Olivier Bron likes a challenge. That’s what led him to his job as CEO of Bloomingdale’s in 2023, after spending years leading retailers abroad, first at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, then at Central Group in Bangkok. He was drawn to the US market, but couldn’t understand why it lagged so far behind international players when it came to its department stores — once the crown jewels of American retail.
“When I came here, I was very surprised. I visited hundreds of department stores, and none of the best department stores in the world were actually located in the US,” says Bron, speaking from his office at Bloomingdale’s HQ in Long Island City, New York. “So I saw that as a fantastic opportunity for Bloomingdale’s.”
The stores here had their strengths, Bron concedes — digital retailing and planning capabilities, for instance. “But when it came to the customer experience, I was astonished.” His best explanations for this are pressure from shareholders to prioritize immediate returns over long-term investments, and years of obsession with digital that came at the expense of physical retail. “I was surprised to see how transactional the relationship was with the customer here in the US,” says Bron. “The customer is obsessed with discounts, with product. But you’re losing all the rest.”
Bron clocked something brewing in the US retail industry for years: department stores had lost their magic. The wholesale model in the US — over-retailed yet under-resourced, and heavily reliant on discounting — felt broken. A race to the bottom turned assortments across different stores into near copies, and many customers began shopping elsewhere. Independent designers, once a discovery engine, were being squeezed, while the biggest brands put more investment into their own stores, creating a dichotomy in experiences that Bron felt was palpable.
“When the customer is [shopping at] a Bottega Veneta boutique, for example, and then they see just a pile of bags in the department store, they don’t understand. They want to experience that nice environment with great service and all the storytelling,” Bron says. “And this is exactly what we’ve been investing in.”
Bron set out putting together a plan to restore Bloomingdale’s, which is owned by Macy’s Inc., by renovating its stores — starting with its flagship on 59th Street in Manhattan — investing in the customer service experience, building up its marketing and events muscle, and bringing more brands on board. But his approach is from a position of deftness and strength, not desperation.
Bloomingdale’s flagship on 59th Street in Manhattan.
Photo: Courtesy of Bloomingdale’s
