Fashion
As Saks teeters, department stores bet on shopping experiences
By
Reuters
Published
January 8, 2026
From Paris to New York, department stores are sharpening their focus on curated shopping experiences- ice-skating shows, wine tasting, and architectural tours- to try to win back shoppers.
The push has gained urgency as Saks Global’s mounting troubles highlight the sector’s struggle to stay relevant amid competition from luxury brands’ own boutiques and fast-growing e-commerce platforms. Analysts say the trend is more than cosmetic. It reflects a structural shift in a sector under pressure from changing consumer habits and declining foot traffic.
“In today’s market conditions, selling luxury goods requires an outstanding experience, which works best in outstanding venues,” said Benjamin Sebban, head of retail investment at Knight Frank in Paris.
Qatar-owned Printemps‘ new Manhattan store features paper replicas of French landmarks- a reminder of its Parisian heritage- and hosts exclusive launches and wine tasting.
“This is more than a place to shop- it’s a space to live, linger, and immerse yourself in a new kind of luxury lifestyle,” Printemps America CEO Thierry Prevost told Reuters, highlighting the store’s fine dining restaurant, champagne bar and talks with designers.
In Paris, Galeries Lafayette spent more than 100 million euros ($117 million) restoring its stained-glass cupola, crediting the revamp with lifting visits above pre-pandemic levels. The push aligns with research from consultancy Bain that found experiential sectors like hospitality and fine dining drove luxury market growth between 2023 and 2025.
Success isn’t guaranteed, however. LVMH poured around 750 million euros into refurbishing the art nouveau building of its La Samaritaine department store facing Paris’ Rue de Rivoli. But the store still struggled after its 2021 reopening in comparison with LVMH’s Le Bon Marche Paris store, and the pair were combined in a restructuring last year.
Analysts say department stores are betting that curated events and architectural upgrades can revive their relevance amid tougher trading.
Saks Global, whose bonds are publicly traded, reported a 13% year-on-year drop in second-quarter revenue to $1.6 billion in October and an adjusted core loss of $77 million. CEO Marc Metrick stepped down after the company missed a bond payment, triggering reports it was preparing for bankruptcy.
While analysts cite inventory missteps and acquisition-related debt as key factors, they say Saks’ plight reflects a deeper structural squeeze: department stores are losing ground to mass-market chains offering value and luxury brands’ own boutiques promising exclusivity. “What you’re seeing with Saks is a symptom of a much larger problem,” said UBS analyst Jay Sole.
Bernstein analysts say US department stores should move toward concession-heavy models- providing multi-brand sales staff while letting brands manage operations and inventory. Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II offers a template: the city leases prime store spaces through a bidding process, and says values have quadrupled in a decade.
“Multi-brand retailers need to reinvent themselves and go back to their scouting and discovery mission,” said Bernstein analyst Luca Solca.
Some stores are experimenting with partnerships. In November, Parisian retailer BHV hosted the first physical outlet for Chinese budget brand Shein, although the move drew criticism from some competitors and consumers.
“The right answer would be for department stores to build out their own online offering, with their own identity,” Knight Frank’s Sebban said.
Global department store sales are projected to have declined by 4% to 6% in 2025 and to show little recovery through 2030, Bain forecast in November, lagging growth estimates for the luxury sector overall. US retailer Macy’s warned in December of weaker-than-expected holiday-quarter profits due to cutbacks in discretionary spending. London’s Harrods in October reported a 17% decline in underlying operating profit for 2024.
By contrast, e-commerce players are thriving. MyTheresa, owned by LuxExperience, more than doubled quarterly core earnings in November, offering similar products to Saks but with perks like free shipping for orders over $400.
© Thomson Reuters 2026 All rights reserved.
Fashion
Kornit brings global apparel leaders together at Konnections 2026
Kornit Digital Ltd. (NASDAQ: KRNT “Kornit Digital”, “Kornit”, or the “Company”), a global pioneer in sustainable, on-demand digital fashion and textile production, today announced more than 500 leaders from across the apparel ecosystem are gathering in Hollywood, Florida for Konnections 2026 – Powered by Kornit. With more than 20 sessions across three days, the event takes place at a pivotal moment as the industry explores how technology is enabling new levels of agility.
Kornit’s Konnections 2026 gathers 500+ global leaders to advance on-demand apparel production.
With Atlas MATRIX and PrintFactory, the company is building a digital infrastructure linking demand, production, and fulfilment.
The event underscores a shift towards agile, real-time manufacturing with reduced inventory risk and scalable global consistency.
Now in its third year, Konnections has become a central global platform where the industry aligns around what comes next. The event brings together leading sports and fashion brands, digital platforms, creators, designers, software partners, fulfillment providers, investors, analysts, and media, all focused on one clear direction: accelerating the move from forecast-driven production toward agile, on-demand manufacturing.
Critical inflection point
The apparel industry is undergoing a structural shift. Demand is faster, more fragmented, and increasingly shaped by digital platforms and creators. Brands are seeking to reduce risk, improve margins, and operate more sustainably while delivering higher quality at greater speed. These dynamics are accelerating the transition toward demand-driven production, enabled by technologies allowing companies to respond in real time to market needs. Konnections highlights this shift not as a future vision, but as a transformation already underway across the global apparel industry.
From technology to infrastructure
At Konnections 2026, Kornit will unveil Atlas MATRIX, a breakthrough system enabling true on-demand manufacturing across all major fabric types, including cotton, polyester, and blends, within a single platform. By enabling consistent retail-quality production across multiple fabrics, Atlas MATRIX removes one of the largest barriers preventing digital production at scale.
