London ranks top for luxury store openings in 2016

London remains the global choice for luxury retailers as it tops the list of store openings in 2016, according to the Saville Global Luxury Retail report.

London saw 41 new luxury openings during the year, of which 15 were a brand’s debut store in London. This compared to 36 in Paris and 31 in both New York and Dubai.

In fourth place, Hong Kong attracted 25 new store openings while in Milan there were 24.

London has consistently been the most visited city in the world by international tourists and acts as useful stepping stone for European brands prior to expanding into the US.

Marie Hickey, commercial research director at Savills, explaiined “A significant proportion of luxury goods are now purchased outside a shopper’s home market, particularly those of Chinese consumers, reinforcing the importance of destination cities. This was apparent in 2016, when all of the key established global retail destinations saw more than 20 luxury brand store openings.”

Anthony Selwyn, head of Central London retail at Savills, said: “The role of a specific destination in brand building and enhancing the customer experience remains key, and the heritage of London and Paris saw these cities rank first and second for new luxury openings last year. With international travel expected to double by 2030, appetite among luxury retailers to expand in key markets will remain strong, though we expect to see several of the emerging luxury markets gain more market share.”

Photo credit: Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0, source Wikimedia Commons