1,200 Square Meter Flagship At Sparkle Roll Plaza To Open December 16#
It's been a good year for Burberry in China, with the British luxury brand expanding at a breakneck pace throughout the country and sales rising 25% since July, when Burberry bought back direct control of most of its 50 China locations from its former franchise partners. Reflecting on the brand's soaring popularity among Chinese consumers, CEO Angela Ahrendts recently said that China's “gifting culture, young demographic and mainly male customers play well for us.” Riding on its current momentum, Burberry has laid out plans to acquire its seven remaining Chinese franchise stores over the course of the next few months, and will open five new stores by the second half of next year while intensifying its marketing efforts. Additionally, looking to court China's free-spending urban elite, Burberry plans to invest in more VIP rooms at a number of strategic locations.
As part of its 2011 expansion efforts, on December 16 Burberry is set to open its ninth Beijing location, a mammoth flagship store at Sparkle Roll Plaza (北京耀莱新天地 ). At 1,200 square meters (12,916 square feet), the new flagship will be Burberry's largest in all of Asia. Designed to the global specifications of Burberry creative director Christopher Bailey, the new Sparkle Roll Plaza flagship -- which is nearly three times larger than the Jinbao Place flagship that opened in Beijing in April 2009 -- will carry Burberry's Prorsum, London, Brit and Sports lines and a full range of men's, ladies and children's clothing, leather goods and accessories, fragrances, watches and glasses.
The opening of the Jinbao flagship last year attracted celebrities like Jackie Chan and Maggie Cheung; who might we see at the launch of this bigger-and-better location next month?