Hublot expects U.S. sales to represent a growing portion of the Swiss luxury watchmaker’s global revenue in the coming years, helped by new stores and tourism at hubs like Miami and Las Vegas, Chairman Jean-Claude Biver said.<\/b><\/p>\n
Hublot, a unit of LVMH, operates five U.S. stores and gets about 14 percent of its sales in that market.<\/b> But that could grow to 10 stores and 20 percent of sales, Biver told Reuters on Wednesday. Hublot is set to open a sixth store, in Atlanta, in August.<\/p>\n
U.S. luxury sales have rebounded since the financial crisis in 2008.<\/b> The rise in tourism from countries with an emerging middle class, like Brazil, China and Russia, have been instrumental to that growth for high-end chains like Tiffany & Co (TIF.N) and Saks Inc (SKS.N).<\/p>\n
Latin American shoppers account for 90 percent of sales at Hublot’s store in Miami, making it the company’s top-grossing location anywhere, Biver said.<\/p>\n
At its Madison Avenue store in New York, international customers generate a third of revenue.<\/b>
\n
\n“The country is important,” Biver said. “You cannot underestimate America. It’s underdeveloped. We have not reached the (full) potential.”<\/p>\n
Hublot, one of the fastest-rising watch brands within LVMH, sells about 30,000 watches a year ranging in price from $5,000 to $5 million. The brand was founded in 1980 and is renowned for using distinctive natural black rubber straps.<\/b><\/p>\n
The watches and jewelry unit of LVMH generated 1.95 billion euros ($2.5 billion), or 8 percent of the company’s revenue, in 2011. The other brands in the division include TAG Heuer, Bulgari and Montres Dior.<\/p>\n
Last month, Tiffany lowered its revenue forecasts, citing slowing growth in China and the United States.<\/b><\/p>\n
Biver acknowledged a slowing of growth industry wide, but said Hublot’s global revenue should rise by a double-digit percentage rate this year, outpacing the 9 percent to 10 percent increase expected for Swiss watches industry wide.<\/p>\n
Biver said luxury watches like Hublot’s were relatively insulated from a pullback in spending, given their scarcity.<\/p>\n
“The Swiss watch industry has no competition,” Biver said. “Nobody will buy a $10,000 watch if it’s not Swiss made.”<\/p>\n
1 euro = $1.27<\/p>\n
Source Reuters<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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