THE opening of luxury brand Burberry’s flagship store in Sydney’s CBD has marked a trend – call it a Fashion – for bigger, more lavish and, of course, more expensive boutiques in the booming top end of the retail market.
Burberry’s new 820sq m flagship quietly opened for business on the weekend and already trade has been brisk.
One Burberry sales assistant who asked not to be named said it was "like Christmas in here on the weekend".
The new store at 343 George Street is three times the size of the brand’s previous store and stocks the complete Burberry range. Prices range from $195 for a men’s tie to $6795 for a leather biker jacket.
The Burberry boutique is part of a boom in luxury store openings in Sydney this year that has included the first Bottega Veneta store in Australia in the Westfield Sydney development, which also houses new stores by Diane von Furstenberg, Hugo Boss, TAG Heuer and Salvatore Ferragamo.In July, prada will open a flagship store at the entrance to the Westfield complex, which will be flanked by Prada’s sister brand Miu Miu.
The luxury store openings are a sign of growing confidence in the top end of the retail market.
"Our new Sydney store is the most ambitious and expensive boutique we have ever opened," TAG Heuer chief executive Jean-Christophe Babin said.
"After just two months of operation, it was already our No 1 store in the world."
The luxury store openings are further evidence of significant market segmentation in the retail sector. While the middle and lower ends of the market have been hit by rising fuel prices and interest rates and a mood of uncertainty, the top end is booming.
In contrast to retailers such as the Colorado Group in Australia, which was placed in voluntary administration last week, American Apparel in the US, which is on the brink of bankruptcy, and Swedish retailer H&M, which reported a 30 per cent drop in profits for the first quarter, luxury is booming.
Burberry reported a 30 per cent increase in revenue for the three months to December 31, and LVMH, owners of brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and TAG Heuer, reported a 19 per cent surge in revenue for last year.
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