Gaining popularity: A Tiffany & Co luxury jewellery boutique is seen on Avenue Montaigne in central Paris. According to HSBC analysts, the jeweller grew sales to 5.1bil euros (RM22.6bil) in 2022 from 3bil euros (RM14.7bil) in 2020. — Bloomberg
NEW YORK: The splashy reopening of Tiffany & Co’s flagship store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 57th Street is a renovation representing the billions of capital investment in one of New York City’s most iconic shopping districts.
Real estate experts said the flow of cash is part of a bid to re-imagine an area of Midtown that extends from 49th Street to the Plaza Hotel and includes Fifth and Madison Avenues.
The district has long been anchored by luxury stores including Tiffany, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman.
With the return of tourism to New York after pandemic-related declines, luxury retailers are again betting on refreshed flagships to drive consumer interest and traffic.
Saks is undergoing huge renovations of its Fifth Avenue flagship, including a remodelled seventh-floor men’s department. Hermès opened a new four-storey flagship on nearby Madison Avenue in 2022.
LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury group and Europe’s most valuable company, bought Tiffany in 2021 for US$16bil (RM71bil) after an acrimonious legal battle.
The new flagship is scheduled to open to shoppers on Friday, a key debut for a store that accounted for 10% of Tiffany’s global sales before it closed for renovation in 2019.
The company has pushed Tiffany upmarket, beyond it being a byword for engagement rings. According to HSBC analysts, the jeweller grew sales to 5.1bil euros (RM22.6bil) in 2022 from 3bil euros (RM14.7bil) in 2020 and is forecast to reach 7.4bil euros (RM36.3bil) in 2025.
It involved a redesign of the entire 10-storey building led by architect Peter Marino, known for his work on some of the biggest flagship stores in the luxury industry.
LVMH officials have not made the cost of the revamp public. The group has invested heavily in flagships for other labels including Bulgari, across the street from Tiffany, as well as Louis Vuitton’s Place Vendome outpost in Paris.
The store’s reopening is the latest in a series of high-profile investments in the neighbourhood, said Richard Hodos, vice-chairman of real estate firm JLL’s New York retail team.
Rolex is in the midst of a renovation of its Fifth Avenue headquarters, which will feature a ground-floor retail store and 25-storey glass office tower.
The development firm SHVO also invested at least US$135mil (RM599.4mil) to convert 685 Fifth Avenue into luxury residences managed by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, according to industry estimates. — Reuters
