While Gilt and Groupon may be top of mind in their categories, here’s another reminder that some very profitable things are happening with brands who have marketshare, even if they don’t lead in mindshare: Hautelook, the flash sales site which launched in December 2007, was just acuiqred by Nordstrom for $270 million. {TechCrunch}

This is mostly a stock deal – $180 million in Nordstrom stock, with a $90 million potential earn-out over the next three years. It’s a smart move for Nordstrom though, and one that we suggested more department stores look into on a guest post at the Business of Fashion last year.

Well, not specifically an acquisition, but certainly a focus on developing the type of online sales websites that are popular with wealthy online shoppers. In this case, an acquisition is likely a better choice than being trying to develop a competing online presence around Nordstrom Rack. Neiman Marcus recently took that route with it’s Last Call brand, but  other department stores like Saks and Barneys continue to keep their discount brands limited to suburban outlets.

While there are sure signs that the luxury market is coming back, the revival is coming from younger, less wealthy shoppers who may be introduced to luxury brands through sites like Hautelook or Gilt that offer items at lower prices. The flash sale sites have often said that consumers introduced to brands through their sites often go on to make additional brand purchases after the sale ends.

For department stores looking to grow revenues, it increasingly just makes good business sense to throw out old thinking that bargain shoppers aren’t as valuable as those who buy at full price. By developing or acquiring online properties that capture a significant part of that audience, they’ll likely find themselves increasing sales at every place in the shopping cycle.

Which stores and websites are we likely to see on future acquisition or partnership press releases? Gilt Group is valued somewhere between $400 million and $500 million making it a more likely candidate for an IPO, RueLaLa was already acquired by GSI commerce for $350 million, which leaves Ideeli and Beyond the Rack as the next largest and most likely targets.

As far as retailers, Saks, Barneys or Macy’s (who owns Bloomingdale’s) are most likely. Macy’s has the money and the traffic to try to develop their own presence, so we’ll take them out of the potential buyer pool; Saks cut a lot of underperforming stores and has decided not to open many more, so developing their own online property is probably not going to happen, but acquiring an already successful one could make sense; finally there’s Barneys, which has had several well publicized staff changes aimed at increasing sales, and online sales have been designated an area of particular importance.

This weekend Signature9 attended Diet Pepsiâ€s Style Studio event in SoHo as part of New York Fashion week, and we have to say we were a bit disappointed with the whole thing. The night promised to include designs by Jonathan Adler, a Diet Pepsi “Skinny Bar” and most importantly a window display by Barneys†Simon Doonan, who was recently moved from being their creative director to “creative ambassador at large.”

The window creation Doonan produced for Diet Pepsi was somewhat impressive. It featured a giant high heel made of the new Diet Pepsi skinny cans (which wonâ€t hit retail shelves until March) as well as an equally large Diet Pepsi skinny can, also made out of regular-sized skinny cans. Both were pretty cool by themselves and must have taken quite a lot of work, but overall we got more of a tart than art vibe from the whole setting. The models working the display were dressed in just a t-shirt, panties and fishnets, and the giant shoe was stripper-heel style, though we do have to give props to the models for being able to balance on a platform made of soda cans. A model laid out on a chaise lounge was also sprawled by the front door, but it came off as cheap rather than eccentric chic.

The interior decorating was classier, but less creative, as it consisted basically of a few white flowers stuck in Diet Pepsi skinny cans throughout the room. There were also apparently special straws by Adler in the Diet Pepsi skinny cans that were served, but we really didnâ€t notice anything special just from drinking from them. Maybe weâ€re oblivious, but we thought they were just colorful.

Most of the headlines and blog posts about the Diet Pepsi Style Studio are actually about Blake Livelyâ€s attendance at the event, not the event itself, which pretty much says it all about just how memorable the night was.

We must say though, if Diet Pepsi is angling to replace Diet Coke as the fashionistaâ€s drink of choice, as many speculated a few weeks ago, they might have more of a chance than we initially predicted. The event was buzzing with fashion types, and Gabrielle Union, Rachel Roy and Lala Vazquez made an appearance in addition to Lively. The brand also partnered with Charlotte Ronson and Betsey Johnson for promotions. Plus, as an official sponsor of Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week, Diet Pepsi was very present in the main tent at Lincoln Center where we didn’t see one Diet Coke. There is work needed on the uptown class part of the campaign, but diet drink loyalty from the fashion set does seem to be up for a Pepsi challenge.

