Armani goes to Shanghai
More upmarket Foreign luxury brands are
entering the booming Chinese market.
Giorgio Armani, the Italian fashion
designer's company, yesterday said it will open its first outlet in
Shanghai today, its second store in China, while Japanese cosmetics
group Shiseido said it aims to open 500 stores new independent stores
in China by 2008.
Armani will open a boutique shop and fashion
store in Shanghai's famed Bund thoroughfare. The Milan-based company
plans to open 30 stores in China by 2008, says a press release.
It is adding stores as incomes increase in
China, particularly in the cities. Urban disposable income climbed 9
per cent last year to 8,472 yuan (S$1,710).
Armani is seeking to increase sales by
adding stores at a time when the luxury-goods industry is rebounding
from its worst slump in three decades. The company plans to open at
least 15 outlets around the globe this year.
The company said first-quarter sales rose 9
per cent excluding currency movements. Net income rose 14 per cent to
134 million euros (S$268 million) last year, and sales fell 3.5 per
cent, hurt by the euro's rise. - Bloomberg
AFP 17 Apr 2004
Armani Hotel
MILAN - The king of
Italian style, Giorgio Armani, plans to offer holidaymakers the
ultimate luxury break by opening a chain of hotels that will bear his
name.
He has signed a letter of intent with
Dubai-based real estate developer Emaar Properties to open 10 hotels
and four luxury resorts over the next seven years in top cities,
including New York, Paris, Milan and Shanghai.
The project is expected to cost more than
US$1 billion (S$1.7 billion).
'Fashion and style has expanded to encompass
our way of life - not just how we dress, but where we live, which
restaurants we eat at, what we eat, which car we drive, where we go on
holiday and which hotels we stay at,' said Mr Armani.
He will design his hotels and Emaar will
take charge of their daily management. -- Reuters
Armani Opens in China
HONG KONG -
Giorgio Armani, the latest fashion house with dreams of dressing the
growing ranks of wealthy Chinese, said on Wednesday it will open 20 to
30 stores on the mainland within three to five years.
The Italian designer will also open the
second largest outlet in its 259 store empire in Hong Kong on
Halloween as part of a multimillion-dollar expansion in Greater China.
High-end retailers have flocked to China in
recent years as the ocuntry's growing ranks of young entrepreneurs
develop tastes for expensive brands.
Robert Triefus, corporate vice president,
said "a clear entrepreneurial streak" in the population of
China make for an attractive customer base.
He also said that Armani can learn from the
experience of its predecessors into China.
"We obviously believe that we have a
brand that is recognised globally, and therefore we have the capacity
to go into a new market like China, and have at least some base of
presence in terms of knowledge and perception," he said.
Luxury goods makers such as Hermes, Moet
Hennesy-Louis Vuitton and Gucci have all established beachheads in
China, where sleek European-style boutiques are increasingly common in
the shopping districts of wealthier eastern cities.
Armani already has two outlets in China, one
in Beijing, the other in Shenzhen, the boomtown across the Hong Kong
border.
Giorgio Armani himself will scout for store
locations in Shanghai when he makes his first visit to China next
month.
Shenyang, Dalian, Guangzhou, Wuhan,
Chongqing, Chengdu are other mainland cities the firm is eyeing for
store sites.
Other than its flagship shop in Beijing,
Armani's mainland stores will be operated with franchise partners.
Milan-based Armani sells some of the world's
most exclusive apparel, with items that can cost thousands of U.S.
dollars.
China's per capita disposable income for
urban residents averaged just 657 yuan (US$79) a month during the
first half, although that was an increase of 17.3 percent from a year
ago.
Unlisted Armani posted an 11 percent
year-on-year rise in first half core earnings, or earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, to US$125.4 million on
Tuesday. - Yahoo!
19 Sept 2002
NEW YORK: A/X
Armani Exchange leased 8,400 sq ft comprising of equal square footage
on the ground and basement at 129 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron
district for its third location in New York City. The
transaction involved an assignment of a lease from Guess, which runs
for 12 years. A/X Armani Exchange assumes all of the original
terms of Guess' lease and deals directly with the building owner for
the remainder of the term. Guess had leased the space at 129
Fifth Avenue but never opened a store. - Reuters
13 Nov 2002
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