One year since the opening of its location within Baneasa Mall, the owner of MICRI GOLD admits highstreet remains the most appropriate for luxury jewelry and watches retail. Micri Gold is the distributor of BVLGARI, CHOPARD, DE GRISOGONO in Romania and currently has two locations - one on Magheru Boulevard and a second one in Baneasa Mall. In an interview to Ziarul Financiar, the owner of Micri Gold also ... read more

One of biggest challenges of retailers in Eastern Europe has long been to lure local people to buy locally as opposed to shopping abroad in the major capital cities. Before the crisis, it seemed the majority of them have made an advancement by persuading local customers to buy locally. A recent study among major luxury retailers in Eastern Europe, CPP Management Consultants Ltd has found that more and ... read more

By the end of this year, avantgarde Italian fashion and accessories brand MOSCHINO opens a monobrand boutique downtown Bucharest, on one of the prestigious highstreets. The store will include the first two lines of the brand and will cover a surface of approximately 120 sqm, both fashion and accessories The Moschino opening follows a spree of luxury retail openings in the Romanian capital Bucharest, ... read more

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, the US owner of luxury brands including St Regis and W Hotels, has announced it will let some of its properties reduce their level of service - and number of stars - until the industry begins to recover. Maintaining stars requires enormous capital investment," says Stephen Bollenbach, who retired as Hilton's chief executive officer in 2007. "Ratings ... read more

BURBERRY has embarked on a comprehensive strategy to increase its awareness on the internet. Called artofthetrench.com, the site will post photos sent by users wearing a Burberry trench coat. Burberry currently has over 660.000 fans on Facebook, more than any other luxury brand, it claims. The company CEO, Ms Angela Ahrendts stated that Burberry is currently in the middle of a three year strategy ... read more

The most important outlet operators in Italy, namely McArthurGlen, Fashion District and Marangi have reported a boom in sales during the month of August accross all their locations. The number of visitors at a total of 15 outlet centers across Italy has reached 3,5 million and sales have grown by 20% compared to the same period last year. The representatives of the outlet operators also confirm the growth ... read more

The European Commission has asked Romania and Bulgaria, the latest countries which joined the E.U. to eliminate overtaxation and duties on certain product categories considered luxury. For instance, in Romania, the duties on perfumes amount to 15%, on furs to 45%, jewelry to 15% and on yachts up to 50%. These product categories are still considered luxury from the reminiscent fiscal codes. However, ... read more

DOLCE GABBANA have unveiled this week the new store of the D&G line, on Corso Venezia in Milan, following a renovation estimated at EUR 5.8 million. Domenico Dolce says the new space is ''simple and versatile, warm and luxurious, without being intimidating''. The bright walls have been replaced with a mix of warm natural colors and dull or shiny metals. Other design elements include grey soft ... read more

Dubai leading real estate developer EMAAR, also co-owner of ARMANI HOTELS announced the opening in December this year of theBURJ DUBAI Tower, which becomes the tallest building in the world with the height of 818 m and 160 floors. The Tower includes the first ARMANI HOTEL, with 140 rooms as well as an 140 ARMANI CASA apartments. Initially, the ARMANI HOTEL Dubai was supposed to open end of 2008. The next ... read more

French BUDDHA Bar SPA is a concept developped by the the wife of David Visan composer and founder of BUDDHA BAR music. The company currently operates a 1.500 sqm Buddhattitude SPA in France at the HILTON in resort town of EVIAN LES BAINS. In 2009 the first two international franchised Bddhattitude Spa's will open in Qatar and Senegal, other locations following in 2010 (China, Panama). BUDDHA BAR SPA is ... read more

GUCCI has recently inaugurated a 456 sqm store in the Russian city of Ekaterinenburg and a 237 sqm store in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The two openings come amid constantly dropping sales in the Eastern European region, especially in Russia, Ukraine and Hungary. This is probably the reason for the indefinite delay of opening plans in Romania and Bulgaria, talks with potential franchisees being put on ... read more

THE MONARCH, one of the leading luxury hotels in Dubai has recently lauched a campaign ''Name the price for luxury'' where guests are invited to place a bid on the dedicat web page. This way, the hotel is able to adjust its rates very fast depending on availability as well as the profile of the customer. Clients make their offer based on the online rates and within 24 hrs the hotel sends a response whether ... read more

Crisis has forced some wealthy Romanians to return their almost new ROLLS ROYCE and MAYBACH cars to the leasing companies, no longer being able to continue paying the leasing fees. Therefore, used buy back retailers, such as TIRIAC AUTO RULATE currently has on sale two Maybach and one Rolls Royce cars, all being manufactured 2007/2008 and with a low mileage. The cars are displayed in their open air display ... read more

In an effort to fight the current crisis and generate revenues, GUCCI is lauching this Fall season GUCCI Icon-Temporary pop-up, temporary stores in 7 locations worldwide and with a maximum life span of 2 to 3 weeks. The first such shop will be opened in Miami, followed by London. Sneakers will range from USD 500 to USD 1.400. In spite of assurances from Gucci CEO Mr Patrizio di Marco, CPP believes such ... read more

HUGO BOSS recently annouced its results for the first half of 2009, indicating its losses have doubled compared to last year, reaching EUR 15.9 million. While sales in Asia and Europe dropped by 8%, sales in Eastern Europe have reached a dramatic drop of 35%. This is mainly due to the closure its flagship store in Bucharest (Romania) early 2009, the oversized store in Zagreb (Croatia) and poor performances ... read more

One of the most affected economies in Central and Eastern Europe, Hungary has been struggling to keep its economy afloat with several loans from the EU Commission and IMF. Industrial output and exports are down and unemployment reaches 2 digits.

In its recent analysis CHALLENGES magazine has annouced the latest ranking of Frances top richest people. The top five ranking, as dominated in 2008 by Gérard Mulliez (Auchan) and his family (15 billion), lost in a year over 20 billion euros. The decrease of fortune has affected almost everyone in this ranking: 95% of them have seen their assets fall by 20 to 45%, notes the weekly. The number of ... read more

Following the SHERATON Hotel in CLUJ, Starwood Hotels is reportedly in advanced discussions with owners of GRAND HOTEL DU BOULEVARD in Bucharest for an affilliation to its premium brand line Luxury Collection. Grand Hotel du Boulevard was the first hotel built in Bucharest, in 1890 with a stunning French achitecture. The location of the hotel is also most central, on the corner of Calea Victoriei and ... read more

Despite current economic conditions, Austrian fashion jewelry brand FREY WILLE opens this Fall its first location in Romania, a monobrand boutique on Calea Victoriei. It is a direct investment of the Austrian company. FREY WILLE has proven successfull in other regional markets especially Hungary and Czech Republic. As in Budapest and Prague, the brand will most likely have a presence with a boutique ... read more

In a recent interview to the Financial Times, Gildo Zegna, CEO of ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA Group has confirmed over 70% of sales comes from its owned retail network and only 30% account for wholesale. He also indicated that mens fashion is much more resilient than womens fashion during these crisis times and men tend to be more loyal customers. Mr Zegna spoke about his companys growing business in China where 10 ... read more