Barneyâ€s has not, however, ousted Doonan. According to a press release, Doonan will remain with the company in a new role, as Creative Ambassador at Large.

“Mr. Doonan will continue to be a key media spokesperson for the company, will continue to contribute to special window projects, will host special events with customers and media, and will serve as roving ambassador with links to all creative and communication areas including social media,” the release said.

Initially, we thought this was a carefully masked demotion of Doonan, but it really might be a brilliant move. Creative Ambassador at Large sounds like a lesser position than creative director, much like the editor at large position at a magazine is not as prestigious as being the editor in chief. Doonan, however, is the most public figure Barneyâ€s has, and the luxury fashion retailer may simply be trying to create closer ties with the public by expanding Doonanâ€s role as its most visible employee. When fashion retailers attempt to become more relatable to consumers, it is always commendable. Weâ€re also very impressed that Barneyâ€s appears to be taking social media into consideration.

“This exciting evolution of my role at Barneys is brilliant,” Doonan was quoted as saying in the press release. “Change has always been integral to the strength and vibrancy of the Barneys brand. I am delighted to be part of this new chapter.”

Brilliant, indeed, but Doonan may still be taking one for the team.

Simon Doonan at Barneys Co-Op in Brooklyn

This week, Barneys celebrated the opening of its first Brooklyn Co-op on Atlantic Avenue in the Cobble Hill section of town. The doors opened at 10 a.m. without a line of anxiously waiting shoppers, but a large crowd eventually made its way through the doors once they were open. {Racked NY}

Much has been made of what the reaction among Brooklyn residents will be to the high-end retailerâ€s presence in their neck of the woods. Brooklyn has become a hot spot for luxury fashion labels in the past few months, as brands like Swarovski Crystal and Anthropologie have been reportedly scouting out locations there, but it has been smaller, trendy shops like Jonathan Adler and Urban Outfitters that have actually been cropping up along Atlantic Avenue of late. {New York Post}

It is still too early to tell exactly what the lasting impact of the Barneys†presence among these admittedly cooler, more laid-back shops will be, but Barneys Creative Director Simon Doonan seems confident it will be a success.

“The Co-op has always had a certain edgy sensibility. The fit with Brooklyn is a natural one,” he said. {New York Post}

Doonan also told Racked NY that the store made no adjustments to its aesthetic for the Brooklyn Co-op, which carries all the designer brands like Alexander Wang, Richard Chai Love, Helmut Lang and Rag & Bone that you would expect to find at any other Barneys.

Apparently Doonan was quite an active presence at the opening as well, chatting with shoppers and even helping to carry baby strollers down the staircase to the storeâ€s lower level. {Racked NY} He also tried easing the minds of skeptical area residents who worry that the store will bring with it a pretentiousness, telling the New York Post, “”It’s not like we’re opening a Chanel.”

We previously reported that Cobble Hillâ€s economics are not actually that far off from the more notoriously wealthy Upper East Side and Upper West Side Manhattan neighborhoods, and a Barneys should not be impossible to sustain in the area, though the state of the economy will likely create challenges even with wealthy shoppers living close by. Today, we feel there is one more barrier to success for Barneys: Cobble Hill may have the wealth for a Barneys, but does it have the right vibe? Just because a certain demographic has money does not mean they want to spend it on luxury fashion, and we wonder if people in Brooklyn even want to shop at Barneys.

Success at the Barneys Brooklyn Co-op will likely prove to be somewhat of a challenge. Doonan and Co. should be up for it, but only time will tell how they fare. We actually applaud Barneys for taking a risk in a time when the economy has many retailers in a panic – because taking chances on new ventures will probably be necessary to remain sustainable into the future for fashion retailers. Someone has to lead the way, and Barneys should be commended for stepping up.

