So said the CEOs of Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Bloomingdale’s, Ethan Allen, as well as Saks Fifth Avenue’s new president a week into the job.
After a long Monday at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in New York City, I stole a few moments with the executives during a party held by investment firm Financo at the Harmonie Club.
My question for them: What are your top goals for 2014? Here’s what they had to say.
Terry Lundgren, CEO, Macy’s
This year, Macy’s is all about cozying up to individual shoppers, said Terry Lundgren, CEO of the department store.
“We were the first to bring localized store assortments to a large-scale company” with My Macy’s, an organizational structure the retailer launched in 2008 to better tailor merchandise to the needs of local markets.
“Now we’re taking My Macy’s to an individual [shopper level to offer] individual experiences for the consumer… We know what you want and what shoppers like you want,” he said, pointing at me intently.
Lundgren cited technology from shopping app Shopkick as one way Macy’s is serving shoppers’ idiosyncratic wants and needs.
In November, ShopBeacon transmitters went live in a handful of Macy’s larger stores, including its Herald Square flagship in Manhattan.
When consumers enter these stores, ShopBeacon offers those who’ve opted in the opportunity to interact with the retailer as they move throughout the store.
Macy’s then offers them location-specific discounts, product recommendations and rewards, as well as store offers based on their at-home web browsing patterns.
The initiative is still in beta-test mode.
Mike “Myron” Ullman, CEO, J.C. Penney
Mike Ullman was short and sweet on his top goals for J.C. Penney this year. “The rest of the turnaround -- to finish it off,” he told me heading into the party.
Of course the returning CEO was referring to his efforts to resuscitate the chain after the April ouster of his successor Ron Johnson.
Ullman has restored the sale events and private brands like St. John’s Bay clothing and JCP Home that Johnson had eliminated -- moves that sparked a massive shopper exodus and steep sales declines.
One big sign that Penney is on the mend, according to Ullman, is that “our customer service scores have never been higher,” he said.
Farooq Kathwari, CEO of Ethan Allen
Furniture retailer Ethan Allen is “going to migrate from being a leader in furniture to a leader in home fashions,” Kathwari said.
That means the retailer will be moving away from matchy-matchy looks in favor of “eclecticism,” evidenced by a mixing of styles such as contemporary and traditional looks, as well as a mélange of textures, fabrics and colors, he said.
It seems the invocation of fashion as a means to jazz up traditionally non-fashion businesses is in the air these days.
Indeed, Kathwari called
Marigay McKee, President, Saks Fifth Avenue
It’s a new day for luxury chain Saks Fifth Avenue, which was acquired in November by Canadian department store conglomerate Hudson’s Bay Co. for $2.4 billion.
The acquisition resulted in a swift makeover of its senior ranks, including the appointment of Marigay McKee as president.
With a new regime in place, Saks will invest a meaty $1.25 billion in refurbishing the chain as it beefs up its mix of exclusive merchandise in a bid to stand apart from the sea of sameness in the department store space. It will also pursue younger shoppers.
When I asked the former Harrods merchant what tops her goals for the business in 2014, she said “reenergizing” the retailer by “increasing the standards, services, image and positioning” of the Saks brand via visual merchandising, window displays and its personal-shopping services, as well as “thinking globally but acting locally,” referencing the brand’s expansion opportunities overseas.
Tony Spring, CEO, Bloomingdale’s
When it comes to Bloomingdale’s big plans this year, “omnichannel is at the top of the list,” said Tony Spring, who succeeds the retiring Michael Gould next month as CEO of the upscale division of Macy’s.
That means “leveraging inventory in all channels of the business [stores, online, mobile] and leveraging data so that the right product is in the right market, and making sure we understand the [idiosyncratic] differences per market,” he said.
Indeed, retailers from beauty chain Ulta to
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