Bloomingdale’s continues to benefit from the struggles at Exemplar Luxury Group, formerly Saks Global, which emerged from bankruptcy this summer. Bloomingdale’s posted double-digit comp sales growth compared to Q2 last year and the best Q2 sales volume in its history, according to an earnings presentation from parent company Macy’s Inc. released Thursday.
The department store has been revamping its assortment, adding Ulla Johnson, Proenza Schouler, Dries Van Noten and others, and expanding distribution of James Perse, Chanel fine jewelry and watches, Christian Louboutin and Prada shoes, Macy’s Inc. CEO Tony Spring told analysts during a conference call Thursday. During the quarter, the retailer held more of its “widely popular in-store events” at most of its locations and launched an AI-powered conversational e-commerce shopping assistant, he said.
In a Q2 performance that Spring called “a significant step change,” Bloomingdale’s comparable sales growth topped 11%, up about 1,700 basis points over the last two years, buoyed by growth in all channels, markets, and categories — “with outperformance in ready-to-wear, men's apparel, fine jewelry, fragrances and tabletop.” Sales of owned plus licensed goods reached $922 million.
“These results reflect Bloomingdale's differentiated and unique positioning from premium contemporary to luxury,” Spring said. “We continue to raise the bar on our curation with a clear emphasis on discovery, newness and experiences. ... We grew our customer base and continue to expand the reach of our very important client program, which focuses on our highest spending customers.”
The initiatives at Bloomingdale’s “position us to continue to gain market share across brands, categories and regions,” he also said.
The company is getting a lift from rivals, too. In Q2, Bloomingdale’s benefited “from its own initiatives as well as share loss at Saks/Neiman Marcus,” according to emailed comments from David Silverman, senior director at Fitch Ratings. This pattern was pronounced last year and continued through the holiday quarter.
The ongoing struggles at Saks and Neiman were hardly the only reason for Bloomingdale’s Q2 performance, which GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders called “an endorsement of everything the team has been doing to strengthen the customer experience.” The retailer also caters to luxury and premium customers, so hasn’t been fully exposed to some of the slowdown in luxury, he said in emailed comments.
“It is certainly true that the disruption at Saks and elsewhere has provided some benefit – but this is nowhere near sufficient to produce the stellar numbers that Bloomingdale’s is churning out,” Saunders said.
