The Rise Of Avenue Montaigne

An article in the Wall Street Journal looks at the retail boom on Avenue Montaigne in Paris:

On a recent evening, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Christian Dior and their neighboring boutiques on Avenue Montaigne opened their doors to 2,000 of their most devoted clients. The block party was a celebration of Avenue Montaigne’s rise as one of Europe’s top shopping streets.

With its flower beds, wide sidewalks and a renowned hotel, Avenue Montaigne has long held appeal for high-end shoppers. But a wave of hip new tenants, such Jimmy Choo and Chloe, are elevating it into some of the most coveted storefront space for major fashion labels. Among the new arrivals are Bottega Veneta and Giorgio Armani, which expects to open a new store there in January. Italian fashion houses Fendi and Versace are also jockeying for space, which costs about $635,000 a year for about 1,000 square feet. Hopeful tenants also often have to fork over an upfront fee of about $2.5 million.

The same forces that are remaking the world of fashion — the relentless push by less-expensive brands to offer chic looks at lower prices — are redrawing the map of luxury shopping, too. In Paris, some upscale names are being driven to Avenue Montaigne because of a creeping infiltration of less-exclusive brands on some traditional high-end shopping streets, such as Rue Royale and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore.

…The appeal of Avenue Montaigne, fashion executives say, is that it hasn’t been adulterated by cheap brands. “It’s a very homogenous avenue with only the top brands,” says Jean-Claude Cathalan, president of the Comite Montaigne block association. “New store locations are already reserved before the old brands move out.”

A new lease on luxury: Top designers open boutiques on Avenue Montaigne: