Posts Tagged ‘Calea Victoriei’
Western luxury goes the discount way, Eastern may be too proud to do it
Luxury shops have started discounting for their posh clientele -but not in Romania, yet. It happens in Western Europe, and even discount shopping sprees are surrounded by the glamour of shopping in a luxury store. I am not sure wether this could ever happen in Romania. I think most of retailers selling luxury brands in Romania wouldn’t want to throw discount events so that everybody would know they are facing hard times. Although I am sure it would be wise, because sometimes rich people are looking for bargains more than the average spenders. The luxury half-empty shops on Calea Victoriei may not feel to good next year, that’s my guess. I though it would be interesting to try something for journalistic purposes, but I don’t have the time and the logistics. Rent a place facing one of these shops on Calea Victoriei – there’s one near Odeon Theatre, it’s better I don’t give its name – for a week or so and watch how many people go in an out each day, how many bags they are carrying. You could even see what they are looking at inside the shop and whether they are paying for anything, so wether they are buying anything. Then go inside the store yourself and see the range of prices. I think it would make a great story, provided the journalist knows how to write it.
In the UK rich people have started to feel ashamed of wearing/using expensive products. Whenever they can, they are cutting visible lables off their Channel or Armani products, I’ve recently read in the FT. It’s not because they are ashamed to be rich by comparison to the large layer of poor people, but they somehow feel ashamed to be still rich while some of their friends may have reached the bottom of their money vaults and don’t afford the same lifestyle anymore.
It’s hard for me to imagine rich Romanians giving up on showing off their financial power through the products they buy, but I would imagine the number of fake Louis Vuitton bags increasing among the rich in the coming period. Again, just my guess. What do you think?
