French luxury house Hermès has opened its first store in Nashville, in the city’s creative Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood.
Hermès opens first Nashville store. – Hermès
Designed by Paris-based architectural agency RDAI, the new boutique merges Hermès’s heritage of craftsmanship and Nashville’s rich music culture.
Set within a restored twentieth-century hosiery factory, the two-story space preserves its original red-brick façade, with the Hermès name discreetly painted across the exterior. Inside, natural light floods through rows of industrial windows, highlighting an open-plan layout.
Visitors are welcomed by the worlds of silk, fashion jewelry, and perfume and beauty, which flow into leather goods, equestrian pieces, and home collections. Upstairs, men’s and women’s ready-to-wear and shoe salons sit alongside dedicated spaces for jewelry and watches.
The store opens with special-edition pieces including an electric guitar crafted by Hermès’s petit h atelier in ebony, walnut, and leather, as well as a selection of Arceau watches featuring a music-inspired On Air illustration by French artist Carine Brancowitz.
Cherrywood and maple veneer, often used in guitar making, set the tone for a palette of warm woods and electric blue accents. Curved motifs in carpets and ceilings echo sound waves, while musical references appear throughout: terrazzo stair steps mimic piano keys, lacquered panels resemble accordion bellows, and metal mesh evokes the comb on the mouthpiece of a harmonica.
Completing the space are works from the Émile Hermès collection and the Hermès Collection of Contemporary Photographs. Likewise, to mark the opening, Nashville artist Herb Williams created a window installation featuring a horse sculpture made of colorful crayons, trotting through birch trees constructed from piano keys.
Columbia continues to strengthen its presence in the Caribbean with the opening of its first store in Puerto Rico, located at Plaza Carolina in San Juan. The opening, announced on November 25, 2025, marks a strategic step for the company in the Puerto Rican market and forms part of its regional expansion plan. The launch was backed by an initial investment of approximately $1.2 million, earmarked for infrastructure and merchandise.
Columbia
The project will also have a direct impact on the local economy, with the creation of more than 50 jobs, helping to strengthen the island’s retail ecosystem. The company emphasises that this initiative reinforces its commitment to local talent and to developing a robust and sustainable operation in Puerto Rico.
The new store spans 3,846 square feet, or about 357 square metres, and has been designed to deliver a comprehensive shopping experience for outdoor enthusiasts. The space brings together specialised ranges for trail running, fishing, hiking, and lifestyle, alongside technical footwear and accessories. All products are supported by Columbia’s proprietary technologies, designed to provide protection, cooling, warmth, and comfort across different environments and weather conditions.
As part of its commercial strategy, the store features a product mix of 60% menswear and 40% womenswear, with a continual refresh cycle through the twice-yearly introduction of new collections. This approach reflects the brand’s commitment to continuous innovation and to responding to consumer trends in the outdoor segment, including the global rise of trail running, a category that Columbia officially introduced this year to its regional assortment.
With this opening, Columbia reaffirms its goal of consolidating its position as one of the leading choices in Puerto Rico for consumers seeking reliable, high-performance products designed to support a range of outdoor activities. The Plaza Carolina opening therefore represents a new chapter in the brand’s expansion strategy in the Caribbean, strengthening its positioning and closeness to the local market.
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Zurich-based Skincode AG- renowned for its 100% vegan, cruelty-free and paraben-free medical skincare products- has just opened its first pop-up in VilaNova de Gaia. The launch took place on Wednesday, December 17, inside Farmácia Gaia Jardim, located in the Gaia Jardim Shopping Centre, specifically at 399 Avenida dos Escultores. The initiative marks a strengthening of Skincode’s physical presence in Portugal.
@skincode_portugal / Instagram
According to a statement issued by AICEP, the pop-up was entirely designed, produced and installed by the Portuguese company Decorpublic, based in Famões, Odivelas, which specialises in point-of-sale (POS) marketing and advertising decor solutions.
The statement also notes that the design of this debut pop-up store is intended to reflect the brand’s Swiss tradition, combining precision and purity with scientific excellence. It adds that, in creating the space, Decorpublic combined high-gloss lacquer finishes, crisp white surfaces, integrated lighting, and backlit displays. Decorpublic also states that the result captures Skincode’s clinically tested approach to dermocosmetics.
@skincode_portugal / Instagram
Skincode’s CEO and founder, Prinz Niclas Massalsky, said, “A big thank you to Farmácia Gaia Jardim for the honour of a fantastic collaboration, and to Decorpublic for producing and installing this impressive display/retail unit.” He said in another statement, “We couldn’t be happier and prouder.”
The Swiss dermocosmetics brand, headquartered in Zurich, is present in Portugal through pharmaceutical distribution channels and strategic physical points of sale. The Essentials (sensitive skin) and Exclusive (cellular anti-ageing) ranges can be found in pharmacies and parapharmacies such as Farmácia Triunfo, as well as through distribution networks such as Pharmashop. They are also available online in stores including Care to Beauty, Makeupstore.pt, and BeautyTheShop.
@skincode_portugal / Instagram
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Iconic Italian luxury lifestyle brand Etro is entering a new phase of development. A consortium of industrial investors comprising Rams Global, Mathias Facchini (Swinger International), and banker Giulio Gallazzi (through SRI Group) has acquired the minority stake previously held by the Etro family. L Catterton remains the majority shareholder and will continue to actively support the brand’s long-term growth strategy.
Etro’s new investor consortium
The transaction is intended to strengthen Etro’s industrial and strategic capabilities, while underscoring strong external confidence in the brand’s positioning and future potential. Financial terms were not disclosed. However, the implied valuation exceeds that of L Catterton’s original investment, confirming the value created since it came on board.
Through their respective platforms, Rams Global, Facchini, and Gallazzi chose to invest in Etro after identifying significant untapped potential in both existing and new markets. These partners will contribute industry expertise, networks, and industrial know-how to support the next phase of international expansion and category development.
The current CEO, Fabrizio Cardinali, will remain a central figure in the company’s future, continuing to lead the execution of the strategic plan with the new investors. Faruk Bülbül, representing Rams Global, will be appointed chairman of the Board of Directors and will work closely with the CEO and shareholders to support the next phase of growth.
Etro SS26
Rams Global has over 36 years of experience across 11 business areas, from luxury residences to hospitality and gastronomy, with an established international presence in numerous countries and major global cities.
Swinger International S.p.A. is an Italian fashion group specialising in apparel, footwear, bags, and accessories in the ready-to-wear and contemporary segments. The company manages its own brands, including the women’s ready-to-wear label Genny, as well as licensed collaborations with leading international fashion houses.
Giulio Gallazzi is president & CEO of SRI Group, a private equity investor focused on SMEs. He has extensive experience in international business development, corporate finance, and corporate governance. Under his leadership, SRI Group has completed several strategic acquisitions and has become one of the main shareholders of the Banca del Fucino Group.
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