Entrance to DFS Waikiki Galleria in Hawaii.
DFS group
Benjamin Vouchot, who has been CEO of DFS Group since the beginning of the pandemic, is stepping down “to pursue other professional interests,” according to a statement from French parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Starting November 1, the top job will be filled by Ed Brennan, the former CEO of the luxury travel retailer before Vouchot took the helm in January 2021. Mr. Brennan has been with the LVMH group for more than 20 years and is a popular leader.
DFS Group Senior Non-Executive Director Toni Belloni said in a statement on Friday: “Ed Brennan has over 25 years of experience with DFS, having served as Chairman and CEO twice and has an excellent track record.For the past four years, Ed has served as a non-executive director of DFS, leading the business. We have been fully involved in the strategic development.”
Mr. Brennan will likely return as interim leader until the travel retailer finds Mr. Vouchot’s permanent replacement. Belloni hinted that DFS is undergoing “continuous reinvention.”
Since February 2021, Brennan has also served as CEO of the Robert Warren Miller Family Office, an organization representing the interests of entrepreneurs. Mr. Miller and his recently deceased philanthropic billionaire business partner, Chuck Feeney, founded the duty-free store in 1960 and made billions in sales benefiting Japanese tourists in Hong Kong and Hawaii. Earned a dollar. When LVMH acquired DFS in 1996, Mr. Miller retained the large minority stake he still holds today.
Mr. Vouchot assumes the role of CEO at a very difficult time for DFS Group. “I believe that DFS is entering the most important phase in its history,” he said at the time.
The luxury goods executive, who left the highly successful beauty retailer Sephora as president of Asia, also previously served as president of North Asia at DFS. President of Asia Pacific at Van Cleef & Arpels. His role at Cartier, and his previous role at Cartier, saw the retailer’s core shopping group, the Chinese, suspend operations due to the pandemic, and the company had to ramp up its business due to the impact of COVID-19. .
Business remains below pre-COVID-19 levels
Since then, DFS has struggled while Sephora has grown rapidly. Both are the largest businesses within LVMH’s Select Retail division. But most of the growth, and most of the profits, in the first half of this year came from Sephora.
LVMH said that in the first half of 2024, with international travel only partially recovering in Europe and key destinations such as Hong Kong and Macau, DFS said that “business activity remains below 2019 pre-COVID-19 levels. It’s below,” he said. Christopher de La Puente, chairman and CEO of Selective Retailing, will also retire at the end of October.
DFS would not comment further on the search for a permanent CEO, although LVMH’s travel retail business may need a “new broom.” Even though Chinese people are traveling again, they are not spending as much, leaving retailers unable to shake off their woes. And the future of China’s duty-free island, Hainan, where DFS has committed to investing heavily in the Yalong Bay new construction project in collaboration with partner Shenya Group, is in doubt given China Duty Free Group’s recent performance. It’s never obvious.
Yalong Bay in Hainan province is an ambitious retail development that broke ground this year.
DFS group
Sources said there was a possibility that DFS could be sold this summer, but that has not materialized and LVMH has not confirmed it.
In a statement, Belloni thanked Vouchot for his “strong leadership.” He added that the outgoing CEO has made DFS Group a “leaner, more efficient and more focused organization.” Regarding the Yalong Bay project, Mr. Belloni said, “It will be a major pillar of DFS’ future growth.”
DFS Group currently has more than 400 sales locations around the world, spanning 15 airports and 18 T Gallerias (like the one pictured above) in well-known tourist destinations. These include the ultra-luxury Samaritaine hotel in Paris, which was opened in mid-2021 by French President Emmanuel Macron and LVMH billionaire Bernard Arnault, and the Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice.
