mbreport 92
the market, but retailers “cannot fl ood the whole of Macau with luxury goods,” he said. “It’s good to have high-end malls, but we have to attract a broader customer base. That’s why if we just continue to do luxury malls, we’re go- ing to miss the market, because there are customers out there looking for other things. Not everybody is going to drop MOP500,000 on a watch.” He
says Macau will
ly evolve into “a retail market got variety”.
eventual- that’s
Central challenge A relative newcomer to Macau is the shopping mall at One Central. One point of difference is the size of its shops, ac- cording to David Martin, head of retail and commercial property for Hongkong Land, which manages One Central’s re- tailing area. “I believe it’s really the fi rst time in Macau that the major luxury brands have brought their large, fl agship retail formats,” he says. Bigger shops can carry a “much
wider range of merchandise” that spells better customer service, Mr Martin says. It is also a better experience for VIP shoppers, who can fi nd areas set aside for them inside these larger shops, where they can even enjoy a drink away from the main store. Most of the customers in One Cen-
tral come from the mainland. Many are sophisticated shoppers, he says.
Some are VIP players but there are also general tourists. Some customers are from Macau. Overall, the quality of the shoppers is among the best in the world, Mr Mar-
BAGS OF MONEY L
ouis Vuitton is one of the most famous luxury brands in the world. The company
opened its fi rst shop in Macau in 2002 and has four stores here. Business seems to be going well. “Year after year, we have been developing
our business steadily. We have been growing our network and we have been quite active,” says Jean-Baptiste Debains, president of Louis Vuitton Asia-Pacifi c. “We opened in One Central less than one
year ago. We are currently expanding our store in the Four Seasons. The business has been good. “Luxury shopping, for a number of people,
can be an important part of travelling. It is quite natural. If you go away for one or two weeks, you usually have more time. In the case of Macau, wherever you are staying, you may be 15 minutes away [from a luxury shop area] or maybe it is just coming down from your hotel. That is why it is important to be in different places: people may not move around too much.”
OCTOBER 2010
tin says. “Once the shoppers are here, they are spending on quite expensive items. So, from the retail point of view, they’re good shoppers,” he said. He admits that “there’s not much
Although the brand has no plans for more
shops at present, Mr Debains says Louis Vuitton will continue to look at new projects under development and probably “open one or more stores”. However, location is important because “not every place is suitable to have a luxury shop,” he says. As for the local urban myth that Louis
Vuitton’s shop in Wynn Macau is the group’s most profi table in the world, Mr Debains says it is not true, although it “is a very successful store.” Indeed, he feels the store is too small. “We are not able to give the right experience
to the people. Quite often there are queues outside. Quite often the shop is quite crowded,” he says.
Louis Vuitton has a 156-year history and boasts that
it never gives discounts or holds sales. The company has been in mainland China since 1992. “Today, in mainland China we have 32 stores in more than 25 cities. We are leaders in China and it is also one of the reasons for our success in Macau,” he says.
EMANUEL GRAÇA
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