New York, NY-- Last week both Revillon Inc. and Saks Fifth Avenue made official the news which Fur Age first reported here exclusively last May: the two companies will part ways after doing business together for 32 years. Their lease agreement will end Apr. 30, at which time Birger Christensen (USA) Inc. will assume operation of the fur salons under the Saks name.
Both Saks and Revillon said they had come to the conclusion "by mutual agreement."
"We believe we have a new opportunity with Birger Christensen to expand our fur franchise," Saks Chairman Phillip Miller told Fur Age. When asked why Saks decided to make the change, he said, "We've been discussing this for months, and we believe now is the appropriate time to take a new approach, a new look," but he would not be specific about what that new look will be. "I'll tell you what that is when I know for sure," he said.
Miller denied rumors that Saks had been unhappy with some of Revillon's more promotional advertising, which screamed discounts "to 70% off."
Despite trade speculation that Saks would decide to maintain fewer salons than its current 32 (and change several into general outerwear boutiques), last week it said that fur salons will be operated in more than 30 Saks locations, including the New York flagship.
"We feel good about furs," said Miller. "We've been a proponent of furs for years, and we will continue to be. We've been a leader in fur retailing; we plan to stay that way."
Revillon, which was founded in Paris in 1723 and has been operating in the United States since 1875, insists it will continue to do business here. Rebeca de Vives, president of Revillon, said, "Exploring other ways of developing its century-old presence in the U.S. market has been a Revillon objective for a number of years. Definitive plans for Revillon's future will be announce in the weeks to come. We are very excited about this opportunity to move forward and will continue to serve our many thousands of clients, both here and abroad, with the luxury and fashion they expect from the House of Revillon."
According to industry sources, Revillon has been examining several possibilities for its future and most recently has been searching for real estate to establish freestanding salons. It might even open a store on New York's Fifth Avenue, not far from Saks. De Vives would not comment on that possibility.
Last week's announcement, which most of the trade viewed as inevitable, raised as many questions as it answered about the Saks operation's business transition. As for industry concern that Revillon will run a much-promoted clearance sale in the spring, a spokesperson for de Vives said that Revillon has no plans to run a going out of business sale, because the company is not going out of business. She said things will continue "business as usual," and that the only sales Revillon has planned are its already-scheduled caravan sales through February.
Revillon employees, including store managers, last week did not know what their future held. "We have their best interest at heart," said a spokesperson for de Vives. "Obviously we want to continue to work with them, because they're good people and we've had much success with them in the past, but we don't know the future right now."
Birger Christensen refused to comment on the new agreement, but for more than a year now, it has been acting like a company with big plans. It had a long tradition of manufacturing some of the top designer fur collections in the market, but last year it dropped all of its licenses and did not hold a press week show this past May. It apparently was shifting its focus toward its retail business. It operates fur salons in Holt Renfrew stores in Canada, and the number of those salons has increased recently. Just last month it added two more.
Birger Christensen's appointment last May of David Wolfe as executive vice president fueled rumors that the company was expanding its retail business further. Prior to forming his own consulting service six years ago, Wolfe had a legendary tenure of almost 25 years as senior vice president of Neiman Marcus, running its fur operations. At that time press-shy Birger Christensen President Chris Spyropoulos said, "The addition of Wolfe to our executive staff will enhance our ability to redirect the core of our business."
Revillon Inc., which is based in Paris, is part of the Cora-Revillon group of companies, one of the largest privately held conglomerates in France, with sales of $10 billion and 30,000 employees in various fields such as luxury products (furs, perfumes, cosmetics and accessories), hypermarkets and supermarkets, graphic arts, high technology, film production and banking.
On June 22, Philippe Bouriez, owner and chairman of the Cora-Revillon group, took the unusual step of assuming the chairmanship of Revillon Inc.
Revillon's sales last year reached approximately $25 million, making it the second largest fur retailer in the United States, after Evans, Inc. Last June Claude Potier, vice chairman and ceo of Revillon Inc., told Fur Age, "We were about number five or six in sales volume in 1986/87. We are now number two and we expect to be number one by the end of the decade."
In addition to its leased salons in Saks Fifth Avenue stores, Revillon operates leasesd salons at Bloomingdale's under the Maximilian name. Despite rumors over the summer that Jack Pearson, vice president/general manager of Maximilian, might jump ship to join his former mentor David Wolfe at Birger Christensen, Pearson has said that he will stay put. Potier told Fur Age in June, "Mr. Pearson has already built [the Maximilian business] up from less than $7 million in 1990 (in 10 stores) to more than $16 million in 1994 (in 12 stores). With about five more large salons to be opened, his goal for 1998 is $25 million." In fact, Maximilian recently opened a new salon in Old Orchard, IL.
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