Scott 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.
“In the old days, companies would burn their surplus stock rather than let it get into the marketplace,” Malkin said. “Today, it is instantly available online.”
Value Retail has been able to capitalize on these luxurious outlet shopping centers.
Much of Malkin’s talk focused on how women were represented as consumer demographics.
“Retail is all about women. For women, shopping is substantially social,” Malkin said. “Men don’t price compare. … They just stumble through life.”
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.
“What we do is contrary to what is logical,” Malkin said. “Our target consumer is a woman with two or three friends who can enjoy a comfortable setting and a memorable shopping experience.”
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 “incredible shopping experience” to the Internet.
“The single most disruptive force in our world today and for the foreseeable future is the Internet,” Malkin said.
He also addressed topics other than Value Retail, providing a few career recommendations.
“Fortune favors the bold,” Malkin said. “Working hard isn’t as good as working smart.”
Vlad Kondratiuk (MSB ’15) was taken aback by Malkin’s diverse background and his accomplishments.
“After listening to Scott Malkin speak about his life, you really think about how unforeseen one’s future can be,” Kondratiuk said. “It is very hard to predict where life will take you in five, 10, 15 years.”
Anvar Khvan-Beiseuov (MSB ’15) said that Malkin’s talk provided him with insight into the luxury goods industry.
“Listening to Mr. Malkin speak has given me a glimpse of what the future holds for the fashion-retail industry,” he said.