Luxury Brands’ Growth Fueled by Retail

The luxury retail boom shows no signs of slowing down, JLL reports in its just-released “Luxury Report 2023.” After being one of the first categories to rebound after COVID, these retailers benefited from a combination of persistent pent-up demand and robust retail expansion, fueling even more growth in the past year.

“For this report, we looked at the activity of major luxury players and where they opened stores,” the paper’s introduction states. “Our research reinforced a familiar omnichannel story: strategic physical expansion plans, coupled with enhanced e-commerce capabilities, have resulted in robust gains for luxury retailers as they leased over 650,000 square feet in the last year.”

Among the retailers covered by the report are LVMH’s Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi Tiffany & Co, Loewe and Bulgari brands; Kering Group’s Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga flags; and Richemont’s Cartier, Van Cleef, Piaget and Chloe brands.

Other highlights from the report:

• Luxury sales in the United States reached nearly $70 billion in 2022, and are forecast to exceed $75 billion in 2023.
• The US remained the largest luxury market globally last year, accounting for an estimated 32 percent of global luxury sales.
• Luxury retailers recorded significant revenue growth across the board last year, and have cited retail store expansion as a key driver of that growth.
• Luxury brands did not shy away from opening in malls, accounting for 38 percent of new store openings.
• Many malls have begun allocating significant percentages of their layouts to create new luxury wings, underscoring the importance of this category in mall performance.

Click here for more from the report.