Armani goes to Shanghai
More upmarket Foreign luxury brands are entering the
booming Chinese market.
Giorgio Armani, the Italian fashion designer's
company, yesterday said it will open its first outlet in Shanghai today, its
second store in China, while Japanese cosmetics group Shiseido said it aims to
open 500 stores new independent stores in China by 2008.
Armani will open a boutique shop and fashion store
in Shanghai's famed Bund thoroughfare. The Milan-based company plans to open
30 stores in China by 2008, says a press release.
It is adding stores as incomes increase in China,
particularly in the cities. Urban disposable income climbed 9 per cent last
year to 8,472 yuan (S$1,710).
Armani is seeking to increase sales by adding stores
at a time when the luxury-goods industry is rebounding from its worst slump in
three decades. The company plans to open at least 15 outlets around the globe
this year.
The company said first-quarter sales rose 9 per cent
excluding currency movements. Net income rose 14 per cent to 134 million euros
(S$268 million) last year, and sales fell 3.5 per cent, hurt by the euro's
rise. - Bloomberg
AFP 17 Apr 2004
 Fashion and style now a
way of life, says top designer Giogio Armani. -- AP
Armani Hotel
MILAN - The king of Italian
style, Giorgio Armani, plans to offer holidaymakers the ultimate luxury break by
opening a chain of hotels that will bear his name.
He has signed a letter of intent with Dubai-based real
estate developer Emaar Properties to open 10 hotels and four luxury resorts over
the next seven years in top cities, including New York, Paris, Milan and
Shanghai.
The project is expected to cost more than US$1 billion
(S$1.7 billion).
'Fashion and style has expanded to encompass our way
of life - not just how we dress, but where we live, which restaurants we eat at,
what we eat, which car we drive, where we go on holiday and which hotels we stay
at,' said Mr Armani.
He will design his hotels and Emaar will take charge
of their daily management. -- Reuters
Armani Opens in China
HONG KONG - Giorgio Armani,
the latest fashion house with dreams of dressing the growing ranks of wealthy
Chinese, said on Wednesday it will open 20 to 30 stores on the mainland within
three to five years.
The Italian designer will also open the second largest
outlet in its 259 store empire in Hong Kong on Halloween as part of a
multimillion-dollar expansion in Greater China.
High-end retailers have flocked to China in recent years as
the ocuntry's growing ranks of young entrepreneurs develop tastes for
expensive brands.
Robert Triefus, corporate vice president, said "a clear
entrepreneurial streak" in the population of China make for an attractive
customer base.
He also said that Armani can learn from the experience of
its predecessors into China.
"We obviously believe that we have a brand that is
recognised globally, and therefore we have the capacity to go into a new
market like China, and have at least some base of presence in terms of
knowledge and perception," he said.
Luxury goods makers such as Hermes, Moet Hennesy-Louis
Vuitton and Gucci have all established beachheads in China, where sleek
European-style boutiques are increasingly common in the shopping districts of
wealthier eastern cities.
Armani already has two outlets in China, one in Beijing, the
other in Shenzhen, the boomtown across the Hong Kong border.
Giorgio Armani himself will scout for store locations in
Shanghai when he makes his first visit to China next month.
Shenyang, Dalian, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu are
other mainland cities the firm is eyeing for store sites.
Other than its flagship shop in Beijing, Armani's mainland
stores will be operated with franchise partners.
Milan-based Armani sells some of the world's most exclusive
apparel, with items that can cost thousands of U.S. dollars.
China's per capita disposable income for urban residents
averaged just 657 yuan (US$79) a month during the first half, although that
was an increase of 17.3 percent from a year ago.
Unlisted Armani posted an 11 percent year-on-year rise in
first half core earnings, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortisation, to US$125.4 million on Tuesday. - Yahoo!
19 Sept 2002
NEW YORK: A/X Armani Exchange
leased 8,400 sq ft comprising of equal square footage on the ground and
basement at 129 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron district for its third location
in New York City. The transaction involved an assignment of a
lease from Guess, which runs for 12 years. A/X Armani Exchange assumes
all of the original terms of Guess' lease and deals directly with the building
owner for the remainder of the term. Guess had leased the space at 129
Fifth Avenue but never opened a store. - Reuters
13 Nov 2002
| 
Big plans: Giorgio
Armani at the Forbidden City in Beijing this week. Today he will open his
first Shanghai store
Fashion and style now a
way of life, says top designer Giogio Armani. -- AP
