Guess, Alibaba Join on Brick-and-Mortar Store

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Guess, Alibaba Join on Brick-and-Mortar Store
Guess Store in Hong Kong: Artificial intelligence courtesy of link with Alibaba.

Guess Inc. has joined forces with China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. on a new store in Hong Kong, promising features that will make it unlike any of its other 1,600 or so brick-and-mortar stores around the world.

Downtown-based Guess will tie into Alibaba’s Fashion AI project, which uses artificial intelligence as part of a consumer experience that comes with “smart” racks, mirrors and fitting rooms.

Guess is a 37-year-old fashion brand with about $2.4 billion in annual revenue.

Alibaba started in 1999, and now has annual revenue of about $250 million. It’s presence in China is on par with Amazon.com’s presence in the U.S. market.

Product tags in the Guess store in Hong Kong chosen for the AI Project will be able to communicate with the tech-enabled mirrors next to clothing racks and in fitting rooms, showing customers options on color, sizes, availability in other stores, etc., a spokeswoman from Alibaba’s L.A. office said.

“Guess is the first global retail partner we’ve worked with to implement the store concept,” the spokeswoman said.

Alibaba’s AI tech can “learn” the latest fashion trends and tips from analysis of data generated by the company’s own e-commerce platforms, the spokeswoman said. The proprietary model behind the technology is based on insights drawn from images of more than 500,000 outfits put together on Taobao, a customer-to-customer platform of Alibaba’s that functions like ebay Inc.’s. Alibaba also can mine customer data from Tmall, its online store for brands.

Guess could not immediately comment on the link with Alibaba.

The tech features in the Hong Kong store might be a first for Guess, but companies such as El Segundo-based TechStyle have similar store concepts already in place. TechStyle’s brick-and-mortar stores serve as high-tech, data-gathering and tracking tools, Anton Von Reuden, the company’s chief operating officer, told the Business Journal earlier this year. Shoppers in stores of TechStyle brand Fabletics, for example, must first scan items before trying them on, enabling the company to track whether the item is ultimately purchased or not.

Alibaba’s spokeswoman said that the Guess Hong Kong store concept wasn’t designed to collect data.

“We already have that,” she said. “This store is the result of data analysis to what would serve customers best. We already have information on what customers are buying.”

Food Distributor for PE Firm

Brentwood-based private equity firm Highview Capital announced earlier this month its acquisition of food distributor Good Source Solutions in Carlsbad.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Good Source, founded in 1989, was formerly a subsidiary of Seattle, Wash.-based private equity firm Evergreen Pacific Partners. Good Source works with over 500 food manufacturers, and its procurement systems link suppliers with more than 2,500 customers across the U.S. The company has about $200 million in annual revenue.

“This partnership will empower the Company to further capitalize on a fragmented industry and sharpen its competitive edge,” said Ryan McCarthy, founder of Highview Capital, in a statement. “We are excited to support Good Source in the future through both organic initiatives and strategic acquisitions to fuel expansion into new markets.”

Highview was founded in 2016 and oversees a $500 million fund based, with a focus on providing “strategic and operational resources to middle-market businesses poised to undergo a transformation.”

The deal for Good Source marks the third recent deal for Highview. Its American Plastics in April acquired two Ohio-based manufacturing companies – Centrex, a plastic injection molding operation; and Creative Plastic Concepts, makers of plastic totes, containers and shelving.

New CEO for Irwin

Playa Vista-based herbal supplements maker Irwin Naturals Inc. named Marc Washington its new chief executive, the company announced July 17.

Washington takes over the role from Klee Irwin, who founded the company in 1994.

Irwin Naturals produces soft-gel herbal supplements and claims its products are sold in over 90,000 supermarket outlets and on IrwinNaturals.com.

Washington previously served as president and chief operating officer of Santa Monica-based fitness and nutrition company, Beachbody. His appointment as chief executive at Irwin Naturals comes amid growing demand for natural, healthy products and the company’s ambitions to expand into new lines of business, the company said.

It did not elaborate on what the lines of business it has targeted for expansion efforts.

Staff reporter Shwanika Narayan can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8351.

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