Additional photos at Racked NY

Allowing the clothes to be the stars of the evening certainly has its merits, but we’d be lying if we didn’t admit that we’re pretty excited about the madness that will surely accompany the more inclusive New York event. In Paris, there was champagne, cotton candy and chocolate fondue depending on which store you stopped at, but New York promises to pull out all the stops: celebrities, designers and shopping specials to go along with your champagne.

Still, everyone has a different shopping personality. An Olsen twin and throngs of fans waiting for an opportunity to meet their favorite designer might be a dream shopping trip for some, and an absolute nightmare for others. With that in mind, we’ve gone through the hundreds of events on the Fashion’s Night Out website so far and narrowed them down to the top 10 events by shopping personality. Today, we take a look at the must-attend events for those who like a bit of celebrity with their shopping. In the coming days, we’ll cover events for those who prefer something more low key, downtown style, fashion, fashion and more fashion and the girl who just wants to have fun.

The Starlet

Big and flashy is how you roll. If anyone asks “who are you wearing?” you’ve got a list of famous names on the tip of your tongue. Celebrities, designers and hundreds of adoring fans? You couldn’t come up with a better shopping scenario.

ASOS.com

Who: Singer VV Brown and 90210 actress Shenae Grimes

What: A pop-up store and block party for Teen Vogue

Where: West Village, 10014 (right around the corner from Anna)

Barney’s

Who: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Daphne Guiness, Alexander Wang, the Mulleavy sisters (Rodarte), Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough (Proenza Schouler), Island Records founder Chris Blackwell

What: More meet and greets than you can shake a stick at, ping-pong, musical chairs and karaoke among other activities.

Where: 660 Madison Ave

Bergdorf Goodman

Who: Mary J. Blige, Nicole Richie, designer turned Hollywood producer Tom Ford, Victoria Beckham, Tinsley Mortimer, Olympic fencer Tim Morehouse, Georgina Bloomberg, First Lady favorite Jason Wu, Bryan Boy, Hamish Bowles, Robert Verdi, Thom Browne, Mark Badgley and James Mischka (Badgley Mischka) and Trish Mc Evoy among others.

What: A makeup artist competition, catwalk show and karaoke. And Tom Ford. Honestly, we’d have this on our “must attend list” if it were watching Tom Ford fill out spreadsheets.

Where: 754 5th Ave. (at 58th Street)

Billionaire Boys Club / Ice Cream

Who: Reclusive producer/entertainer Pharell Williams, who isn’t one to make lots of public appearances.

What: A meet and greet, plus special items from the collection available only on September 10th.

Where: 456 West Broadway

Bloomingdale’s

Who: Michael Kors, Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, Lancome spokesmodels Elettra Wiedemann and Arlenis Sosa

What: Karaoke, tango lessons, cooking demos and a casino night

Where: 1000 3rd Ave.

Destination Maternity

Who: Model and Project Runway host Heidi Klum

What: A retrospective of maternity wear from the 1950s through today. If there’s anyone who knows about looking good when pregnant, it’s definitely the model mother of 4. Retro snacks and mocktails will also be available.

Where: 28 East 57th St.

Henri Bendel

Who: The City star Olivia Palermo, model Erin Wasson, the Fabulous Beekman Boys and possibly Kaiser Karl (though it’s not entirely clear from the description if Lagerfeld will be in attendance, or merely the designer behind a special collection for Swarovski)

What: Astrology readings (at a fee, which will go to charity), a demo of the Lustr iPhone shopping app and jewelry launches.

Where: 712 5th Ave.

Jeffrey New York

Who: Christina Ricci, L’Wren Scott (designer and girlfriend of Mick Jagger), Jason Wu, Nicholas Kirkwood

What: A denim event and menswear trunk show, limited edition Proenza Schouler messenger bags.

Where: 449 West 14th St.

Lord & Taylor

Who: Noted fashion photographer, and America’s Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker, New York Jets cheerleaders for the guys, Shoshanna Gruss, Lloyd Boston

What: A “Wheel of Fashion” and prize draws on each floor, meet and greets, salsa dancing and even dating advice if your retail therapy is inspired by romance.

Where: 424 5th Ave.

