MOA channels Fifth Avenue in new upscale luxury boutiques
According to the Pioneer Press:
New boutiques such as Burberry, Chanel and Gucci have opened up at the Mall of America.
For most luxury goods and services firms, 20 percent of the shoppers will deliver 80 percent of the profits, according to the Luxury Institute, which is based in New York.
International tourists from Europe and Japan are more likely to shop in trendy luxury stores, and may be more interested in trips to the Mall of America for economic steals because to the weak exchange rate of the U.S. dollar.
"My belief is that the high-end consumer is still going to spend. That's going to be the one hiding place," said Patricia Edwards, an analyst with Wentworth Hauser & Violich in Seattle. "But the high-end consumer isn't the affordable luxury customer, and that's the catch."
Some new luxury goods, often thought of as affordable luxury, are now selling for 1.5 times the middle-market price goods.
Luxury spending has doubled since 2003 to $600 billion, with many analysts crediting celebrities and fashion designers for the increase.
Stores such as Burberry, which once was in downtown Minneapolis, are often destinations by themselves. "That's a good way to reinforce a shopping center," said David Brennan, co-director of the Institute for Retailing Excellence at the University of St. Thomas. "The more stores you have as destinations, the more insulated you'll be."