LVMH-owned luxury retailer DFS is losing its CEO at a difficult time

According to a statement from French parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Benjamin Vuchot, CEO of DFS Group since the early days of the pandemic, is stepping down “to pursue other professional interests.”

Starting Nov. 1, the top job will be taken over by Ed Brennan, the luxury travel retailer’s former CEO before Vuchot took over in January 2021. Brennan is a popular leader who has been with LVMH Group for over two decades.

Toni Belloni, senior non-executive chairman of DFS Group, said in a statement on Friday: “Ed Brennan has more than 25 years of experience at DFS and has served twice as chairman and CEO with an outstanding track record.” Ed is a non-executive director of DFS and fully involved in the company’s strategic developments.”

Brennan will return as interim leader, presumably until the travel retailer finds a permanent replacement for Vuchot. Belloni alluded to DFS going through a “continuous reinvention.”

Since February 2021, Brennan has also served as CEO of the Robert Warren Miller Family Office, an organization that represents the entrepreneur’s interests. Miller and recently died Billionaire philanthropist and business partner Chuck Feeney founded Duty Free Shoppers in 1960 and made billions through lucrative sales to Japanese travelers in Hong Kong and Hawaii. When LVMH bought DFS in 1996, Miller retained a large minority stake, which he still owns today.

Vuchot took over as CEO of DFS Group in January 2021 at a very difficult time for the company. At the time he said: “I believe that the DFS is entering the most important phase in its history.”

After leaving the hugely successful Sephora as President of Asia, the luxury goods executive – with previous stints at DFS as President of North Asia; President of Asia Pacific at Van Cleef & Arpels; and previously Cartier – had to shore up business during Covid-19 as the retailer’s core buying group, Chinese nationals, were grounded due to the pandemic.

Business remains below pre-Covid levels

DFS has had problems since then, but Sephora has boomed. Both are the largest companies within LVMH’s selective retail division. However, most of the growth in the first half of this year – and most of the profit – came from Sephora.

According to LVMH, DFS’s business activity in the first half of 2024 remained below its pre-Covid levels of 2019 as international travel recovered only partially in Europe and flagship destinations such as Hong Kong and Macau. Christopher de Lapuente, Chairman and CEO of Selective Retailing, is also getting out End of October.

It could be that LVMH’s travel retail business needs a “new broom,” but DFS did not comment further. The retailer hasn’t been able to shake off its problems as Chinese people are traveling again but aren’t spending nearly as much. And the future of China’s duty-free island of Hainan – where DFS has committed to investing heavily in the new Yalong Bay development project together with partner Shenya Group – is anything but clear based on China Duty Free Group’s recent performance.

There was also a sale of DFS this summer been a possibility However, according to more than one source, this did not happen and was never confirmed by LVMH.

In his statement, Belloni thanked Vuchot “for his strong leadership.” The outgoing CEO has made the DFS Group “a leaner, more efficient and more focused organization,” he added. Regarding the Yalong Bay project, Belloni said that “it will become an important pillar of the future growth of DFS.”

DFS Group currently has more than 400 points of sale around the world, spread across 15 airports and 18 T Gallerias (like the one pictured above) in popular tourist destinations. These include the super-luxury Hotel Samaritaine in Paris – which was inaugurated by French President Emmanuel Macron and LVMH billionaire boss Bernard Arnault in mid-2021 – and the Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice.