Tag: brands

Al Hamra Real Estate Co. Brings Popular New Stores to its Shopping Center

Elevating its customers’ overall shopping experience, Al Hamra Real Estate Co. is proud to announce the opening of popular local and international high-end brands, featuring the best of fashion, retail and food & beverage. Now available at its Shopping Center, the expansion through its six new stores comes as part of the iconic contemporary lifestyle destinations mission to accommodate customers with the latest trends and fulfil evolving demands under one roof. 

Driven by a modern consumer-centric culture, the exciting new fashion and beauty brands include Zahi, Al Ostoura and Decaar cosmetics followed by unique restaurant concepts such as b+f Open Flame Kitchen and Live Life Cafe, in addition to leading grocery retailer, Sultan Center. Visitors now have quicker access to a wide portfolio of day-to-day crucial and value-added products in a variety of departments including bakery, meat, cheese, household items such as electronics, kitchenware, sports and garments as well as other local and global products from across the world.

Catering to Kuwait’s fashion-forward community, soon to be launched – Zahi, weaves together an assortment of eclectic men’s and women’s clothing, shoes, bags and accessories to suit all tastes. Offering the latest collections by legendary and luxury brands like Moschino, Chloe, Emilio Pucci and Dries Van Noten, Al Ostoura operates more than 40 monobrand and multi-brand boutiques in Kuwait, representing over 150 top designer brands.

Visitors can expect exceptional tastes through b+f Open Flame Kitchen, an upscale designer restaurant concept that serves high-end globally influenced food items. Guests not only enjoy a wide range of gourmet food products but also the entertainment created by “flame cooking”, guaranteeing suspense and action for the diners through flashes of fire and displays of cooking skills by the chef. Those in search of a breakfast adventure can indulge in delightful sandwiches, cookies, fresh juices,

… Read the rest

Read More

California’s plastic law puts beauty and fashion on red alert

California-based Boox — which CEO Matt Semmelhack says is on track to ship 1.3 million Boox boxes in 2022 compared to approximately 100,000 in inaugural year 2021 — launched a new service “almost directly pointed at SB54”, says Semmelhack. It invites brands to return both the Boox shipper and the interior packing material for reuse. “In time, this will lead to e-comm brands switching to reusables not just for the outer shipper like Boox, but also any interior packaging materials, garment bags, etc.”

Reorienting a business towards reuse is also more likely to avoid unintended consequences, such as “manufacturers finding other raw source materials — like chopping down trees — to meet the guidelines to the letter of the law,” he says. “We’re going to need to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, not just give an ‘out’ by making things more recyclable or more compostable.”

Refill and reuse systems can also reap dividends for the business, he adds. “Brands are able to make the returns process an additional post-purchase offline touch point that leads to sales, retention, loyalty, etc. — all those critical things direct-to-consumer brands are after.”

Building momentum

Brands already focused on plastics reduction welcome the bill. Everlane says it has eliminated 90 per cent of virgin and single-use plastic from its supply chain, by shifting to recycled-plastic polybags and recycled fibres in its apparel, among other changes, and Katina Boutis, the brand’s sustainability director, says they are working on the rest. “We’re hopeful that Senate Bill 54 will support us in developing solutions for the last 10 per cent of our goal, namely trims and elastane, by spurring much-needed innovation in recyclability,” she says. “Much of the remaining virgin plastic in these areas requires material innovations that are not currently available at scale.”

… Read the rest

Read More

Bankrupt beauty: Lessons from Revlon’s supply chain failures

zable, indeed, dominant market share.  

For Revlon, some key mistakes in their supply chain have created a domino-effect, costing the company many of its suppliers, customers and creditors. Growing pressure from incumbent brands has heightened competition for materials, as those with healthy liquidity can pre-pay creditors and benefit from large orders and scaled economies. 

For Revlon, cumulative debt has meant some of their raw material suppliers are no longer sending shipments, cutting production and leaving the company only able to fulfil 70 per cent of orders, against an industry standard of around 95 per cent. 

Also, labour shortages due to the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed manufacturing, resulting in late product shipments and fines from retailers, as well as mismanaged inventory and failed forecasting.

What went wrong?

Known as a trailblazer, Revlon was once the most radical company in its space. 

In 1970, it was the first American cosmetics company to feature an African American model, icon Naomi Sims, in their advertising. In the 1980s, its progress campaigns featured diverse, not yet famous, new models like Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, and Christy Turlington, who would later become synonymous with the highest of high-end fashion. 

In the 1990s, the company’s Colorstay range of makeup gained notoriety for its patented formula which promised to remain fresh all day: a new frontier in cosmetics. 

When business was booming, Revlon’s strategy was to expand sales through mass market department stores, as well as buying expensive advertising. Like other legacy brands, they invested in magazine editorials which drove shoppers into stores, where sales would be converted through personal selling and glossy displays. As a strategy, this worked well into the 2000s, but failed dismally thereafter. 

The democratisation of beauty

In the 2010s, the narrative around beauty shifted dramatically, beauty became celebratory, more diverse and more

… Read the rest

Read More