Jean Marbella reports from Baltimore:
“The aspirational market doesn’t have as much disposable income now,” Wagner tells me. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t come back.” That is why she and other marketing gurus say the store’s opening at the height, or depth, of the recession isn’t quite as crazy as it might seem. For one thing, while the overall luxury market is, like other sectors, down at the moment, Louis Vuitton has managed to buck that trend: According to an article in the Wall Street Journal in April, first quarter sales at Louis Vuitton and a couple of sister labels were up 11 percent, boosting revenues at its parent company, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. – from Baltimore