SHANGHAI — Bulgari opened its fourth store in China here earlier this month, focusing on its new format of twin stores that offer its core jewelry products on one side and its accessories on the other.
Located in Plaza 66, the Shanghai store is an expansion of a shop opened in September 2003 and mirrors units opened in Japan in November and in Washington, D.C., in June.
“China is a big country with huge potential. Even though the current sales figure is not so high compared to other mature markets…we’ve seen a great trend of increase, especially after the opening of the Shanghai twin store,” remarked Nicola Bulgari. “We have no doubt China will become the largest luxury market in the next 10 years.”
The twin store opening also launched an exhibition of vintage Bulgari pieces in the atrium of Plaza 66. The show included pieces on models and was attended by Maggie Q, a Hong Kong-based Vietnamese-American actress and model best known to Western audiences for her roles in “Mission Impossible III” and the forthcoming “Die Hard IV.”
“Bulgari is a very diversified brand now, rather than a contemporary jeweler. Our objective is to become the leading luxury brand in the world,” Bulgari said.
He denied the accessories focus represented a nod to China’s accessories-driven luxury market; rather, it reflects the company’s international diversification strategy, he said. “Bulgari is a very diversified brand, including jewelry, watches, accessories, perfume and hotels and resorts. Therefore, we have a broad range of client. The new concept of [the] twin store is a global strategy, and…we target to open more twin stores in the near future because of the current big success and huge potential of Bulgari accessories.”
Bulgari’s other stores in mainland China include two units in Beijing and one in Guangzhou; it also has five stores in Hong Kong, four in Taiwan and one in Macao. The company opened a China office in May. “There are three key criteria to opening new stores: prestigious environment, high visibility and high traffic,” Bulgari explained. “The newly opened Shanghai twin store is of course the best performer, as it’s the flagship store in China and now with the newest concept of [the] twin store.”
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The company plans to continue a strategy of gradual China expansion, with store openings in second-tier cities next year. “China is a country evolving rapidly, and we have opened stores in all key cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou,” said Bulgari. “But we need to open stores in secondary cities as well, and it’s more difficult to decide where to go and to find the right places.”