With much fanfare, European luxury houses such as Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton and Moncler are refurbishing and expanding their old retail spaces, jazzing them up to create a sense of novelty and give shoppers a new reason to pass through the doors. Others labels like Pucci and Fendi have relocated, opening a new store after closing a less prestigious address nearby. Most of the store bashes take place during Fashion Week, which ends Wednesday in Paris, while the industry’s tastemakers are present.
The focus on re-tailoring existing stores marks a shift in the luxury retail industry. For a decade, it seemed that brands such as Vuitton, Gucci, Ferragamo and Hermès couldn’t open new stores fast enough. Dozens of stores were added each year in China and other new markets, as well as in older luxury-goods markets in Europe, driving the sector’s growth by adding new selling space.
But those brands and many others have now covered most of the globe, including such far-flung locales as Mongolia.
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(Source: The Wall Street Journal Online)