MARKETS are plunging, interest rates are rising, but nothing gets in the way of a good function for Melbourne's rich and famous. With autumn upon us, March has become the unofficial party month for corporate Australia.
The L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival kicked off on Sunday evening with a gala function on the lawn of Government House.
Foster's executives then "shouted the bar" at a free booze-up at their head offices at Southbank on Tuesday afternoon.
To top it off, the Formula One circus rolls into town late next week.
It means that Melbourne in March is host to some of the heavyweights of fashion and marketing.
Just take a look at the speakers at today's Melbourne Fashion Festival business seminar at the Sofitel.
The star speaker is Sir George Cox, chair of the British Design Council and an independent adviser to Her Majesty's Treasury in Britain. The Cox Review of Creativity in Business was commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2005.
Not a bad gig for the former Olympic rowing coach.
Other speakers include Kenneth Walker of US-based WalkerGroup and Zandra Rhodes of Britain's Haute Punk.
All are slated to speak about the "challenges for retailers over the next five years", in particular for luxury retailers.
An opportune subject, given the present climate of flatlining retail sales and fears of US recession. The seminar sold out at $500 a head — cocktail party included.
Sadly, the party mood in the retail sector might not last much longer. While the focus of today's speakers will be on the luxury end of the market, Australia's major retailers should note some news from the other end of the market.
US budget retail barn Costco Wholesale Corp has announced a 31% lift in profit year-on-year, despite the troubled US economy. Costco will launch its members-only cash-and-carry type stores in Australia this year.
Amid the tighter household budgets in the US, much of that profit lift has come from designer-branded goods.
Costco has been buying from Crocs, Janzen, Hurley, Lucky and OshKosh and selling clothes for less than half their recommended retail price.
Stephanie Hoff, a retail analyst with US-based Edward Jones, said some fashion companies had "no choice but to lower prices and sell at Costco". "Lowering the price is better than getting nothing," she said.
During a conference call with journalists, Galanti commented on the reasons for the company's growth in Asia — which he attributed to a Japanese reality TV show called Girlie Man.
It's the Japanese equivalent of the US series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, except that the Japanese version features shopping trips to Costco stores.
Costco didn't even have to pay for sponsorship or product placement. "We don't have a PR department in Asia, but got a big pick-up from the show — and we will take anything," Galanti said.
New president James Brayshaw negotiated for months to deliver a naming-rights sponsorship deal with Vodafone.
The deal will deliver barely $1 million a year, even with performance hurdles met. Continued…
