LOUIS VUITTON EXECUTIVE FRANÇOIS ROSSET SAYS his company’s confidence in the brand and its ability to do well based on its fine reputation worldwide has been behind the decision to go ahead with the Barbados store despite the global economic crisis.
“We have been quite resilient to crises and the last crisis in 2009 did not affect us much because it was a time for us to reassert our values to gain market share, because we were selling a true luxury brand,” Rosset told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY in an exclusive interview.
“Opening a store in Barbados was a strategic decision because Barbados is one of the leading luxury resorts in the world where our best customers are enjoying holidays with their family and friends, and being in a place like Barbados is a way for us to express our values in a very special way” said Rosset, who is Louis Vuitton’s vice-president for Latin America and South Africa.
This latest store in the chain is the only one the company opened this year and Rosset said he was looking forward to support from Barbadians as well as tourists and would “see in the next few months if that balance is true or not”.
Speaking just hours before the official launch of the upscale designer store, Rosset expressed confidence that it would do well here, noting the company had made “a very rich investment” at the Limegrove Lifestyle Centre, which he described as “the most beautiful of our stores – a jewel”.
Eight people are employed at the St James store. (GC)
