​Lush Opens Its Largest Store on London’s Oxford Street

LONDON — Lush Cosmetics, the firm known for its handmade products that spotlight natural ingredients, on Thursday opened the doors to a sprawling, 9,500-square-foot space on London’s Oxford Street, its largest store globally. The three-story space is filled with Lush’s colorful product ranges, that span fizzing bath bombs to bar shampoos to Lush’s own fragrance line, called Gorilla perfume. There is also a Lush Spa with four treatment rooms in the store’s basement. Mark Constantine, cofounder and managing director of Lush, said at a launch breakfast for the store Thursday that while he had originally planned to focus on services in the store, such as grooming and hairdressing stations, he came to the conclusion that “people want stuff.” “Stuff is what you’ve got — we did 220 new products that aren’t available anywhere else, just for this store,” Constantine said. They include bath bombs in the shape of purple lotus flowers, a Life’s a Beach shower scrub and an Oxford Street soap. The firm has also introduced a new, three-hour treatment in the store’s spa, called The Planets, which combines massage, palm reading and a facial. A number of the exclusive products and treatments will launch at Lush stores globally over the next 18

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Gucci Turnaround Seen in Second Half

PARIS — Kering chairman and chief executive officer François-Henri Pinault confirmed Thursday that he expects a turnaround at Gucci in the second half of 2015, despite a disappointing first-quarter performance. “We will see already in the second half very noticeable signs of improvement in Gucci’s business,” Pinault told shareholders at the group’s annual general meeting. Kering earlier this week revealed Gucci’s comparable sales were down 7.9 percent in the first quarter as the company undertakes a turnaround under new ceo Marco Bizzarri and creative director Alessandro Michele. Overall, Kering reported sales rose 11.4 percent in the first quarter to 2.65 billion euros, or $2.99 billion, boosted by “massive” currency tailwinds. On a comparable basis, group sales were down 0.6 percent in the quarter. Stripping out the impact of exchange rate variations, as well as acquisitions and disposals, sales in the luxury division were down 2.6 percent. RELATED CONTENT: WWD Earnings Tracker >> Pinault said the maker of horsebit loafers and Jackie handbags needed to “catch its breath” after a lengthy growth period ran out of steam in 2012. He noted the impact of sales from Michele’s first collections should be felt in group results from November. The executive was also questioned about how Kering — whose

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