Bloomingdale’s is spending big on renovations, bringing in brands new to the assortment, and intends to modernize its customer experience.
“We’re investing massively. We’re launching the biggest investment program of department stores in the U.S. in the next five years, in order to bring more brands, and also reinforce the experience. Definitely food and beverage will be part of this experience,” said Olivier Bron, chief executive officer of Bloomingdale’s, during a conversation with Jim Fallon, chief content officer of WWD.
Bron believes the department store should not only be the place to shop and find products. It should go beyond products, he said, and become a destination where customers want to spend more time in.
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“Are we there yet at Bloomingdale’s? No. Are we actively working on it? Absolutely, and the best is really coming,” Bron said. “We’re just starting to unveil the renovation of 59th Street,” the CEO said, referring to Bloomingdale’s flagship on 59th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. The renovation strategy will touch other Bloomingdale’s locations, such as the Aventura store in Florida.
“Our ambition is pretty simple. It’s actually bringing Bloomingdale’s to this international standard experience, bringing back the customer experience, and most importantly, realigning the brand partners’ strategy with our strategy. I think over the past 23 years, we’ve been very much focused on optimizing the financials of the department stores because of our shareholder structure.” There were also investments in digital, which were necessary and important. But along the way, some of that Bloomingdale’s DNA that made the store stand out, particularly the flagship, an internationally recognized, must-see destination with a global appeal, got lost.
But Bron, thinking big picture, sees Bloomingdale’s entering a new “golden age” based on the brand’s legacy and efforts at modernizing the experience.
He thinks the time is right for change, for several reasons. First, certain competitors are facing challenges that Bloomingdale’s isn’t, he said without specifying which ones. (One competitor, Saks Global, has been behind on vendor payments and losing brands.)
Secondly, he said Bloomingdale’s benefits from the clout and operational scale of Macy’s Inc., its parent company. And thirdly, Bloomingdale’s itself has a “very healthy balance sheet, giving us a chance to invest for the future,” Bron said.
Bloomingdale’s stays sharply focused on the premium, contemporary and luxury markets. “This is our core positioning with a very different customer mix than what you find at the competition or what brands can experience in their own boutiques,” Bron said. He said Bloomingdale’s has particular strength in contemporary, beauty, registry and home businesses. Also, “In home, we have a 65 percent market share in the luxury, multibrand home business. So we know we’re clearly a destination.”
He characterized Bloomingdale’s core customer as a woman in the 35-to-55 age range and a bit younger than the customers of other department stores because, as he observed, “We have a different experience, a different way of building our stores and the brand is a bit different.”
Bron became CEO of Bloomingdale’s in November 2023 after serving as CEO of Central Group’s Central and Robinson Department Stores in Thailand, and earlier, chief operating officer and director of strategy for French retail group Galeries Lafayette in Paris. But before that, he spent more than a decade at Bain & Company, the global consulting firm, where he focused on retail transformations.
Since arriving to the U.S. for the Bloomingdale’s job, Bron said he visited between 300 to 400 department stores across the country, and has a good idea of where they excel and where they don’t.
“U.S. department stores are the best in the world when it comes to to digital,” he said, adding that collectively, about 35 percent of the business at the departments is transacted digitally, though store visits would contribute to those purchasing decisions.
U.S. department stores have “amazing capabilities” in merchandise planning and merchandise management, he said. “In Europe and Asia, the share of concession model in the department store is much higher. So here we still buy 80 percent of what we’re selling. So our model is very sensitive to merchandise management.”
In addition, considering how big the U.S. is, “the ability to customize the product locally has been astonishing to me and is very specific to the U.S.”
Still, none of the top 50 department stores in the world are in the U.S., Bron said. “At such department stores as Le Bon Marché in Europe and Isetan in Asia,” he said, “the experience is amazing. Here you have, sometimes some amazing brands. You have five products on the rack at the back of the floor, gray carpet, no light, no service. I think we’re missing something. I’m not generalizing, but I think what has been very surprising to me, is actually this level of customer experience that was not at the level of what I used to experience in my past life, whether it was in Europe or in Asia.”
At the 31-unit Bloomingdale’s, “What we’re working on right now is actually how we’re going to make a difference, how we’re going to reinforce the differentiation, and how we’re going to be more meaningful to our customers and for our brand partners,” said Bron.
“The purpose of our strategy is not to be the biggest in the U.S. But we want to be the local leader. We want to be the best everywhere we are, for our customers and for our brand. We try to actually be very clear on the branding and very clear on how we’re cascading these brand experiences locally, whether it’s digitally, or physically in every single store. But of course, it means different things, whether you’re in a big store, a tier one store,” or a smaller stores at a lower tier.
“We have great products. No problem. The teams are doing a great job, and we have more and more brands that are joining us,” Bron said. “They are excited about the (renovation) project. I would consider that the first step. Actually, retail has to go beyond products because brands are proposing something different because our customers are expecting something different. So what does that mean? We’re very well known at Bloomingdale’s for our big marketing campaigns. We just finished our ‘Just Imagine’ campaign. We’re launching our holiday campaign that is starting right now. We used to do two per year, but our goal is to do four per year.
“The energy that we’re experiencing, you know, is amazing. The results have been amazing, and not only from a sales perspective, but the NPS score (net promoter score) is the highest we ever had. The last 12 months have been the biggest we ever have at Bloomingdale’s. It’s a good moment, and the energy and the vibe in the company is great. We have much more to do, but it’s a really good moment for us.”
For business during holiday 2025, “I’m feeling pretty optimistic. The performance over the past years now has been extremely strong. We’re seeing strong feedback from the customers. They’re excited about what they’re seeing in the stores. They’re excited about the campaign we’re just launching as we speak, and we’re inviting everyone to go to 59th Street to see the first signs of this great holiday campaign. I think we have everything in our hands to deliver a fantastic holiday moment, and I think probably the best in the country.”
