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Top managers from icons such as La Rinascente and INNO are making their appearance at the international conference The Future of Department Stores, which explores future avenues for the luxury department store sector.
Opportunities and threats
Big names such as Selfridges, Galeries Lafayette or De Bijenkorf appeal to the imagination as centres of opulent luxury with their tall buildings full of light. But today the shopping streets are turning blood red. Will it ever be okay? Erik Van Heuven (former CEO of INNO) and Stefan Van Rompaey (editor-in-chief of RetailDetail) wrote the book ‘The Future of Department Stores’ about the opportunities and threats for the luxury department store sector.
RetailDetail is now also organising an international conference on this subject. Some of the top names in the sector will be making an appearance on 21 October in the Shopping Stadsfeestzaal in Antwerp. Among them is Italian entrepreneur Maurizio Borletti, former shareholder of luxury department stores La Rinascente and Le Printemps. Even today, he still invests in retail projects and owns part of the retail property of the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof group. In an interview with RetailDetail, he already shared his clear vision of the luxury department store.
Inner cities and shopping centres
Will also be present: INNO, the Belgian department store chain that is now reinventing itself with a metamorphosis of the physical stores and the opening of the digital shopping platform inno.be. Elly Zwinnen and Tom Van Hese will explain the ambitious strategic relaunch programme.
Selvane Mohandas du Ménil of the International Association of Department Stores draws important lessons from the pandemic to prepare for new crises and to tackle the future of the department store industry. Real estate expert Hubert Stech of Multi sees how the future of the department store coincides with the future of shopping centres. Professor Kitty Koelemeyer of Nyenrode Business University will provide the academic touch: she will share her vision of the current retail bloodbath, empty shopping streets and impoverished inner cities.
The conference The Future of Department Stores takes place on Thursday 21 October in the beautiful Shopping Stadsfeestzaal, Antwerp. Through this link you can find more information about the programme and you can order tickets.
