By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
While we have thankfully and finally reached the endemic, many luxury boutiques are still holding on to certain pandemic-related restrictions.
As reported by the NY Post, high end retailers including Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Harry Winston still expect shoppers to wait on lines and be admitted as though there is still a need for social distancing. Without really offering any explanation or reason behind the continued policy, elite stores are still enforcing “appointment shopping” as much as possible. A “greeter” is still positioned by entrances to these shops, quizzing shoppers about their intent to purchase or counting the number of entrants. Upon questioning from the Post, many of the major brands didn’t even offer reasoning to defend the continued practices. “We recommend booking an appointment prior to your boutique visit, as walk-ins may experience extended wait times,” Cartier’s website advises, without further explanation.
Most experts say that it’s no longer COVID-19 leading the cause, but rather the smash-and-grab robberies which followed. The robberies were not exclusive to New York City, but also Beverly Hills, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle were affected and continue to limit entrants. In February, at the Westchester Mall in White Plains, NY, where thieves had ransacked a Louis Vuitton store, the boutique’s doors are currently closed. Velvet rope stanchions invite shoppers to line up outside the door, and greeters and security guards are inside asking shoppers the reason for their visit. Shoppers are only admitted when there is an associate available to accompany them. “They don’t want customers looking around the store without a store employee with them,” a sales associate told The Post.
The stores can get away with the continued queues because the line “creates an aura of exclusivity,” says Steve Dennis, a Dallas-based retail consultant. “The new nightclub, in its own weird way, is getting into a Dolce & Gabbana store on a Saturday,” added luxury retail consultant Melanie Holland. Many experts agree though, those retailers just have a “new lack of trust” “about who is walking through their doors,” said Susan Scafidi, founder and director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School. In February, a team of seven thieves stole $500,000 worth of handbags and jewelry from The Real Real on Madison and 71st Street. Since then, Upper East Side retailers have been keeping lights dim and doors locked even in the daytime, opening up for just a few elite clients at a time.
Last week, a Chanel executive had disclosed in an interview, that the company plans to open “private” and “very protected” boutiques in Asia next year for pre-existing top clients. As per the Post, this may be a hint that private shopping experiences are here to stay.
