Chinese New Year Blooms at Bloomie's

For the first time, Bloomingdale's is celebrating Chinese New Year in its US stores, in hopes of bringing in a wave of new customers in the Year of the Snake.

Published

about 1 year ago

Categories

US

Topics

Finance, United States

People

Michael Gould

Places

United States of America, New York, San Francisco, Chicago

Companies

Bloomingdale's

Transcript

Bloomingdale's is looking for a wave of new customers in the Year of the Snake by celebrating a Chinese New Year in their U.S. stores. For the first time in its 141-year history, Bloomingdale's is rolling out pop-up shops for Chinese New Year in San Francisco, Chicago and here in New York. STANDUP: KYOKO GASHA, REUTERS CORRESPONDENT (ENGLISH) SAYING: "Happy Chinese New Year! Chinese New Year is Feb 10th this year. The Year of the Snake. In Chinese culture, it is a new year tradition to renew the clothing and furniture for good luck. Bloomingdale's is tapping into that tradition to attract Chinese consumers." Here you can find, original T-shirts, iPhone cases and home furnishings. CEO Michael Gould says the growth of Chinese business at Bloomingdale's is really dramatic. SOUNDBITE: MICHAEL GOULD, BLOOMINGDALE'S CEO, (ENGLISH) SAYING: "It's in our top ten of countries right now the largest is really Brazil, and second largest is United Kingdom, but the growth is very, very dramatic from China. So we think that people in China have to know more about Bloomingdale's." To get the message across, window displays have a distinct Chinese flavor and customers are greeted by flowers in the lucky color red. Lin Chow visiting from Hong Kong says the decorations put her in a shopping mood. And her daughter, Chris Lau is now curious about what else the retailer offers to celebrate Chinese culture. SOUNDBITE: CHRIS LAU, CUSTOMER,(ENGLISH) SAYING: "I feel like they recognize our tradition and culture. So I am looking forward to seeing what other, you know, activities or other promotions they have for the Chinese New Year." Gould says Bloomingdale's has always been a store of the moment and now it is important to recognize Chinese consumers. SOUNDBITE: MICHAEL GOULD, BLOOMINGDALE'S CEO, (ENGLISH) SAYING: "We want to make sure we have the products that Chinese people and Chinese visitors really are attuned to and have very strong liking for whether it be Chanel, whether it be Ferragamo, whether it be Louis Vuitton, whether it be Gucci to whether it be Estee Lauder. We have those brands that are important to us, they are important to the Chinese customers." February is usually a slower season for retailers but Bloomingdale's is looking for a "wave" of new customers in the Year of the Snake.