APAC Luxury Pulse: Galeries Lafayette enters India, Chinese F&B hits Singapore, Porsche Q3 slows

Alex (The Retail Podcast) and Ryf Quail (Director, NRF APAC) break down this week’s APAC headlines: Galeries Lafayette launches in Mumbai (with Delhi next), a surge of Chinese F&B brands expands into Singapore, and Porsche reports a Q3 delivery dip led by China and North America amid intensifying EV competition. They also explore lululemon Singapore’s retail-meets-wellness studio concept and why experiential formats are resetting the playbook for premium retail in Asia.

Topics this week

• Galeries Lafayette → India: Mumbai flagship now open; Delhi next; 250+ brands under one roof via Aditya Birla partnership.

• Chinese F&B → Singapore: Luckin, Mixue, ChaPanda, Nong Geng Ji and more chase stable demand and regional visibility.

• Porsche Q3: Deliveries soften, led by China and North America; value-driven EV competition reshapes luxury auto demand.

• lululemon Singapore: Retail-meets-wellness format (yoga/Pilates studios inside the flagship) as an experience blueprint.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

00:18 Five Things Friday

01:23 Guest teaser

03:11 lululemon Singapore

05:34 Galeries Lafayette in India

07:25 Chinese F&B in Singapore

10:00 Porsche Q3

11:33 Wrap

Further reading

• Lululemon’s retail-meets-wellness concept in SE Asia: https://observatory.sg/lululemons-first-ever-retail-meets-wellness-concept-store-in-se-asia/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

• Aditya Birla (partner): https://www.adityabirla.com/businesses/

• Galeries Lafayette (official): https://www.galerieslafayette.com/

• Reuters on Chinese F&B in Singapore: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinese-food-beverage-firms-flock-singapore-first-step-expansion-drive-2025-10-12/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

• Porsche China: https://www.porsche.cn/china/en/

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello there. My name is Reef Quail, Managing
Director of NRF AIPAC, and this is Five Things Friday, AIPAC
Edition. Hello.
Hello Alex, how are you? Yeah, very good.

(00:22):
Thank you. I'm still disappointed.
I can't believe it. I believe it.
OK, Reef is disappointed about last week's show not being live
yet. We've had a we've had a big
debate. Maybe you let us know.
Should we? Shouldn't we?
Yes. Yeah, so that plays our viewers.
Like, I want to come across as my natural self.
And I'd been on a camping trip with my son for two weeks, and I
might have grown a rather lusty beard with a fair bit of growth

(00:44):
on my neck. I've trimmed it down this week.
So I feel like Alex now. Alex my my team, my manager,
because I'm now more presentablefor the audiences your.
Media guys. My media, my media advisor and
has advised people we probably should put the other episode to
air, but I thought, oh, you know, show a bit of personality,
but no, OK, so we're shielding you from that, from the massive.

(01:05):
I might put it out as just an audio version.
We'll put it out. I've always said I had a face
for radio. Exactly.
Many people have said I've got afantastic face for maybe you
shouldn't let that one go. Let's.
Moving on very quickly, trying to keep to our 50 minutes
format. Phases for radio?
We should talk about you in first.

(01:27):
We gonna have a guest next week,are we?
Oh my God, yes we are. And you might be just recording
with her alone, by the way, because it's like 2:00 in the
morning for me, so. That might be a lot of
responsibility. Yeah, everything.
Set up it's like this, you just go in and record.
But anyway, let's yeah, you and you want to do a quick.
So Ewan Ewan is the managing director of Aeon 360.

(01:50):
It's a newly developed digital offering for Aeon across her and
she's based in Malaysia. She was chief marketing officer
for Aeon Malaysia. And now she's taken on this more
senior data and digital role, which is exciting.
She's an awesome lady. She's a lot smarter than you and
I Alex, which will be good because it'll lift the tones and
it's done out in the weird. We're gonna have someone who's
gonna elevate our intellect now over a colour ago.

