Standing by the handbag bar at the Louis Vuitton Maison (House of Vuitton) on New Bond Street, in London’s Mayfair district, one can observe a strange kind of tourism. The most multilingual of London sales assistants are available to sell a $4,000 handbag to just about anyone.
Wherever these tourists come from, you can bet there is a Louis Vuitton (LV) closer than London. But the new store, with 16,146 square feet of retail space, is intended to be unique. “New Bond Street is the most high-end shopping street in the world,” explains New York City—based Peter Marino, the project’s architect. “We all thought that with the recession it would crack, but it never stops.” This comment is supported by recent reports in the U.K. press that, despite the ailing British economy, when consumers want an expensive handbag, they buy it in London. Even the “wave of new money from Asia and the Middle East comes to London,” says Marino.
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