In parallel, Kornit is highlighting the strategic acquisition of PrintFactory, a cloud-native color and production platform enabling consistent output across digital and analog environments. PrintFactory expands Kornit’s ability to support large global producers transitioning from analog to digital production while enabling distributed production at scale. This acquisition strengthens Kornit’s infrastructure connecting demand generation with consistent global fulfillment and expands Kornit’s reach into the large global screen-printing market.
Together, these innovations reflect a clear strategic direction: building a fully digital infrastructure linking demand generation with production and fulfillment, supporting scalable on-demand manufacturing globally. This integrated approach enables brands and demand generators to scale on-demand production globally with consistent quality, supporting faster response to market trends while reducing inventory risk.
“We are witnessing the gradual decline of traditional production models and the emergence of a new era in apparel manufacturing,” said Ronen Samuel, Chief Executive Officer of Kornit Digital. “Production is increasingly moving closer to demand, enabled by digital infrastructure connecting demand generation, production, and fulfillment. Konnections unifies the leaders shaping this transformation.”
A global ecosystem connected
Konnections brings together the full value chain enabling this shift, including global brands, sportswear leaders, digital-native platforms, designers, and fulfillment providers. Participants represent a truly global ecosystem with attendees from the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Keynote speakers include Nick Beighton, former CEO of ASOS; Alex Saltonstall, CEO of the combined Printful and Printify platform; Daymond John, entrepreneur and Shark Tank investor; and senior leaders from global brands including Legends, Custom Ink, Redbubble, Zumiez, Life is Good, Nine Line, Grand Style, and additional industry innovators.
Innovation in action
A central component of the event is the Konnections Solutions Showcase, where Kornit will highlight Atlas MATRIX, Apollo, and Presto MAX PLUS for roll-to-roll and technical applications, alongside innovations in materials, automation, and integrated production solutions. A broad ecosystem of partners will present complementary technologies spanning software, robotics, blank goods, and production automation, demonstrating how connected solutions enable faster, more efficient, and more responsive production environments.
Mr. Samuel concluded, “Konnections 2026 represents a defining moment for an industry increasingly shaped by agility, real-time production, and minimal waste. Konnections unifies the global ecosystem enabling this transformation and demonstrates how the future of apparel production is becoming a reality.”
Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (MS)
Fashion
EU Commission to present series of measures at EUCO Cyprus meeting
This was mentioned by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her recent statement on the impact of the situation in the Middle East on the EU.
Robust intra-EU coordination, measures member states might apply to better protect vulnerable households and sectors from high energy prices, and ways to reduce energy demand are among the measures that the European Commission will present at the European Council meeting in Cyprus soon.
The protection measures should be targeted to vulnerable groups, timely and temporary, Commission president said.
“We are also looking into EU-wide coordination of member states’ gas storage filling, to avoid that many member states go to the market at the same time, so they are competing against each other. We will also coordinate oil stock releases, to achieve the largest possible effect of these releases. And we will ensure that member states’ emergency measures will not impact the Single Market,” her statement said.
“The [protection] measures should be targeted to vulnerable groups, timely—they have to be fast, not in a year but immediately—and temporary—so for a short amount of time you can apply them, but if they are cast in law, you have to make sure that you get out of the measures in a timely manner,” she noted.
This week, the Commission will consult member states on more flexible state aid rules—an important tool—to give members more space for temporary state aid support in the most exposed sectors.
“And my goal is that this temporary state aid framework should be adopted still this month—so that we have the new temporary framework for state aid in April,” she said.
“At the same time, we also need more structural measures to bring down energy prices and give relief to citizens and businesses,” she noted.
She said the only lasting way out of the fossil dependence is to modernise by shifting electricity generation to renewables and nuclear, and by electrifying the economy as rapidly as possible.
She encouraged member states to make better use of existing EU funding like the Cohesion Funds by investing it in grids, storage and batteries.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Fashion
Australian business confidence plunges in March amid uncertainty: NAB
The March survey showed business confidence dropped 29 points to -29 index points, marking one of the steepest monthly declines on record, with similar falls previously seen only during the Global Financial Crisis and the onset of COVID-19, NAB said in a press release.
Despite the sharp fall in sentiment, business conditions eased only marginally, slipping by 1 point to 6 index points, indicating that economic activity has yet to fully reflect the impact of the external shock.
Australian business confidence plunged in March, falling 29 points to -29, while business conditions remained relatively stable, according to NAB.
Despite strong capacity utilisation, forward orders and capital expenditure weakened, signalling rising uncertainty.
Cost pressures intensified, with purchase costs doubling.
While some regions saw improved conditions, confidence declined nationwide.
The divergence suggests that while businesses are increasingly cautious about the outlook, operational momentum has remained intact so far. Capacity utilisation edged up to 83.1 per cent, staying well above its long-run average, with most industries continuing to operate at elevated levels.
However, forward-looking indicators signalled emerging weakness. Forward orders fell into negative territory, erasing gains made earlier in 2026, while capital expenditure also declined, reflecting rising uncertainty among businesses.
The impact of the geopolitical situation was more pronounced on costs, with purchase cost growth doubling to 3 per cent on a quarterly basis. Product price growth also increased, while labour cost growth remained steady.
Sector-wise, the decline in conditions was broad-based, with transport and utilities. Regionally, conditions improved in some areas such as Western Australia and South Australia, but confidence fell across all regions, highlighting widespread concern.
NAB noted that while the economy entered this period with solid momentum, the sharp deterioration in confidence underscores growing risks to the outlook as geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on business sentiment and future activity.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)
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