(02:13):
We'll we'll we'll be able to draft off that.
And so she's been joining us. Actually, she's on the Advisory
Board for NRFA pack and has beenfor the last couple of years and
she's been a like she a wonderful spokesperson for
retail. She has her own not-for-profit
as well. And she's she's got some really
amazing things to talk about. Obviously journeys and rights of
women, particularly in Islamic countries, obviously.

(02:33):
So she's an amazing woman. Not like like a bit of a crush
on her in terms of she's just such an awesome person to have
as part of NF APEC, but also she's agreed to be part of this,
to have a go at this. Protecting some sort of pot or
something to come flying towardsyour head.
Not yet. Not yet anyway.
Let's get into it, I'd say. OK, moving on my friend.

(02:54):
We've been talking a lot about retail experiences over the
previous weeks, and I wanted today to dive into a subset of
that. And my 2:00 today will be
manifestations of experience. And really what it comes to is
Wellness and experience in retail experience, which can
manifest in a whole bunch of different ways.
And the one I'm going to talk about today is Lululemon.

(03:15):
So Lululemon in Singapore is just taking it to a new level in
terms of experience. They've got a they've got four
stores in Singapore, they've gotChangi Airport and they've got
one at Marina Bay Sands. But their flagship store, their
North Star store, Star Show store, North Star store, let's
say that quickly, is in Orchard Road and it's 600 square metres

(03:35):
of retail space. So it's a beautiful Lululemon
store, right? But wrapping that store with 100
extra 180 square metres is a yoga and Pilates studio.
Wow. So what we're talking about,
this isn't a this, this picture here, this is a part of the
retail experience. So you shop at Lululemon and you
go into a class, right? There's yoga studio.

(03:55):
Keep coming through, mate. Yeah, there's Pilates and you
can see this is in the entrance from within the store.
It's beautifully designed, it's curves, it's inviting.
You can see the lines of Singapore there in refitting
room. Yes.
So this is now on my will they allow?
Is it? I presume it's unisex, right?
Well, I hope so because I wantedto go and have a look at this

(04:16):
too, because I'll be able to employ it all.
Then this is this is only recent.
So this is really cool. So you know, when you're
thinking about Wellness, we're thinking about health and
well-being. Come, come back.
So you come back to that. So not only have they, not only
have they got the design, you can say that they've got their
ambassador for Lululemon actually teaching the classes.
Oh wow. So that's that's pretty pretty.

(04:38):
Let me look at her name Connor. So she's.
Got it's pretty Cortana, yeah. Yeah, so she's actually teaching
the classes and she's one of their ambassadors.
She's out of Y Canada. And so we're really thinking
about, you know, thinking about brands, rethinking physical
retail, not just to feed transactional places, but a
place it's neither home nor work, but somewhere in between.
Love it, love. It a little bit spent time.

(04:59):
I mean, you could effectively spend an hour and a half at
Lululemon. Yeah, not.
Look, I think it's. It's it's wild.
Yeah. And it's a trend that will
continue to grow. And I think maybe at the end of
the show you've got another great example of a store that's
not just for transaction, but. Yeah, but that.
But this, this, this, this is it.

(05:19):
This example extends the values of the brand into activity.
You know, I'm saying the next example is really thinking about
Wellness within the space. So hold that thought and I'll
hand it back to you. This was this is this is about
extending the brand into activity.
Well, it's been a dynamic week for luxury in the region.
And the the thing that always amazes me from a European

(05:42):
perspective are these massive conglomerates that live in India
that own so many different typesof businesses.
And as part of one of the many businesses and brands they own
is fashion. And what we see is the first
Indian luxury departments for Galleries Lafayette, which is
officially in Mumbai. And it's the retailer's first

(06:05):
step into this sort of fast growing luxury watch.
Yeah, the growing luxury market,obviously chasing the
aspirational spend in the region.
And it takes it away just from, and you've seen this with
departments, luxury department stores opening up across the
world. They've gone away from, you
know, just fashion, but into lifestyle, into art and into

(06:27):
fine living. So it's that, you know, full
circle luxury lifestyle living, which is is what the store is
focused on more than 250 international brands, including
the brands from from the holdingcompany as well, Adita Brilla,
who has a whole plethora of brands that they own and it
brings it all in one roof and they're expanding.

