The Financial Times has a wonderful report. Stay strong….
Luxury companies have always tried to control distribution channels and limit output by selling through branded stores and cracking down on the grey market, but the profusion in the past few years of new labels and prêt-à-porter versions of established brands makes it tough. Few of them control distribution channels sufficiently to stop others discounting on their behalf. Luxury fashion labels found this out to their horror last December when Saks Fifth Avenue, the New York store, slashed prices and was promptly followed by Barneys New York. The premium vodka market in the US, where literally hundreds of pricey labels have sprung up to challenge Absolut and Grey Goose, is trapped in such a squeeze. People are trading down from “ultra-premium” bottles in shops and bars are slipping cheaper spirits into cocktails. – from FT