Luxury Brands Spread Out Across US as New Wealth Centers Emerge

Luxury brands like Gucci and Chanel have been expanding their horizons, opening locations in U.S. cities where they never used to do business.

The stores have typically only concentrated in a few places, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday (Aug. 5), but wealth has been expanding to new areas, with cities like Atlanta, Georgia, and Austin, Texas, becoming more focused on tech.

Due to that rise in wealth, luxury companies have looked to establish new locations, expanding from the usual mainstays in New York and California.

The report noted that China’s stricter approach to COVID-19 has also encouraged more companies to expand in the U.S., diversifying their international efforts. Growth in the U.S. has driven luxury earnings for the first part of 2022, while Chinese sales lagged.

Luxury brands have been looking into U.S. expansion efforts despite warnings from mainstream retailers that the current economic crises, including historic inflation, could see customers cutting down on extraneous spending for the months ahead.

But luxury executives have said they think affluent customers will make up for the losses, as they’re not as likely to cut back their spending, per the report.

In other news related to luxury companies’ Chinese operations, PYMNTS wrote that Burberry, the British luxury fashion brand, has closed its Hong Kong flagship store, as many such brands step away from the country due to various restrictions.

See also: Burberry Joins Tiffany, Valentino and Coach in Closing Hong Kong Flagship

Burberry said there was a lack of customers “able or willing” to come into the store with the pandemic continuing, instead preferring eCommerce.

China has continued to see a spate of COVID restrictions amid virus flare-ups. That has stopped tourists from being able to enter the country, and the Canton Road area, a “hub” for luxury brands, has been inaccessible because of the restrictions.

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