business like show business. So it has again tied up with another Broadway production, “Love, Loss and What I Wore” and trumpets today its role as official costumer of the hit show by unveiling a Lexington Avenue window re-creating the stage set and showcasing the black outfits worn by the cast. Styles include Hervé Léger, Citizens of Humanity, Helmut Lang, AllSaints, Diane von Furstenberg, Eileen Fisher, Michael Kors and Sutton Cashmere. “Clothing and accessories tell stories. There are pieces in everyone’s closets that are reminiscent of a phase of life,” said Anne Keating, senior vice president of public relations at Bloomingdale’s. The play, an intimate collection of stories by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron and directed by

Karen Carpenter, revolves around clothing and accessories and the memories they trigger. It’s been extended until March at the Westside Theatre. A portion of the proceeds from the play’s ticket sales benefit the Dress for Success charity for low-income women.

THE FLYING SCOTT: Pop designer and club-kid fave Jeremy Scott has his eyes set on New York again. After several seasons of showing his collections in Paris, London or Los Angeles, Scott is returning to New York Fashion Week this season. The Los Angeles-based designer will show his fall collection as part of the MAC & Milk lineup at Milk Studios on Feb. 17.

TAKE THAT: H&M was still on the defensive Thursday due to reports it had discarded and destroyed bags of clothing on West 35th Street in New York. “H&M is committed to taking responsibility for how our operations affect people and the environment,” said spokeswoman Nicole Christie.

Last year the company donated more than 500,000 items of clothing to groups such as Gifts in Kind, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Caritas, the Red Cross and Helping Hands. “When possible, we also donate faulty garments that have been returned to our stores. However, we do not donate clothes that do not meet our safety requirements, chemical restrictions or are damaged,” Christie said. “We have agreements with reputable aid organizations in most of our sales countries.”

H&M has not posted signs or handed out fliers in either of its West 34th Street stores to bring shoppers up to speed about these initiatives. Christie said, “We are currently looking into if we can further improve our routines.”

Finley’s take on dumpster design.

Artist Finley Cleans Up the Garbage FASHION SCOOPS

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EXPERIENCED BUYERS NEEDEDBeyond the Rack, the fastestgrowing online shopping club inNorth America, is looking forbuyers based in New York City andLos Angeles. Candidates must havea minimum of three years buyingexperience with medium to high-end retail chains, and have goodworking relationships with mediumto high-end brands. Merchandisecategories include: women’s andmen’s apparel, accessories, shoes,and hard goods. Salary to be basedon experience.

Please send your CV tomerchandising.hr@beyondtherack.com

Only those candidates who meetour requirements will be contacted

for an interview.

CHILDREN’S COMPUTER ARTISTMajor Childswear Company seeks tal-ented & experienced Girls Artist. Pro-ficient in Illustrator & Photoshop.Must be able to draw flats, createprints and plaids, embroidery art. Ex-perience in Girls apparel is preferred.Need to see a strong portfolio that in-cludes boards. Great working condi-tions plus benefits. Email resumes to:elizabethm@childapp.com

CREATIVE DESIGN DIRECTORLadies sportswear/ sleepwear and kid’ssleepwear company requires a Crea-tive Design Director willing to relocateto Montreal, Quebec, Canada to man-age and lead the in-house fashion de-sign teams. You must be able to per-form all duties that will enhance thecorporate brands and give strong salessupport. You are a strategic partner, abrand builder, a creative thinker, a dy-namic presenter, a mentor, motivatorand a team leader. This is a key posi-tion within the organization. Pleasesend your CV to: hr@jellifishkids.com

DESIGNERS NEEDEDSuccessful denim private label co.need to fill the following positions:--Junior designer--Men/boys designer--Technical designerIndividual must be self motivated, or-ganized & be a team player to work ina fast paced environment. Pls email re-sumes to: designpl@live.com

DESIGN/TECH Est’d ladies importer seeks a self starter,organized, detail oriented designer w/strong technical exp. Must have 7+ yrsexp. to manage design dpmt, incl spectech, CAD operation, & design. Must de-sign /merchandise line. Salary & Benefits.E-mail resume: DesignDept5@gmail.com

DIRECTOR OF DESIGNPremium Golf Performance Outerwearand Sportswear Brand seeks creative"out of the box" thinker and leaddesigner for product evolution andmarket expansion. Ideal candidate is ateam player, passionate designerand/or merchant who understands thegolf, performance and related separatesbusiness. Great opportunity for growth.Must have min. 10 yrs in product build-ing and creation. This position isbased out of our NY/CT locations.Summit Golf Brands is a leader in thegolf apparel industry with a portfolioconsisting of three extraordinarybrands: Fairway & Greene, EP Pro andZero Restriction. We offer a competitivesalary and benefits package. Forconsideration please forward resumewith salary requirements to:

drowland@summitgolfbrands.comNo phone calls or walk-in’s please.

INVENTORY CONTROL MANAGERLuxury Golf Apparel Company seeksexperienced Inventory Manager forour Manhattan based office. Responsi-bilities include: Forecasting seasonalbuy plans, monitoring andre-forecasting inventory purchasesand receipt plans, preparing all inven-tory purchases for vendors, catalogand brochure proofreading to ensurestyle and pricing accuracy, work withMerchandising and Design for collec-tions planning, SKU set-up/UPC crea-tion, pricing, review of weekly reportsfrom QC Managers and overseas facto-ries, analyzing of freight and dutyexpenditures. The ideal candidate willbe a motivated team player with 5+years experience. Familiarity withBlue Cherry or similar, Escape, Exceland MS windows app.’s a plus. Sometravel required. Forward resume withsalary requirements to:

drowland@summitgolfbrands.com No phone calls or walk-in’s please.

Product ManagerNewborn layette and bedding importerin Westchester County is seeking acreative and versatile individual with7+ years experience in thechildrenswear industry to join ourmerchandising team. The position isresponsible for analyzing and inter-preting trends, developing strategicproduct assortments and presentingproduct to key accounts. Must havethe ability to direct art and designteams and collaborate with keyaccount executives. Must haveexcellent verbal and written skills; beorganized, detail oriented and a teamplayer.Competitive salary with benefits.Email cover letter indicating that youare applying for the Product Managerposition, resume and salary require-ments to service@cuddletime.com

SALES ASSISTANTAlexis Bittar Inc is looking for a salesassistant to offer operational supportto Wholesale Department Store SeniorSales Executive. Candidate must have3 years experience in wholesale/retailjewelry industry. EDI experience pre-ferred. Please send cover letter withsalary requirements, and resume to:

job_reply2000@yahoo.com

Technical Product ManagerNewborn sleepwear and bedding im-porter seeks an individual with mini-mum of 2 years experience. Responsi-bilities include creating product pack-ages, establishing and approving labdips, strike-offs and embroideries.Must have eye for color plus workingknowledge of textiles and basic print-ing is a plus. Individual will coordi-nate information betweenmerchandisers/designers and overseasfactories. Must have BA/BS degree,good organizational, communicationand computer skills. A great opportu-nity for a self motivated individual inthis quickly growing company. Mustbe able to work in Westchesterlocation.Fax cover letter, indicating that youare applying for the Technical ProductManager position, and resume to914-428-0610 or send by e-mail toservice@cuddletime.com

SHOWROOM SALES• 3 yr+ experience• have worked closely with majors• strong track record growing salesEmail resume and salary requirement to:Employment@twinklebywenlan.com

SAVE THE DATE: MAY 10-12, 2010

It’s time for a fresh start. We invite retail and beauty CEOs

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