In Fall 2018 I was commissioned to help an international fashion retailer validate their European expansion plans. A short trip to Frankfurt highlighted just how key the local department stores are to fashion brands – but also just how much they need to improve their differentiation from one another in order to survive. I was particularly impressed by Applerath and Cüpper who stood out from the crowd with a strong site on Ziel, clear premium positioning and authoritative VM. My question is whether the rest of the pack even deserve to survive: by reducing brands’ collections to mere commodity items and failing to create a stimulating store environment they simply play into the hands of the internet giants who can offer keener prices with their lower cost operational models.
