Retail News CRM

Tag: Louis Vuitton

  • Tag Heuer Hong Kong to close store

    Tag Heuer Hong Kong to close store

    Tag Heuer is to close one of its Hong Kong stores as it battles high rents and falling sales.

    Tag Heuer Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay store on Russell St will close soon, according to Jean-Claude Biver, the head of Tag Heuer’s parent LVMH’s watch unit.

    While local watch and jewellery retail chains have been adjusting their store networks in the wake of plummeting sales to Chinese tourists over the last 12 months, this is the first significant closure announced by a global luxury player. Rival luxury retail group Kering has hinted it may close some stores, but has not announced firm plans as yet.

    However, the Tag Heuer plan itself is vague.

    “I am not sure if the shop will be closed this year or next but for sure I want to close it because of high rental costs and a drop in traffic,” Jean-Claude Biver told Reuters.

    Local jewellery retailers like Luk Fook and Chow Tai Fook have been renegotiating rents as they come up for renewal, and reporting reductions  of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent.

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  • Louis Vuitton wins Singapore copycat case

    Louis Vuitton wins Singapore copycat case

    Luxury brand Louis Vuitton has successfully sued a Singapore retailer for selling imitations of its goods.

    The High Court in Singapore ordered Cuffz, a retailer located in Raffles City shopping centre, to pay Louis Vuitton $35,000 in statutory damages for selling wallets which, in the court’s view, “imitated” the French brand’s own products.

    The wallets bore the ‘Epi Mark’, Louis Vuitton’s trademark interweaving ridges and valley in a recognisable two-tone effect, according to court documents.

    Assistant court registrar Edwin San issued a strongly worded written decision  observing Cuffz “demonstrated a contumelious disregard” for Louis Vuitton’s intellectual property rights and was a business which “flagrantly dealt in counterfeit goods”.

    The store closed in May last year soon after a police raid led to the seizure of allegedly infringing goods centreplace in this case.

    While the victory marks a clear win for Louis Vuitton, with the court’s decision leaving little room for misinterpretation, similar such cases in the past have been less clear cut.

    In Hong Kong, six years ago, LV withdrew criminal charges against high profile watch retailer City Chain for trademark infringement, alleging it used the LV flower design in a range of watches. Judges concluded that while the flower patterns were similar to Louis Vuitton’s, they were not identical.

    Louis Vuitton had sought $100,000 in damages – but the case was never about money. It was about Louis Vuitton sending a message to retailers that it was prepared to actively protect its trademarks and intellectual property.

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  • Louis Vuitton snaps up Singapore start-up

    Louis Vuitton snaps up Singapore start-up

    Louis Vuitton has bought Singapore online cosmetics retailer Luxola and LVMH’s subsidiary Sephora has made a further investment in the business.

    Few details of the transactions have been revealed, including the size of the investments, howeverCrunchbase reports Luxola raised US$15.6 million in four earlier rounds of venture funding.

    Luxola was launched in 2011 by Alexis Horowitz-Burdick, has a staff of 120 and sells a wide variety of beauty products and accessories under 250 brands in 11 markets.

    Horowitz-Burdick, now Luxola CEO, said Sephora’s investment would allow the founders to take the company’s vision further.

    “With greater market reach and brand depth, we will offer an unparalleled customer experience.”

    Sephora Asia president Anne-Veronique Bruel said investing in Luxola gave her brand the opportunity to accelerate Sephora’s growth in Asia and penetrate the growing online beauty market.

    “We are thrilled to welcome Luxola to the Sephora family.”

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  • PE invests in Crystal Jade expansion

    PE invests in Crystal Jade expansion

    Standard Chartered Private Equity has invested in Crystal Jade Group to help Louis Vuitton accelerate the restaurant group’s Asian expansion.

    Crystal Jade operates over 100 outlets ranging from fine dining, casual and specialty restaurants to bakeries across the Asia Pacific region with a primary focus in Singapore, Hong Kong and Mainland China. Established in the early 1990s, it has become a household name in Chinese cuisine.

    SCPE has invested US$52 million in the business, joining Louis Vuitton’s investment arm L Capital Asia on the shareholder’s register.

    The investment will primarily go towards funding the growth of Crystal Jade’s existing network of outlets across Asia, as well as the expansion of its footprint internationally.

    Ravi Thakran, managing partner of L Capital Asia, said the two investors already have a track record of successful investment partnerships.

    “Their investment will further strengthen the resources available to allow full exploitation of the tremendous growth opportunity for Crystal Jade.”

    Nainesh Jaisingh, global co-head of private equity at SCPE, said Crystal Jade is an exciting business, with a strong Asian brand and significant potential across Standard Chartered’s footprint.

    “We… look forward to building a great company together.”

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