third-tier

Though the fundamentals look good for Coach in China, many companies engaged in rapid expansion efforts are finding out that growth in China's potentially lucrative second- and third-tier cities can alienate wealthier (and more fickle) shoppers in top-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Read More

Today, two Chinese-language articles give us two views of the Chinese luxury industry, with one hinting that high-end consumption is a window into China's economic development and another positing that consumption figures are something of a carnival mirror that reflects a distorted picture of the country's consumer market. Read More

China's comparatively high luxury tax has been something of a double-edged sword for the government as the number of middle- and upper-middle-class urban Chinese with an appetite for luxury goods has soared. Read More

This year, construction is scheduled to begin on the world's largest duty-free emporium, which is due to open doors in Haitang Bay, Sanya in Hainan province in 2012. On a somewhat smaller scale, companies like the luxury leathergoods company MCM (Mode Creation Munich) have begun to open duty-free boutiques in emerging cities like Chongqing. Read More

The last decade has been good for Gucci in China, with the company going from a handful of boutiques in top-tier cities in 2000 to 30 locations in more than 20 cities today. Read More

Although few outside of China may be unfamiliar with cities like Ningbo, Lanzhou, and Wenzhou, these small (by Chinese standards) cities still have untold numbers of prospective first-time buyers, on whom automakers both foreign and domestic are depending to ensure decades of continued growth in this critical market. Read More

Lawrence L. Allen's Chocolate Fortunes -- a masterfully written journey into the "Chocolate Wars" of the '80s and '90s -- should be required reading for anyone even remotely interested in doing business in China. Read More

LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A., the mighty global juggernaut, has had a bit of a rough year in the traditionally reliable markets of North America, Japan and Europe. Read More

“Seeds Of Change” Starting To Appear In Formerly Destitute Areas, Motivating Entrepreneurs To Develop Remote Countryside For years, China’s hinterlands have benefitted little from the huge economic growth that has transformed the country’s prosperous east coast, remaining underdeveloped and relying mainly on agriculture mainly as a result of their remoteness and often harsh terrain. If ... Read More