Macy’s Herald Square

Who: Joss Stone, Kimora Lee Simmons, TRAIN, Rachel Roy, Jessica Stam, celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson

What: a Gucci fragrance launch, meet and greets, a lookbook shoot, Tommy Hilfiger tailgate party and live music performances

Where: 151 West 34th St.

The PR CEO start of Bravo TVâ€s “Kell on Earth” spoke to a small group of editorial interns, fashion-obsessed youngsters and public relations entrepreneurs at the Bryant Park Reading Room Series Wednesday, and she had a quite frank earful on the future of fashion, replying to a girl asking about where to look for a career in the field by saying:

“Style is in; fashion luxury, forget it. It’s over. Gucci, Vuitton, Hermes … all those places are really great, go for it. That business exists in a city called Paris, France. That’s where that is. Those businesses will continue. Retail business, pretty much over. I think people who sell to retail companies are people who can’t afford their own stores … Old Navy, J.Crew, Gap … they already knew that and aren’t wholesaling. Editorial, magazine, we are going to say buh-bye to them as we know them. They will still exist but everything is on the internet.” {The Cut, Racked NY}

On the one hand, tell us how you really feel, Kell. On the other, Bravo Kelly! She may be over dramatizing a tad in regards to luxury and retail being “pretty much over,” but it is about time someone spoke up about the hard realities facing fashion, especially in the editorial department. Times are changing, and if the dominant players in the industry want to continue to grow their businesses, they need to learn to adapt.

Persistent efforts on the part of luxury retailers to understand the youth market is a great start, but New York Magazine says the fashion industryâ€s biggest mistake is its strange fear and avoidance of the Internet, specifically social networks and blogs, citing the long series on the “future of fashion” Style.com runs in which they ask important fashion businesspeople like Barneys’ Julie Gilhart about the Internet.

We agree. Even when the big brands try, they don’t always get it right. Considering that the Internet has been a major force to be reckoned with for years now in many industries, fashion magazines and businesses still have a lot of catching up to do. Until revenue from web advertising catches up to revenue from print advertising though (they’re still miles apart), we suspect the wait won’t end soon.

Edun founder Ali Hewson, who also happens to be the wife of U2 front man Bono, signed a deal with LVMH to merge the companies a year ago and since then has parted ways with former designer Rogan Gregory. The merger with LVMH brought more cash into the company, which resulted in the hiring of new creative director Sharon Wauchob. {Fashionista}

Hewson said Edun took some time to “ramp up the team, get the new collection out and start fresh” after signing on with LVMH.

Of the new menswear collection, she said she particularly likes the hemp suits and jackets for summer.

“I love that the clothes fit,” she said. “We’ve had some beautiful styles before but we’ve struggled with the fit. With the sourcing that we have now, the clothes are coming in fitting and just looking great.” {Stylelist}

The first Edun Pre-fall menswear collection with the Paris-based, Irish born Wauchob at the helm is the beginning of a few planned steps forward for the brand. Next week on June 9, Hewson and Barneyâ€s Fashion Director Julie Gilhart will launch a Pre-fall “Grow to Sew” womenâ€s collection at Barneyâ€s. {Edun Live}

The collection is all about Africa, with t-shirts made on the continent and an African-themed launch event where guests will be able to have a member of the Edun design team customize t-shirts on the spot. All proceeds from t-shirt sales will go to the Conservation Cotton Initiative (CCI) in Uganda, an organic farming program created by Edun and the Wildlife Conservation Society to build sustainable farming communities.

The new womenâ€s collection will also re-launch at Liberty of London and Merci in Paris later this month. Even more exciting: Wauchob’s designs for Edun are slated to appear on the New York runway this September. Canâ€t wait!

Yesterday, we told you what luxury retailers are doing to remain relevant and marketable into the future. Namely, high end brands are figuring out how to market to generation Y, which will surpass baby boomers as the largest consumer group in the United States come 2017.

Today, the New York times reports on the hot spot for New York luxury fashion labels to sell their products in years to come – Brooklyn, a.k.a. the “new bastion of cool for many New Yorkers.”

