Oser Communications Group

GENERAL NEWS 4 US homewares giant Williams-Sonoma, owner of Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and West Elm, has unveiled ambitious growth plans in Australia where it will open eight stores this year, staking its claim to an estimated $735 million sales pool being car ved up by foreign fashion retailers. It joins overseas department stores H&M, Marks & Spencer and Uniqlo and fashion chains such as Zara, Topshop and Hollister which combined are slated to open more than 100 stores across Australia in the next two years. Already its largest market outside of North America thanks to its e-commerce platform and high brand recognition, Williams-Sonoma set up two stores in Australia last year, its flagship outlet in the new Bondi Junction shopping centre and a West Elm store in Melbourne, and will now quickly plump up its presence. Chief executive Laura Alber said in her fourth-quarter earnings presentation in mid-March the homewares retailer's global expansion was an important growth vehicle and the company had slated to open eight retail locations in Australia in 2014. The company's homewares and furniture have long been popular among Australian shoppers, even before it opened a single Williams-Sonoma to Open 8 Stores in Australia This Year store in the region, boosted by Pottery Barn's entrenched place in U.S. pop culture and product placement in TV shows. Its merchandise was often featured on TV queen Oprah Winfrey's shows while Pottery Barn got a boost last decade from being featured in an episode of TV show "Friends." The investment in Australia is part of the onslaught by overseas chains looking to muscle in on the $37 billion domestic fashion and department store market. UBS analyst Ben Gilbert believes foreign retailers such as Spanish fashion chain Zara, UK's Topshop and U.S. group Abercrombie & Fitch could drain as much as $735 million in revenue from the domestic sales pool over fiscal 2013 to fiscal 2016, with another $1.69 billion sucked out by offshore online sites. Most of these will try to emulate the early success of Zara, which in 2012 generated roughly $107 million in sales from just six local stores, with $113 million expected for 2012-13. " These retailers have been ver y successful overseas and have significant scale, and so they clearly have a model that has been proven," CBA retail analyst Andrew McLennan said. However, growth ambitions could be dented by the tight property market and an inability to secure required sites. At the same time, the falling Australian dollar has nudged shoppers to return to domestic retailers and their online sites, while the rising popularity of "click & collect" – where consumers buy online and collect their goods in-store – is also helping local retailers wrest back sales. Swedish global fashion chain H&M will open its maiden store at the Melbourne GPO redevelopment in the Bourke Street Mall next month. While everyone wants to know the perfect color for their product, not one solution Engage the Consumer with Smart Uses of Color and Design exists. In the world of color, housewares manufacturers and retailers need to be smart, savvy, educated and investigate each usage of color within its own context in order to reach the consumer. "There are generalizations and trends with color, but the magic bullet doesn't exist. You need to know the audience, the consumer, lighting, competition and more," Lee Eiseman told an audience at the 2014 International Home + Housewares Show. In a presentation, "Engaging the Consumer – Facts vs. Fiction in Lifestyle and Color," Eiseman, leading color and design forecaster and executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, along with Tom Mirabile, Senior Vice President of Global Trend & Design for Lifetime Brands and consumer trend forecaster for IHA, discussed the changing realities of today's consumer and the essential role of color in both serving and connecting with them. Mirabile noted that color is important to each generation, although in different ways. For example, he said, Baby Boomers are very color savvy, as color is a part of their nature. Gen X seeks color, as they are exposed to it with their children. And Gen Y are using color in in their homes to express their independence. The generations respond to colors differently, noted Eiseman. "From my perspective, color is about emotion, and each person has their own attachment," she said. "Color delivers emotions to consumers. Baby Boomers are appreciating it even more with the proliferation of eye surgeries – many can see far more clearly than before. The Y generation, as new parents, is inclined to be savvy with trends and you as a retailer or manufacturer needs to stay on top of those trends and be more educated than they are." Mirabile agreed, saying, " We have never dealt with a consumer that is as educated as the consumers of today. People are so exposed, and they are expecting you to be knowledgeable as well." While color is limitless, it is expected to be prominent in retail. "As retailers you have to do your homework," Eiseman said. "What colors have historically sold well for you? Blue, for example, is an international favorite and many customers are dedicated to it. I rarely work on a product line where I don't recommend some shade of blue. But even though it's been a big seller, you need to ask yourself, what shade of blue, and what intensity do you use to get newness out there? "Of course white is always a safe bet, but what can we do with it to make it different? Can you work with the form or shape or contrast? Black and white is a given that never goes away, but still we need to create something new with those colors," she added. "Engage consumers' other senses and ask what makes them want to reach out and touch it? And while red is popular, it needs to be skewed. So you need to arm yourself with the necessary information to make informed choices." Eiseman also noted that there have been notable shifts in color and design that could make a retailer's knowledge of color trends even more critical: For example, the usage of celebrities to sell products, technology that can transform color hues and use of lighting. She cited the color orange as the example of how the consumer mindset has changed. Inexpensive fast food outlets such as Arby's and A&W had orange logos, so it was hard to sell anything associated with orange at a high price point, she said. That changed when Apple, Inc. introduced laptops with colors, including orange. "That opened up ideas to use orange in a far-reaching way. We now see the color orange at every price level, and that will continue. Orange is a color that has amazed me and has gained so much acceptance so quickly. These are the types of trends in today's consumer and how color is essential to connect with them," she said. General News KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW n MAY 2014 n www.kitchenwarenews.com

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