Cartier, LVMH Look to Stores Outside Paris for Olympic Retail Boost

FILE PHOTO: The logo of luxury goods group Richemont's flagship brand Cartier is seen at a branch in Zurich, Switzerland, January 12, 2017.  REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of luxury goods group Richemont's flagship brand Cartier is seen at a branch in Zurich, Switzerland, January 12, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
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Cartier, LVMH Look to Stores Outside Paris for Olympic Retail Boost

FILE PHOTO: The logo of luxury goods group Richemont's flagship brand Cartier is seen at a branch in Zurich, Switzerland, January 12, 2017.  REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of luxury goods group Richemont's flagship brand Cartier is seen at a branch in Zurich, Switzerland, January 12, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

Luxury retailers in European cities outside France are jockeying for business from deep pocketed tourists this summer, betting on a surge in visitors avoiding crowds and street closures in Paris during the Olympic Games.
"Paris will probably be slow," with cities like London, Milan or Barcelona likely seeing a lift in traffic during the event, Cartier CEO Cyril Vigneron said on Friday.
The Summer Games, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11, are probably "not the right time to organize a very important high jewelry celebration in Paris", said Van Cleef & Arpels CEO Nicolas Bos. "But we will keep the stores open and be very happy to welcome sports amateurs," he added.
The executives of the Richemont-owned jewelry brands speak from experience. The 2012 Olympics, held in London, drove some serious shoppers to their boutiques in Paris, they said, although it was "neutral" overall for their businesses. Expecting a similar trend this year, they will focus on meeting their wealthy customers where they turn up.
LVMH, the world's largest luxury group and an Olympic sponsor, is also basing its expectations on its experience during previous events in London and Beijing.
"It's usually quite neutral - although it makes our life a little bit more complicated when it comes to supplying products into our stores," said LVMH Chief Financial Officer Jean Jacques Guiony.
According to Reuters, a report commissioned by Paris 2024 last week flagged a possible "crowding out" effect whereby tourists that had planned to come to Paris go elsewhere, but said that it is hard to measure and to predict.
France's governing fashion body, The Federation de la Haute Couture et la Mode, has moved the autumn 2024 haute couture fashion shows forward a week to June 24, straight after the menswear spring 2025 ready-to-wear events. Organizers are also doubling shuttle services between shows as final Olympic preparations are expected to snarl city traffic.
Still, some fashion labels will only hold showroom presentations in Milan this season, due to "logistical difficulties because of the Olympics", Carlo Capasa, chairman of Italy's National Fashion Chamber, said.
London retailers, which have suffered from a drop in tourist traffic with the end of UK tax-free shopping, are hoping to capture business from Paris, with preparations well underway at iconic stores Harrods and Selfridges.
"Paris has already been taken off the Chinese tour guide lists for this summer," said Harrods' managing director Michael Ward, who is expecting a significant boost. "We've got to curate the product, we've got to be absolutely on our game to handle it," said Ward.
The department store hopes to draw in shoppers with celebrations of its new Tiffany & Co. high jewelry boutique, designer pop-ups and exclusive products including two new 175th anniversary teddy bears designed by Italian jewelry label Bulgari and makeup label Charlotte Tilbury.
Selfridges plans to attract locals as well as international visitors with sporting events such as a running club and is beefing up its offer of sportswear products.
"We are getting ready for a huge celebration of sport," said CEO Andrew Keith.
Barcelona, meanwhile, is pitching itself as a laid-back alternative to the frenzied Olympic atmosphere in Paris.
"Spain can offer a more relaxed leisure and consumer experience than that which, for weeks, the host city and country of the Games will have," Spanish retail and food industry association AECOC told Reuters.
Some tourists, including from the United States, who do visit the Games, which will mostly be held in venues throughout the French capital, are planning to extend their trips to visit other European countries.
"US travel data appears to imply a halo effect, as in addition to an increase in bookings in France for the Olympics, our data reflects an amplification of intra-European travel by Americans in Europe to certain destinations, such as Spain, Germany and Italy," travel agency eDreams told Reuters.



Hermes 2Q Sales Rise 13% on Continued Appetite for High-End Luxury

People stand with Hermes shopping bags as they wait at a traffic light in Tsim Sha Tsui, a bustling shopping hotspot, in Hong Kong, China December 5, 2023. (Reuters)
People stand with Hermes shopping bags as they wait at a traffic light in Tsim Sha Tsui, a bustling shopping hotspot, in Hong Kong, China December 5, 2023. (Reuters)
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Hermes 2Q Sales Rise 13% on Continued Appetite for High-End Luxury

People stand with Hermes shopping bags as they wait at a traffic light in Tsim Sha Tsui, a bustling shopping hotspot, in Hong Kong, China December 5, 2023. (Reuters)
People stand with Hermes shopping bags as they wait at a traffic light in Tsim Sha Tsui, a bustling shopping hotspot, in Hong Kong, China December 5, 2023. (Reuters)

Birkin-bag maker Hermes reported a 13% rise in second-quarter sales on Thursday, demonstrating the continued appetite from wealthy shoppers for its luxury handbags, even as less affluent consumers pull back.

Sales at the French luxury group grew to 3.7 billion euros ($4.02 billion), a 13% organic sales rise that strips out currency fluctuations. The figure was in line with analyst expectations, according to a Visible Alpha consensus.

Operating profit for the first half was 3.1 billion euros, compared to a forecast from consensus provider Visible Alpha for 3.2 billion.

One of the most steady performers in the luxury goods sector -- even as economic conditions worsen -- the French group's results stand out after a string of disappointing earnings updates from peers which have raised investor concern about uncertain prospects for the sector in the coming months.

Hermes' famously classic designs and tight management of production and stock have helped reinforce the label's aura of exclusivity, and CEO Axel Dumas told reporters the company had seen "no big interruption in trends".

However, he said Hermes was seeing slightly less traffic with aspirational clients, which was impacting higher volume products like fashion accessories.