Page 5 - #195 Dec2024/Jan2025

WHO’S

WHO RLI MEETS
IN RETAIL

REDEFINING THE

Michaël Azoulay OUTLET SHOPPING

FOUNDER
AMERICAN VINTAGE EXPERIENCE

What are the company’s key objectives DISCOVER 11 PREMIUM FASHION
for the next 12-18 months?
This year the brand is venturing into Mainland OUTLETS IN EUROPE’S MOST
China with the opening of our first boutique in EXCITING DESTINATIONS
Shanghai and we have plans for six additional
openings in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
In the years to come, American Vintage will
continue expansion in a controlled manner across
all channels. We also plan to establish a presence
in South Korea and Japan while maintaining our
familial DNA and business model, both of which
are essential to our success. Do you feel that CEOs and company and customers. To date, social networks are
leaders can continue to be an important acquisition channel, representing
Would you say events around the world transformational in the new retail between eight per cent and ten per cent of
in the last few years have affected the landscape and will this actually be more our online turnover! E-commerce and online
business at all and has it had any effects important than ever now? activities continue to grow in importance too.
on future plans? Today, CEOs and business leaders can play a The digital space has become an extension
Yes! Flexibility and the ability to work in real transformative role more than ever in the retail of the physical store, offering consumers the
time have become crucial skills in an environment sector. We are moving towards more connected convenience of shopping anytime and anywhere.
dominated by uncertainty. We need to adapt stores, focused on customer experience and
quickly, be present in the moment, reducing lead services, with increasing digitalisation that Taking a step back from right now, what
times for creativity, anticipation and decision- optimises the shopping journey and saves time. would you consider your career highlights
making. This flexibility is essential as it requires This means that stores are no longer just places to date to be?
the involvement of everyone to meet customer of transaction, but have become platforms for I have a lot but I would say the launch of the
needs in real time, while remaining true to our engagement, showcases for innovation and even American Vintage brand in 2005 was a personal
long-term strategy. It’s a real balancing act. community spaces. The store of tomorrow will highlight for me, as was the opening of the first
continue to adapt, innovate, and transform the brand store in Marseille two years later.
What key leadership skills do you feel are way we interact with brands and products.
the most important in the current retail With everything that has happened in
climate? What do you make of social media and recent times, how are you feeling about
In the current retail climate, key leadership skills its importance in the world of retail the 12-18 months that lie ahead?
include the ability to develop a clear strategy and and how prominent is e-commerce and That we are always moving forward, pushing
focus on short-, medium- and long-term priorities. online activities within the business? beyond limits and borders! We have reasons
It is essential to be agile, flexible and responsive, The advantage of social media lies in our ability to be proud.
continuously incorporating A/B testing while to control our message. It’s a tool to share our
staying aligned with the long-term vision. Reducing story, our image and engage with our community Lastly, any final thoughts or anything else
decision-making times and involving fewer people in real time. Therefore, social media represents you would like to add for our readers?
in the decision-making process allows for quicker an effective way to communicate directly with Most of our American Vintage pieces are
testing and more efficient decisions, which also our customers and prospects. They serve produced in the Euro-Mediterranean basin. We
shortens overall processes. multiple purposes, customer service, sharing prioritise selecting our collaborators as close as
tips and brand image, announcing restocks and possible to our design workshops in the South of
As a leader who makes key strategic supporting commercial development etc. We France, a practice we have maintained since our VIAOUTLETS.COM
decisions, do you prefer to rely on facts engage nearly one million people across our creation in 2005. At the end of 2023, American
and figures, your natural instinct, or a primary social media platforms: Instagram (both Vintage conducted an audit with ECOCERT AMSTERDAM / GOTHENBURG / LISBON
combination of the two? official and men’s accounts), TikTok, LinkedIn GREENLIFE, resulting in the attainment of GOTS, MALLORCA / OSLO / PORTO / PRAGUE
A combination of the two! I strive to find the for corporate updates, and various Asian OCS, RWS and ERTS II certifications. Our goal SEVILLE / WROCŁAW / ZURICH / ZWEIBRÜCKEN
right balance between emotion and reason, social media platforms. These platforms play for the coming months is to develop products
figures and intuition, as well as opportunity an increasingly significant role in our strategy, that meet the requirements of these labels.
and risk. providing valuable insights into our prospects Finally, we have also initiated a CSRD project.

4 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL DECEMBER 2024/JANUARY 2025