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Tiffany & Co. will throw open its elegant and expensive retail doors at the
corner of Burrard and Alberni streets today (6.12.2006).
When the Tiffany baby-blue hoarding walls are peeled back, the city will join
the hallowed ranks of luxury retail cities such as
New York,
London,
Paris,
Hong
Kong, San Francisco and Toronto.
Tiffany is at the new "axis" of luxury shopping downtown and will rub
shoulders with fellow luxury brands, including Gucci, Hermes and Louis Vuitton.
All have taken root close to Robson, Vancouver's most fashionable street.
"We identified Vancouver many years ago as a place we wanted to be but we
needed to get the right location and believe we have," said Andrea Hopson,
vice-president, Tiffany & Co. Canada.
"This absolutely puts Vancouver into the top leagues of retail cities and we
have already had a tremendous response from Vancouver and Western Canada to this
new store," she said.
Actually, Tiffany will have two stores downtown.
It has long had a boutique with upmarket retailer Holt Renfrew, itself in the
throes of a huge expansion in the Pacific Centre Mall.
"We have had a relationship for 13 years with Holt Renfrew and will continue
having a boutique there," she said.
She did not reveal how much has been spent on the new store on Burrard but
said it is a "substantial investment."
Sixth Line Solutions retail analyst David Gray said Vancouver now has a
critical mass of luxury retailers and more names will likely follow.
"When you look at Canada, Vancouver is the natural place to expand to. It has
the Olympics coming and the world is already here as far as the Pacific Gateway
and Asia is concerned," he said.
The luxury retail market is changing and is not as exclusive as it once was,
he said. It appeals to Asian and younger consumers who have cash and like the
value of a brand name.
Tiffany will offer customers a full line of jewelry and other goods, packaged
in the chain's hallmark baby-blue boxes with silky white ribbon.
The 4,700-square foot store will operate seven days a week with a staff of
approximately 32.
The company was founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young in 1837 as
Tiffany & Young.
It changed its name to Tiffany & Co. in 1853. |
