It's not just Paris, Milan, New York, etc. Pretty soon, you could actually have upscale neighbourhoods being added to that list at the bottom of luxury shopping bags or mastheads.
Bergen County in New Jersey, which is in the top 1 per cent of US counties for household income (and where over a third of the households have income exceeding $1,00,000), is fast becoming a haute neighbourhood to house luxury brands like Tiffany & Co., Hermes, Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Salvatore Ferragamo.
Brands that used to limit their retail presence to international shopping capitals have now discovered the affluent suburbs. Malls are seeking the tony merchants because the luxury end of retail has held up better than other parts of the industry.
"I think the luxury goods people realise finally that it's not just Manhattan," said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. "There's a tremendous spread of wealth that they're missing in the suburbs."
Mall owners are eager to lure luxury retailers to their suburban properties because stores that sell $45,000 handbags or $10,000 diamond rings can dramatically boost a shopping center's sales per square foot and also attract other retailers. The luxury segment is hot with worldwide sales up about 6 percent last year, while former mall darlings such as Gap are struggling.
Hmmm... I can almost see it now... New York, Paris, Milan, Khan Market, South Mumbai...!
Source: The Herald
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