PALM BEACH, Fla. — Hermès ushered in its 30-year anniversary here in grand style.
The luxury firm introduced a store relocation and expansion with a French garden fete featuring towers of canapés and horsemen dancing the tango, and designed an exclusive, limited edition silk scarf in the city’s signature shell pink.
Guillaume de Seynes, executive vice president and a member of the house’s fifth generation, who attended the store’s 30th-anniversary and grand reopening party last month, remembered when his uncle, a former chairman, visited here for similar parties in the Seventies.
The Palm Beach unit, which opened in 1977, “was one of our first U.S. stores, and we’ve always had a loyal relationship with its clientele,” he said.
President and chief executive officer Robert Chavez said that the relocation across Worth Avenue — from a 1,600-square-foot space to 3,200 square feet — would elevate sales to those of the top five Hermès stores in the U.S. He cited the unit’s five arched windows facing a courtyard and three sides of street exposure as good reasons to endure the four-year moving process.
“We were in our last location 30 years, so we definitely look for situations that are ideal for the long term,” de Seynes said.
Chavez said the store’s large but defined layout better showcased departments. Enamel bracelets in bright solids and prints retailing from $450 to $600, and best-selling handbags ranging from the Birkin and Kelly styles to the Picotin, a square tote with short handles, and the Trim, a hobo with shoulder straps, occupy the front section. Case linings in rich, wine-colored fabric alert shoppers that they have entered the fine jewelry and watch area. Dainty seating and light tones in women’s ready-to-wear are a striking contrast from the masculine decor in men’s wear.
“We’ve made a significantly larger investment in rtw, and we also never had a chance to show home goods at the other store,” Chavez said of meticulously displayed ashtrays, china place settings and beach towels in graphic prints and animal themes retailing for $450. “Since the first day, we’ve had tremendous response to both divisions.”
Because of the resort location, the store stocks lightweight fabrics in vibrant colors, sandals and swimwear such as poppy-printed one-pieces and bikinis in tomato red and turquoise, in addition to exclusives like a silk tie in a pink-and-green palm tree print. De Seynes said the company’s practice of allowing general managers to order merchandise based on the market was unusual.
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“Most brands dictate a standard assortment, but we rely on our managers to know their customers,” he said. “Our Palm Beach gm has been with us 15 years.”
Chavez said Palm Beach’s selection favors classic styles appealing to Europeans and Americans, in contrast with Bal Harbour’s, which is geared to faster fashion for Latin Americans. Palm Beach clients as a group aren’t as old, Chavez said, adding that demographics have changed, mirroring South Florida’s general population trends.
“We’re seeing a lot of growth down here; South Florida as a whole has consistently outperformed many other markets in the last five years,” said Chavez, who attended the grand opening party for an Hermès store in Naples, Fla., the following day with de Seynes.
“It’s located in 1,000 square feet in Waterside Shops and co-owned with a partner,” he said.
De Seynes compared the Palm Beach store with stores in resort cities throughout France. “We’ve been in places like Deauville 60 to 70 years and want the same success here,” he said.