Marimekko Holds Fall Presentations

In step with its international expansion plan, Marimekko held fall presentations in New York, Sydney and Stockholm Thursday. At Gary’s Loft in Manhattan, Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, who takes on the role of president as of April 9, mapped out how the company is building its global presence. A little jet-lagged from a recent trip to Tokyo to show the fall collection, the Helsinki-based chief operating officer said, “During the time I have been with the company, I have had the opportunity to go out into the world and see the potential that we have for the brand.” With 145 stores worldwide, the company plans to open 10 to 20 stores this year, half of which are expected to be in Asia, the brand’s fastest-growing area. In the past few years, the company has doubled the number of its stores there to 46. Northern Europe and North America are Marimekko’s other major markets. In addition, the brand is building upon its underlying awareness in Australia, which used to be one of its biggest export markets in the Seventies. “It’s really been a matter of kind of educating the next generation of customers,” Alahuhta-Kasko said. Looking to make customer service more seamless and personal, Marimekko is

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Hong Kong Retail Rents Drop as Chinese Shoppers Stop

HONG KONG (Reuters) – A drop in Chinese tourist numbers is driving down shop rentals in Hong Kong, with vacancies increasing in the same prime areas that just three years ago pipped New York’s Fifth Avenue to become the world’s most expensive retail real estate. Spooked by months of cross-border tensions and pro-democracy protests, tour groups visiting Hong Kong from China plunged about 80 percent this month, dealing a blow to the retailers that had built their businesses around these mainland visitors’ once insatiable demand. A Chinese government crackdown on lavish spending which shows no signs of letting up has also encouraged tourists to shop further away from home, just as a drop in the yen and the won make Japan and South Korea more attractive destinations. That has further dimmed the appeal of Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay, where renting a 500-square foot space – the size of a school classroom – can cost HK$500,000 ($64,000) a month. “If they don’t cut the rent, I will leave,” said the head of a consumer goods chain that also has a shop in Causeway Bay. Revenues have fallen 30 percent over the past year as the number of mainland visitors fell by half, he said. “We can’t

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Allen Questrom Donates $50M to Boston University

Allen Questrom and his wife Kelli have donated $50 million to Boston University’s School of Management, which has been renamed the Questrom School of Business. The Questroms’ gift, the largest ever received by Boston University, will endow 10 faculty chairs and enable planning to establish a new graduate program facility. Questrom, a former chairman and chief executive officer of J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York and Federated Department Stores, is known for his turnaround skills and big-picture strategic thinking. He stabilized Penney’s when it teetered on bankruptcy, led Federated out of bankruptcy and spearheaded the acquisition of rivals The Broadway Stores and Macy’s. Kelli, a former fashion promoter, has been an activist fighting AIDS and homelessness and has been an advocate for women’s preventative medicine, the arts and education.

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