LVMH’s top jewelry brands occupy the entrance to Omotesando in Tokyo

When the government reclassified COVID-19 to a Category V infectious disease, the same category as seasonal flu, on May 8, there were high expectations that domestic consumption would immediately recover and foreign tourists would return. It appears that expectations have only been moderately met so far, although so-called revenge spending has occurred, most noticeably in department stores in major cities, where luxury brands have shown notable sales growth. Particularly striking is the increase in the consumption of jewelry and watches.

The latest collections of jewelry and watches are extremely popular. Even before the pandemic in 2019, many brands saw their sales surpass the previous year’s sales. The phenomenon is global.

Amid such circumstances, two international jewelry brands, Tiffany and Bulgari, recently opened stores on Omotesando Avenue in Shibuya and Minato neighborhoods, Tokyo.

Let’s start with Tiffany & Co. It was in November 2019 that the French luxury group LVMH announced the acquisition of Tiffany. After some twists and turns, both parties agreed to an amended merger in October 2020, and the acquisition ultimately went through in 2021 for $15.8 billion.

In 2023, as the pandemic has subsided, Tiffany’s innovation is shifting into high gear. First, the brand’s New York headquarters reopened on April 28, having undergone its first major renovation since moving to its current location on Fifth Avenue in 1940. The renovation began before the LVMH acquisition, but the finishing of the building is luxurious enough that imagine it wouldn’t be possible without LVMH. The store, one of the largest in Manhattan, was renamed “The Landmark” and has become a hub for Tiffany to sell its allure to the world.

As if to carry the momentum, Tiffany’s headquarters in Ginza, the brand’s flagship store in Japan, underwent a renovation and reopened on July 7. It was the third renovation after 2008 and 2020 for the store, which opened in the Ginza district of Tokyo’s Chuo Ward. in 1996.

Furthermore, Tiffany Omotesando, opened on September 13, 2023, gives a strong impression that the brand is now under the wings of LVMH. It is the brand’s third store, after the stores in New York and Ginza, which reflects Tiffany’s new brand concept. Tiffany has long wanted to open a store on Omotesando Avenue, one of Tokyo’s most important fashion districts, along with Ginza. I assume that the brand had been looking for suitable properties for years, but after joining LVMH its wish was fulfilled. Thanks to LVMH for that.

Bulgari is another great example of what it means to become a subsidiary of LVMH. In March 2011, LVMH announced it would acquire Bulgari for approximately €3.7 billion.

Like Tiffany, Bulgari had long hoped to open a store along Omotesando. In November 2007, the brand opened a two-storey store – a boutique on the first floor and a café on the second – as a tenant of the Gyre commercial building along the avenue. That store was closed in 2013 as part of a management turnaround plan, after the brand was acquired by LVMH. It seems Bulgari continued to hope to have a store along Omotesando.

That dream came true as a concept store for the brand that opened on August 10, 2023 on the first floor of the Oak Omotesando Building (formerly the Hanae Mori Building). Coach’s Omotesando branch had occupied that space until January 9 this year. .

“There is no specific end date for the concept store. It is not that it is impossible to become one of our affiliates,” said a Bulgari Japan representative.

I guess there’s a good chance it will be Bulgari’s Omotesando branch.

So LVMH’s two major jewelry brands now occupy the area at the entrance to Omotesando, which must please LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault. Is this proof that good things happen when a brand becomes a subsidiary of LVMH? Be that as it may, LVMH’s approach is to go on the attack and press at crucial points.

In the late 1990s, when LVMH acquired many luxury brands, Arnault said it is important to keep secret from the public that these brands belong to the same company (LVMH). Does he still feel that way now that there are so many high-end brands under his wing?

In any case, these are achievements that were not possible for Tiffany and Bulgari before their acquisition.

Akira Miura