(06:51):
So it's not an experience, sorry, it's not an experimental
store because it's the first store and they're expanding into
Delhi next year as well. So one to watch as the it's.
It's big. It's a big store though, isn't
it? It sounds like a million.
I don't. Have much square footage, but
the fact they're doing art and all the elements of around it's,

(07:11):
it's incredible, right? And that's right.
Another story that you and I have discussed many, many times
and I've always discussed this from Auk European perspective of
Chinese brands expanding out into different regions.
Chinese F&B brands have expandedinto Singapore or are still
expanding into Singapore at paceand and the reason for the

(07:33):
energy of these brands moving into the region or the the
stated energy. And this is a story in Reuters.
So please go to Reuters for the full story.
But you know, my 30 seconds on it is that these brands are
looking for stable regulatory environment, stable consumption
from spending from consumers anda transparent regulatory

(07:55):
environment, which is showcases how Southeast Asian tourists
flocking to Singapore are now gonna get, you know, if they
want to get some fast food from Chinese fast food, the brands
are there to meet that demand. And again, I think the signals
that we are, we are well, far, far away from Chinese brands

(08:17):
just being satisfied with domestic demand.
It's happened in fast fashion. It's happening FFB.
And I expect to see this to continue to grow and sing it.
Yeah. So it got me.
Singapore particularly, it's actually, it's happening all
across different categories in, in Singapore with Chinese.
One of the biggest challenges inSingapore retail as an aside, is

(08:38):
that the Chinese retailers are coming in, setting up and paying
overs on their rent a retail rent.
So it's been pushing out a lot of the Singapore retailers who
are struggling to be able to afford rent.
So the Chinese have come in and,and are renting retail spaces
and, and bidding the price of real estate up.
Wow. So this is happening not only in
food but happy and right across categories and Singapore

(09:00):
retailers are struggling to match them because they're
trying to hold their footprint and, and and the tide with
others driving. I don't think it be just
Singaporean retailers, I think it'll be global retailers when
they're. Yeah, there's a bit of this, but
I think that I think for me talking to Singapore, Singapore
in retailers, it's, it's one of the challenge, the challenges is
coming through the cost of doingbusiness.

(09:20):
And in most categories, we're seeing Chinese retailers coming
in and paying overs for real estate.
And so it's creating huge pressure.
And I mean, it was very funny. I, I met with the board of the
Singapore Retailer Association 3or 4 years ago.
Yeah. And they say they, they laugh
and drag there in Singapore, they're in property.
Retailers are in property. But in Malaysia, they're in
retail because they've got a population, because Singapore's

(09:40):
only 5 million people. Yes, Malaysia's 35.
Well, it's a great testing ground, but I think what what's
interesting is obviously we've got these stories of Chinese
brands coming out of China, but then you look at, you know,
staple of Automotive World, Porsche and luxury and they're
reporting the first time global sales declined in the third

(10:02):
quarter of 20% drop. And that 20% drop is in China,
which is softening the demand and North America also, which
basically shows how fragile highend automotive has become with
the expansion of Chinese EV brands at such fantastic prices

(10:23):
and. And I can.
Yeah, sorry, go a bit. This is the search, but this is
this is where we're seeing in tougher economic conditions,
consumers search for value. Yeah.
And, and I see, you know, for me, the Chinese vehicles are
coming into markets and delivering a pretty good product
at a sharp price point and creating value for the money
dollar spent. And good example, you say we

(10:44):
were. I was walking through a car park
yesterday and I've got my. I have been looking at byd Utes
in Australia. They're called the shark at the
auto utes They're awesome. Every, every boy loves the Ute
for camping. So that was my next trip.
So, but I was talking to the guybecause I, it was a brand new
and I said, I asked the, the guywho had it, what do you think of
it? And he said to me, yeah, for the
price I paid, it's amazing. It was 50,000 Australians.

