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What’s a Store For?

Luxury conglomerates like Kering and LVMH snapped up real estate and opened locations in the era of cheap capital, but they can no longer afford the barely-breaking-even, store-as-billboard model. Newmark global retail advisor Jonathan Schley explains it all for you.

Paul Smith store on Melrose Avenue
Real estate has always been a very locally focused effort. L.A. sat as an island from New York, which sat as an island from Paris, which sat as an island from London, because people simply weren’t as mobile. Photo: FG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
Lauren Sherman
June 20, 2025

Everything in life revolves around real estate, but especially in the fashion world, where retail is still very much at the center of the experience. But what’s a store for, these days? As more shoppers use retail for browsing, mostly, and their trips to the store decrease, brands have had to establish a new set of performance metrics. Sales-per-square-foot still matters, obviously, but can’t be measured the same way when so many customers are buying online. (It’s also easier to bump up that number when you’re operating out of a shoebox.)