Barneyâ€s Co-op, a younger, more accessible division of Barneyâ€s New York, will open its first store in the Cobble Hill section of the borough, with Swarovski Crystal, North Face and Anthropologie reportedly scouting the scene in Brooklyn.

The question is whether this is a smart move in keeping with the push for high end brands to appeal to a younger crowd.

“Someone needed to be first, and now that Barneys Co-op has done it, others will follow,” said Karen Bellantoni, an executive vice president for the retail brokerage firm Robert K. Futterman & Associates. Executive Director of Retail Services at Cushman & Wakefield Joanne Podell adds, “Brooklyn has the demographics to support this kind of retail, but until now, no national store was willing to take the chance.” {New York Times}

Therein lays the key: demographics. Dawn Brown, vice president of publicity for Barneyâ€s, said the store chose Cobble Hill because surveys showed many of their current customers lived there.

Cobble Hillâ€s economics compared to that of the wealthy neighborhoods in Manhattan where Co-Ops currently reign, with the average apartment/home price topping $1 million and household incomes well over the $100k mark aren’t extremely far apart. This isn’t as much as the $177,000 and $181,000 HHIs of the Upper West Side and Soho, respectively – the locations for Barney’s current NYC Co-op locations, but definitely a desirable group.

But it would be really innovative if Barney’s pushed the envelope even further in terms of the retail model (a la Neiman Marcus’ new “laboratory” store). With retail just starting to rebound, and location planning taking years to come to fruition, we understand going with the safest new option. However, bringing a Co-op into a neighborhood filled with the same audience that high end retailers have targeted for years could overlook the change in habits of future shoppers. Keep in mind, this is the same audience that declined to shop as regularly at luxury fashion retail stores throughout the troubled economy. Indeed, it is the same audience that may very well have realized it can get on just fine without current season (read: full priced) designer clothes even once the economy has improved. While most of the Co-op brands – Marc by Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstnberg and Opening Ceremony among others, are already in a more affordable range than the labels at Barney’s flagship, there’s still likely to be a demand from shoppers still bent on getting the best value. Given the popularity of discounters and sale sites among $100,000+ shoppers, would a Barney’s outlet make more sense?

Donâ€t get us wrong: the Barneyâ€s Co-op in Cobble Hill will probably do just fine, and we hope that it becomes a strong anchor for Brooklyn retail. But in terms of looking ahead and marketing to current and future, younger shoppers, the retailer could have brought in more unique  retail options that reflect the signs of the times.

Want to know where the wealthy shop online in the UK? Visit Signature9 UK for a look at the UK shopping sites popular with high earners.

It’s impossible to break out apparel shoppers for department store sites (many of which also sell home and garden items), so it should be noted than not every visitor browsing macys.com is there for clothing, beauty or jewelry items. But even if half of the visitors are there for dresses instead of dishes, Macy’s is attracting one of the largest (and richest) online shopping audiences.

Our data is from Google’s Ad Planner, which only offers visitor and demographic information going back one year. We can’t say if the economy has played a role in shifting online shopping preferences, but presently, wealthy online shoppers aren’t visiting luxury destinations in the same volume as they visit e-commerce sites with mid-level pricing. A possible silver lining for sites specializing in luxury sales: while they may not get the same volume of traffic, it’s quite possible that high end e-commerce sites earn more per sale and visitor.

Of the top 20 apparel e-commerce sites attracting the largest number of wealthy online shoppers, 6 (30%) are sites specializing in discount sales. Gilt and Rue La La are neck and neck for the title of the invitation sale site with the wealthiest visitors. Allowing for a small sampling error, the two sites could even reach the same number of wealthy visitors. The advantage, however, goes to Gilt Groupe, who attracts a combined 1.2 million visitors across the main Gilt site, and recently launched sister (and brother) sites Gilt Fuse and Gilt Man. Combined, Gilt Groupe attracts more visitors earning $100,000 or more than any other online only e-commerce apparel site besides Zappos. Pretty impressive for a company that’s not even 3 years old.

When it comes to visitors earning $100k or more per year, invitation sale sites may not have as many visitors as department stores, but as a percentage of visitors, a sizable portion are in this desirable online shopper demographic.

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