Vuitton Scraps Plans for New Tokyo Flagship

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
Dec 16th 2008 at 7:02PM

Earlier this month my colleague Deirdre Woollard reported that Louis Vuitton had cut its prices in Japan by 7 percent in an effort to boost flagging sales. Now parent company LVMH has scrapped plans for a brand new Vuitton flagship store in Tokyo's glamorous Ginza shopping district. The 10-floor luxury behemoth complete with restaurant had been slated for opening in 2010, Reuters reports. An official for the developer, Hulic Co Ltd, said the proposed building would probably still be constructed for a different high-end brand. An LVMH spokesman confirmed that Louis Vuitton had withdrawn from the project but "declined to explain the decision or comment on its plans."

Tags: Ginza, Japan, Louis Vuitton, LouisVuitton, LVMH, Tokyo

Filed under: Handbags

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jason Dec 16th 2008 8:36PM

They do not even have enough SKUs to justify the square footage. This building will be better suited for a department store with multiple brands. LVMH may not be as profitable, for 2008, as they had stated in press releases at the beginning of the economic crisis.

Bill Dec 17th 2008 8:49AM

I agree with you; LV by itself doesn't have enough SKUs to justify that sort of square footage. However, the fashion and leather goods brands that are part of LVMH group most certainly would.

I'm actually surprised that LVMH didn't take the multi-brand store route as opposed to scraping the entire plan. Perhaps their board felt it would damage the perceived the allure and exclusivity of their brands by placing them all under one roof though.