In this week’s Luxury Briefing, I speak to analysts and researchers about what Bloomingdale’s is doing right as parent company Macy’s Inc. reports its earnings. Also, an exclusive inside look at the next creator storefront (from creator Julia Berolzheimer), as well as executive moves at Richemont, the British Fashion Council, Icicle and Theory. For tips or comments, email me at zofia@glossy.co
At a time when luxury department stores are shrinking, Bloomingdale’s has recorded its strongest second quarter ever.
On Thursday, parent company Macy’s Inc. reported that Bloomingdale’s comparable sales increased 11.3% in the second quarter, marking its second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. Sales increased across every channel, market and category. By comparison, comparable sales rose 1.1% at the Macy’s nameplate and 2.7% across Macy’s Inc.
The result extends Bloomingdale’s growth streak to eight consecutive quarters. It also points to an advantage that separates the department store from many of its luxury competitors: Bloomingdale’s is not dependent on luxury alone.
Its assortment stretches from premium and contemporary fashion to Chanel fine jewelry and watches. In an uneven market, that gives aspirational and high-spending customers room to move between price points and categories without leaving the store.
“One benefit is the fact that Bloomingdale’s continues to fish from both the luxury and premium pools, which means it is not fully exposed to the slowdown in some corners of the luxury market,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of intelligence platform GlobalData Retail.
Disruption at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus has also created an opening. Their former parent, Saks Global, filed for bankruptcy in January after missing a $100 million interest payment, little more than a year after its debt-funded, $2.7 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus. It entered Chapter 11 with $3.4 billion in financial debt and $1.6 billion in property-level debt. Chanel and Kering were among its major unsecured creditors, while some brands withheld merchandise or demanded payment upfront. The company emerged in June as Exemplar Luxury Group after reducing its debt by 75% and cutting its store estate from more than 100 locations to 49.
“It is certainly true that the disruption at Saks and elsewhere has provided some benefit to Bloomingdale’s, but this is nowhere near sufficient to produce the stellar numbers that the company is currently producing,” Saunders said. “Much of that also comes down to a coherent and customer-focused strategy.”
Bloomingdale’s introduced Ulla Johnson, Proenza Schouler and Dries Van Noten during the quarter, while expanding its distribution of Chanel fine jewelry and watches, Christian Louboutin and Prada shoes, and James Perse, according to the earnings call and news releases. Ready-to-wear, menswear, fine jewelry, fragrances and tabletop were among its strongest categories.
It also held hundreds of events across the majority of its stores and expanded its “very important client” program for its highest-spending customers. Macy’s chairman and CEO Tony Spring said during the earnings call that Bloomingdale’s remains focused on “discovery, newness and experiences.”
“Breadth, when paired with curation, translates into fashion authority and is one of the department store’s biggest advantages,” said Suzy Davidkhanian, vice president of content at eMarketer and former head of consumer insights and market trends at Macy’s. “More associates, events and activations can drive discovery, and strong merchandising can turn that discovery into bigger baskets as customers build outfits or shop across categories.”
Macy’s profits also benefited from a one-off tariff refund. The company had previously paid import duties that were later ruled unlawful, so the government is returning the money. Macy’s received $98 million during the quarter, adding approximately $0.23 to its adjusted earnings per share of $0.63. Without the refund, earnings would have been around $0.40 per share, still slightly ahead of expectations. Macy’s plans to reinvest most of the money in marketing, store improvements and selected price reductions.
For Bloomingdale’s, the bigger test will come as Saks and Neiman Marcus stabilize.
Davidkhanian said their disruption may have created whitespace, but Bloomingdale’s must still give customers “a reason not only to stay but to come back.” So far, its ability to combine luxury labels with more attainable fashion, then support both with service and experiences, appears to be doing exactly that.
Coreli bets on the polished creator storefront
As luxury brands and retailers continue to lean on creators to drive discovery and sales, the tools around creator commerce are becoming more polished.
Coreli, a creator-commerce platform founded by Thomas Berolzheimer, the business partner and husband of fashion creator Julia Berolzheimer (1.4 million Instagram followers) and Chloé Watts, founder of the former creator services agency Chloé Digital, is adding an LTK integration. The feature will allow creators to show their LTK and ShopMy content on one Coreli page, with visitors able to switch between the two storefronts in a single shoppable block. “A lot of the link-in-bio tools come from a very utility perspective,” Watts said in an interview. “We are aesthetic and taste-led.”
Creators connect their own LTK handle and ShopMy username, and Coreli pulls their public posts, product links and collections into a page that refreshes multiple times a day. The integration is not an official partnership with either LTK or ShopMy, and Coreli does not take a commission on affiliate revenue. Instead, the company remains subscription-only, charging $29 per month or $290 per year. “We think of affiliate as the most important business and revenue stream because it feeds everything else,” Berolzheimer said in an interview. “If you can sell other people’s product, you can probably sell your own product.”
For luxury and premium brands, the significance is that top creators are no longer just distribution channels. They are increasingly operating as commerce businesses, with audiences trained to shop their taste across multiple platforms.
Coreli says more than 700 creators now have a live page, with customers averaging 100,000 followers. Since launching six months ago, the platform has powered more than 2.5 million sessions and now drives 700,000 outbound clicks per month. Early users of the LTK and ShopMy integration include fashion creator Susie Wright, TV host and style creator Lilliana Vazquez, as well as home accounts All the Moments and My Canvas Home. Wright has 754,000 followers on Instagram, while Vazquez has around 575,000.
Executive moves
- Richemont appointed Anton Rupert, the 39-year-old son of chairman Johann Rupert, co-deputy chairman. He will oversee product and communications, while fellow co-deputy chairman Bram Schot remains responsible for governance. Richemont called the appointment part of its long-term succession planning.
- The British Fashion Council appointed Pavita Cooper as chair, effective October 1. She succeeds David Pemsel, while Tank magazine CEO Caroline Issa takes the newly created role of deputy chair.
- Icicle named former Gucci designer Sabato De Sarno creative director. He will oversee womenswear, menswear, accessories and eyewear, starting with the Fall 2027 collection.
- Theory promoted James Kelly to global CEO, overseeing Theory and Helmut Lang. He succeeds Dinesh Tandon, who will become global co-COO and return to leading Theory China.
News to know
- New York Fashion Week runs from September 10-15, with around 70 shows and presentations. Henry Zankov opened the schedule with his Diane von Furstenberg debut, while Alice + Olivia is testing an AI experience that lets users place themselves in its Spring 2027 show.
- Vince’s second-quarter sales rose 11.7% to $81.8 million, prompting the company to raise its annual forecast. But its reported 60.9% gross margin was lifted by a $10.4 million tariff refund – a lift seen with many companies recently – and would have been 48.2% without it.
- Bergdorf Goodman is celebrating its 125th anniversary with Fifth Avenue windows and more than 850 exclusive products from over 100 brands. The scale of the project is a notable show of brand support as parent company Exemplar Luxury Group rebuilds after bankruptcy.
Listen in
Shein finally went public last week, but at a fraction of its former value. The company’s Hong Kong IPO valued it at around $25 billion, down from $100 billion in 2022.
On the latest Glossy Fashion Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska explain what happened. They examine Shein’s reputational problems, its fading hold on Gen Z and the end of the de minimis exemption that supported its low-cost business model. Listen here.
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