Westfield Valley Fair, Santa Clara, CA, heralded the expansion of its luxury collection and a multimillion-dollar dining terrace Nov. 1 with a Fashion DuJour grand reopening celebration that included a fashion panel and a design lab.
Salvatore Ferragamo, Miu Miu and David Yurman are among the 11 brands new to the luxury collection that will likely boost consumer traffic, and Giorgio Armani will add additional flair in early 2014. The Fashion DuJour panel, headed by DuJour Magazine, outlined fall fashion trends and ranked the best display cases in the luxury collection.
"We are thrilled with today's overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from our customers and community, and anticipate the new Dining Terrace and Luxury Collection will offer even more reasons to visit Valley Fair, visit more often and linger longer," Matt Ehrie, district vice president and general manager at Westfield Valley Fair, Santa Clara, CA.
"At Westfield, we are always focused on creating a vibrant, vital and relevant shopping environment for our customers and our community," he said.
New life
The 23,000 square-foot dining terrace is suited for casual dining and entertainment programming and features lounge seating and an alfresco patio with fire pits and sculpture. Eighteen eateries will be available to guests.
Dining terrace in Westfield Valley Mall
Other recent luxury additions to Westfield include Burberry, Cartier, Hugo Boss, Prada and Tiffany & Co.
Prada Boutique in Westfield Valley Mall
The tastemaker panel included Zanna Roberts Rassi, senior fashion editor at Marie Claire and Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media. Panelists discussed fall must-haves among other fashion trends.
Panelists from left to right: Athena Calderone of Eye-Swoon.com, Ms. Rassi,
Ms. Zuckerberg, Rumi Neely of Fashiontoast.com, Celebrity Stylist Jeanann Williams
The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising hosted a Design Lab Live show that showcases emerging designers in a red-carpet gown competition.
Outfits from television series such as "Mad Men," "Game of Thrones," "Downton Abbey" and "Boardwalk Empire" were made available to guests. Additionally a photography display by DuJour Magazine can be viewed.
To heighten the impact of the celebrations, the displays will be open to the public until Nov. 6.
The Fashion DuJour event can be RSVP'd for on Westfield's Facebook page.
"Grand re-openings, like any other event, are by no means necessary but can be an incredibly effective tool when executed properly," said Taylor Rains, account executive at Rawle Murdy Associates, Charleston, SC.
"Just like anything else, the success of a grand re-opening hinges on the content," he said. "That is to say, is it really worthy a grand re-opening or is it just a transparent attempt to drive foot traffic?"
Stop and stare
Finding novel ways to leverage display cases can draw consumers who may have walked by.
For instance, Jaguar Land Rover embellished the Wallpaper* magazine’s Handmade “Best of” exhibition at London department store Harrods with three concept cars and five collaborated concept pieces that embody the British automaker’s design aesthetic and technological advances.
The event marked the Handmade exhibition’s first appearance in London, with brands such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Harry Winston accompanying Jaguar with handmade pieces. By joining up with brands from diverse backgrounds, Jaguar was able to reach new audiences from a fresh angle (see story).
Also, French label Christian Dior took over the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship store in Manhattan to display its wide range of products during New York Fashion Week.
Dior was able to convey a sense of dominance among competitors by fully occupying the 17 display windows during New York Fashion Week Sept. 7-19. For retailers looking to increase foot traffic, staging brand invasions like this can generate new interest (see story).
Although grand reopenings can appear contrived at times, Westfield appears to have ample reason to justify the move.
"In this case, it seems that Westfield Valley Fair has a solid strategy in place and has incorporated attractions relevant to both the location and the audience," he said.
Final take
Joe McCarthy, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York