"Please open your bag": to the first Louis Vuitton store in Poland Welcome

      

WARSAW - There is a smell of perfume in the air and seller dashboard between the chairs and handbags worth thousands of euros in white leather.

Welcome to the first Polish Louis Vuitton store, which opened in Warsaw in early. I'm here, Robert Eggs, President of the French luxury brand in Northern Europe meet.

The 47-year-old, who has made the switch to luxury hand after selling coffee for 17 years at Nestlé, visited Poland six times before finding the perfect place to save 270 square feet of Luis Vuitton.

Before settling on Vitkac upscale department store in one of the busiest shopping streets in Warsaw, analyzes the French manufacturer of luxury, the movement of pedestrians in different corners of the city, observed buying behavior and visited the shops of its competitors. "The economy must discover for themselves," said Egg. "Observation is the best method, but it takes time."

The brand has also Polish customers in Louis Vuitton stores asked in Munich, Berlin, London and Paris store on the location for the future Warsaw and got great reactions. "This is the final confirmation for us," said Egg.

Louis Vuitton is the flagship brand of the French conglomerate LVMH, which also owns the luxury brands such as Bulgari, Givenchy and Dom Perignon. According to market research firm Sanford Bernstein sell-side, producing Vuitton Handbags-half operating profit of the LVMH group, and a turnover of 7.4 billion euros per year. That's seven times more than the Poles spend a year on luxury goods in total (excluding cars), according to KPMG.

Nevertheless, the Polish luxury goods market grew 50% in 2000 to 2010 increase much faster than the global luxury goods market, which is currently worth € 210 billion.

"The Polish market posted a solid increase, but it is not the only factor that we take into account," said Egg. "The demand and the potential are also important for us, and it is big enough in Poland. Approximately 30% of the luxury brands are not here yet."

No discount, no sale

Eggs do not want to talk about price, but found that the cheapest thing in the store is loaded Warsaw Calendar - 149 PLN (35 EUR). The price of a bag of 2,100 zlotys (€ 492), while the most expensive piece of exotic series - python, ostrich and crocodile - go for more than 85,000 zloty (€ 19.920).

When I asked them how they expect to sell these bags, he said: "2700 BMW cars were sold last year in Poland, it is not bad considering the price of these cars is at 50,000 euros.".

"Fifty thousand euros is not for a car the same as 20,000 for a handbag," I said.

"Ask women. Lot of people prefer the bag," he replies.

"A buyer often behave irrationally, so there is no way to know who will buy it in the store in Warsaw," said Egg. "I visited our store in southern Italy There once was a boy, no older than 16 years, only a leather belt for her mother a few hundred dollars he had paid were usually bought in Transition - .. He saved the money for two years. If you experience this type of situation, you understand that age, education and income are not the most important factors for our brand, "he said.

The label is strong enough to make a very simple marketing strategy: no sales, no discounts and no opportunities. The products are only available in Louis Vuitton stores. Although I could swear I saw a Louis Vuitton boutique in manufacturing British luxury brands at Bicester Village near Oxford.

"It's not possible," Eggs said.

"But I was there a few months ago and I saw with my own eyes," I insist.

"We are not there," he said.

Chuckling, I check out the site and realize that I is the smile off my face, Burberry, Fendi, Furla, Kate Spade and Prada, but must wipe any trace of Luis Vuitton stores.

Louis Vuitton does not negotiate, and the label insists that its employees know why. Providers are invited to participate in workshops in six French sites, so they can show how much heart put into the creative process.

"You're not going to stay for the press conference?" Request eggs. "It's a shame, because you will miss a large champagne glass."

As I walked to the exit, a man in a suit and cut me off abruptly stops. "Open the bag, please," he ordered. I can not believe it. I still have the words on the prestige of the brand buzz in my ears. The security officer must repeat: "Open the bag, please."

Do they intend to treat their high-net-worth clients in this way, or is it just a special bonus for the individual customers and the press during the opening day? "There are many people in the store today - finishing touches are still -.'s Why everyone is looking for," says Magdalena Bulera-Payne, a public relations consultant for Louis Vuitton 'J' have undergone this procedure even for a few days, but be assured, it will not be a habit, and our customers are not looking. "