Red Luxury

China’s economic growth is poised to weaken to 8.5 percent this year from about 9.2 percent in 2011, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. In the fourth quarter of last year there appeared to be a “gradual softening in consumption” in China’s luxury industry, Bain & Co. said in December.

Concerns about a China slowdown? Not Salvatore Ferragamo.

“We’re confident about what we see in China,” Norsa said. He added that Ferragamo does not expect much impact on consumption from a potential slowdown in the country’s economy this year.

The company plans to enter “seven or eight” new Chinese cities in the next “three to five years,” Norsa said, including outlets scheduled to open in July in central China’s Wuhan and in Jinan in the east. He declined to give a new store target in China for this year.

“Every year there will be millions of new people who will get access to luxury goods,” Norsa said. “This is really the potential for the luxury industry.”

Ferragamo, whose lines include $540 calfskin shoes and $2,950 bags, now operates 58 stores in 33 cities in China and is betting on an increasing number of middle-class consumers to help boost its business, said Chief Executive Officer Michele Norsa.


[bloomberg]
photo credit: salvatore ferragamo

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