ScottĀ Malkin, chairman of Value Retail PLC, emphasized the value of female consumer demographics throughout his talk Tuesday afternoon in Fisher Colloquium.
The Undergraduate Business Program Office, the Distinguished Leaders Series and the McDonough Retail and Luxury Association sponsored the event.
Value Retail, which owns nine luxury shopping malls in Europe, has been a pioneer in the luxury goods industry. The company is expanding, starting in 2014 with the opening of its first mall in Asia, located in Suzhou, China.
Less than a decade ago, luxury brands were quick to discard out-of-season merchandise. This process has quickly changed with the growth in popularity of luxury outlet shopping destinations.
āIn the old days, companies would burn their surplus stock rather than let it get into the marketplace,ā Malkin said. āToday, it is instantly available online.ā
Value Retail has been able to capitalize on these luxurious outlet shopping centers.
Much of Malkinās talk focused on how women were represented as consumer demographics.
āRetail is all about women. For women, shopping is substantially social,ā Malkin said. āMen donāt price compare. ā¦ They just stumble through life.ā
Value Retail focuses on creating a superior cultural experience for its customers, by thinking of the shopping experience as a form of entertainment. The company caters to a specific, affluent clientele with limited advertising and only high-end products.
āWhat we do is contrary to what is logical,ā Malkin said. āOur target consumer is a woman with two or three friends who can enjoy a comfortable setting and a memorable shopping experience.ā
Malkin also addressed the changing landscape of retail shopping and the difficulty Value Retail, which was founded in 1925, faces in adapting their business model of providing an āincredible shopping experienceā to the Internet.
āThe single most disruptive force in our world today and for the foreseeable future is the Internet,ā Malkin said.
He also addressed topics other than Value Retail, providing a few career recommendations.
āFortune favors the bold,ā Malkin said. āWorking hard isnāt as good as working smart.ā
Vlad Kondratiuk (MSB ā15) was taken aback by Malkinās diverse background and his accomplishments.
āAfter listening to Scott Malkin speak about his life, you really think about how unforeseen oneās future can be,ā Kondratiuk said. āIt is very hard to predict where life will take you in five, 10, 15 years.ā
Anvar Khvan-Beiseuov (MSB ā15) said that Malkinās talk provided him with insight into the luxury goods industry.
āListening to Mr. Malkin speak has given me a glimpse of what the future holds for the fashion-retail industry,ā he said.