Luxury Retail
Luxury retail wooing local affluents instead of relying on shopping tourism.
According to The Wall Street Journal:
"affluent shoppers have boosted sales at the world’s leading players (In the luxury industry), by an average of 14 percent in the first six months of this year, according to Swiss bank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch. Sales are expected to reach a record of nearly $200 billion by year end – higher than when sales of shoes, watches, dresses and other luxury items previously peaked five years ago, according to luxury consultancy Intercorporate.
To meet demand, fashion houses are aggressively opening shops again after a long hiatus. Louis Vuitton recently inaugurated a new boutique in Budapest, while Valentino and Ferragamo signed leases in India. French fashion house Hermes International is expanding its flagship Paris boutique so it will take up half a block.
“It makes people feel confident if there are more people getting rich and the rich are getting richer,” Gucci Group Chief Executive Robert Polet said in an interview. Sales at the group, which includes the core Gucci brand, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent and others, increased 20 percent between January and June.
Behind the scenes, though, fashion houses are planning for the next, inevitable downturn. Their strategy: Make their business less dependent on tourism flows – a traditional driver of sales – by developing stronger local clienteles."
To meet demand, fashion houses are aggressively opening shops again after a long hiatus. Louis Vuitton recently inaugurated a new boutique in Budapest, while Valentino and Ferragamo signed leases in India. French fashion house Hermes International is expanding its flagship Paris boutique so it will take up half a block.
“It makes people feel confident if there are more people getting rich and the rich are getting richer,” Gucci Group Chief Executive Robert Polet said in an interview. Sales at the group, which includes the core Gucci brand, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent and others, increased 20 percent between January and June.
Behind the scenes, though, fashion houses are planning for the next, inevitable downturn. Their strategy: Make their business less dependent on tourism flows – a traditional driver of sales – by developing stronger local clienteles."
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