Louis Vuitton (Paris), part of the French luxury retail group LVMH which includes Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan and Thomas Pink, says it’s continuing to invest in new stores and had no plans to close any shops within the next year. Louis Vuitton chief executive Yves Carcelle, speaking at the opening of its latest store in Dubai last week, says the luxury label will open a store in Lebanon and one in Mongolia this year.
“Sometimes in our industry there is a tendency to follow your ego and sometimes open stores where you don’t have the market, or stores too big for your potential,” says Carcelle. “We never do that. When we open a big store, we know that there is a market, we know the financials. So we never have to close a store for economic reasons.”
He adds that the company investment in new stores is on par with last year, although it has opened fewer stores but the same square footage as in 2008. The brand operates 433 locations.