PPR strategic focus narrowed: Stealth luxury and Sport

Building on the strength of its luxury brands and continued support of Puma, amongst other sport assets, PPR has agreed to sell some of its diversified retail holdings and play to their strengths.  This week PPR announced that Ellos and Jotex, leading home shopping players in Scandinavia.  This is in addition to the sale last year of plus-sized fashion business OneStopPlus Group as well as leisure retailers The Sportsman's Guide and the Golf Warehouse. 

At a time when stealth luxury is gaining strength, a move away from logo-covered product is underway.  PPR's Bottega Veneta achieved a 33 percent increase in sales last year to  hit the $1 billion business mark, Yves Saint Laurent was up 13 percent for the year and other brands including Stella McCartney were up 20 percent.  It was logo-centered Gucci which held the most modest increase at 8.2%.  Both Bloomberg and Forbes have shown interest in the strategic shift, read the articles here and here.