(11:06):
He said the alternative was a Toyota Prado Land Cruiser and
that was $98,000. Yeah.
So it's half the price of a Japanese, like Toyota is a
iconic brand in Australia. Yeah.
So so they're going. I'm happy to.
I'm happy to forego the Toyota brand because I'm going to say
$50,000. I'm going to pay half the price

(11:27):
for an equivalent product, whichis also a hybrid.
Yeah, it's incredible. Great.
And finally, moving on to you reef.
Yeah. So the last one is we're, we're
we're back to experience in retail, but we're talking about
Wellness, but we're going to talk about a different
manifestation and then. You know what they sell is
whenever I see an images like that is what does this store
sell? Yeah, I know.

(11:47):
And it's a it's a beautiful store.
So if you've done a lot of time in international airports like
you and I have, Alex will be familiar with this brand.
Gentle Monster opened a concept store in September this year in
in Seoul. It's an incredible store.
So this is this is the house nowhere, right?
It's launched in conjunction. It's a flat, it's an
architectural flagship store. It's experimental retail in in

(12:11):
its concept in conjunction with I combined, which is the parent
company of gentle monster, right.
This is unbelievable. It's 14 stories.
You want to bring up some pictures, mate?
So so this is this dog here. This is actually not a dog.
It's actually it's a model. This is when you walk into the
lobby of the store. Yeah right.
So the store is more like an artgallery quite you.

(12:33):
So you're they're treating theircustomers not so much as
transactional customers, but as an.
Audience. Yeah, well.
And so, yeah, it's, it's so as you flick through, you can see
come back, come back, one slide maybe to the left.
I think this is your screen, no?Yeah, no, yeah.
Is it? Is it me sharing?
I'll let me. Yeah.
Oh, yeah, it is. It is too.
I will. I'm glad you're on top of this
because we come back here. So this is just you can see some

(12:57):
of the designs and. Where is some product.
I know there is product. This is the store.
From the outside you can see this is their eyewear, right?
Yeah, they're famous eyewear. Yeah.
It's wild. So, you know, as I said, be 14
stores and. 14 floors. It's 14 stories whole.
I mean some it's it's the designisn't incredible.
The first floor, as you see, is that that that John animatronic

(13:20):
dashound named Sunshine when youwalk in that what I showed you
before on level 2 is the gentle monster eyewear 3 and 4 is is
other brands. So I'm going to say a tissue
head headwear and new black tableware and design objects.
There's a tea house. It's incredible.
So when you walk through this door, you don't really feel like

(13:41):
as if you don't really feel likea customer.
This is so when we talk about Wellness here, we're talking
about a multi sensory immersion.Gentle monitor uses scent, yeah,
light spatial design and movement, texture to induce
calm, wonder and introspection. So what they're trying to do is,
is slow down the retail experience to encourage visitors

(14:03):
to wander, to pause and to discover and not be rushed.
Got you. So the whole design lens lends
itself to mindful engagement. So you're you're having a
mindful of experience, you're having a mental refresher.
Yeah. In a retail experience, which,
you know, we all know retail, itcan be not a very rentally
refreshing experience, right. Yeah, it's gone completely.
Counter. I know, I love.

(14:25):
I think that the other thing they do with having such amazing
stores they create, create theirown advertising campaign.
Everyone wants a. Photo of them by that dog, which
will circulate around Instagram and whatever.
And we're like, well, where is that?
People will get down. This has only been open for four
weeks, so it's pretty cool. So if you go to Seoul, go and

(14:48):
check this out. It's I'm going to have a quick
look. It's I.
Thought we need to go Seoul together as well.
Yeah, I think we do too. Like I, I the stuff that's
happening, I've got to, as I said, I use crush loosely, but
I've got a crush on on Korea because it you, you, you see
just so many cool things happening up there.
And it's because it's a little bit of an island.
You see stuff that's happening. They've got a bit of a mental

(15:08):
space between themselves and therest of the world.
They just we've. Talked about the K pop
dominance, right? I'm sorry, K everything, K pop,
KK fashion, K beauty. It's just incredible.
They're going from strength to strength.
Yeah, yeah. So yeah, so but it's you just
say there's, there's unique thinking that you just not
seeing in other parts of the world.
OK, until next week where we have our special guest.

(15:32):
Thank you, Sir. Lovely to see you.
See you. See you in a week.