(Demo) Destination Macau — 2010
Change Language:
Growing time
It’s not just casinos that draw tens of thousands of nouveau riche mainlanders to Macau: as evidenced by the city’s high-end retail explosion, they come to shop as well – with luxury timepieces looming large on their lengthy shopping lists
November 14, 2009. More than 300 well-heeled guests swirl into the Four Seasons Macao to sip at Moet Chandon and puff hand-made Davidoff cigars. The live Latin jazz is soft and warm, but never too loud to drown out the conversation. A typical cocktail party? Not quite, for these guests are here at the invitation of DFS Galleria Macau, and about 90 percent of them are from China. They’re here to get close-up look at approximately200 exceptionally rare wristwatches.
Many of the limited edition pieces at the occasion are also being revealed for the first time, including Hublot’s ‘One Million Dollar Black Caviar Bang’, adorned with 544 black baguette diamonds.
Blancpain’s ‘Carrousel Volant Une Minute’ features a remarkable karussell mechanism. The Jaeger LeCoultre ‘Joaillerie Reviere 101’ has the world’s tiniest mechanical movement; and Blancpain’s ‘Equation Marchante Pure’ displays both nature’s time as measured by the sun’s movements and human time as we know and use it.
DFS, the world’s largest travel retailer, dubs the event ‘The Masterpieces of Time’, a product of its desire to not only show off some amazing haute horologerie, but also sell a few examples of such to invited guests. In this respect, the host is quite satisfied: most of the watches shown have found owners within the following two weeks.
But how much DFS profited from the event is besides the point; the fact that it has picked Macau rather than Hong Kong to debut its collection is more significant. To luxury brands, Macau has become a rather attractive point on the map.
“There’s a lot of money here for sure,” says Marie- Amelie Hoffmann, general manager of LVMH Watches & Jewellery Hong Kong. Her observation is reinforced by government statistics. In 2009, Macau’s GDP grew to MOP169.34 billion – exceptional for a city of barely more than half a million residents. Most of this vast wealth is built on a burgeoning gaming industry. In 2009, for example, Macau’s gaming revenue alone reached MOP120.38 billion.
At the same time, the number of visitors was also growing. Last year, 21.75 million arrivals were recorded. Although it represented a slight fall compared to the previous year (due to visas restriction imposed by the Beijing government), about half of Macau’s visitors still came from China.
“Although Las Vegas is also a gaming town, it provides a more wholesome experience. In Macau, people come – and by ‘people’ we mean mainland tourists – simply to gamble,” says Hoffmann.
To luxury goods conglomerates like LVMH, what does it all mean?
“In Las Vegas, shopping is part of the experience; in Macau, shopping comes after gambling,” Hoffmann continues. But this doesn’t mean retail is all hard graft in Macau.
On the contrary, at a time when the world retail industry is creaking under the weight of a weak economy, Macau’s own retail sector grew steadily. Last year, total retail revenue reached MOP22.11 billion, a jump of 16 percent over
2008. Of this, the watch and jewelry sector recorded the highest growth of 33 percent, to MOP4.81 billion.
Industry insiders believe Macau’s impressive retail growth has a lot to do with casinos. “You want to spend whether you win or lose money [to get rid of bad luck]. That’s why having a shop in the vicinity of the casino will be almost guaranteed good business,” says one unnamed industry veteran.
Because most of the visitors come from China, they are naturally the prime target for the retailers. And as Hoffmann says, these visitors often buy on the spur of the moment: “Unlike those in Hong Kong who clearly know their budget and what they want to buy and where, in Macau, people buy on impulse.” In the past three years, Macau’s retail industry has seen exceptional growth. Shopping malls have opened, top brands have rushed in, and no-one wants to be left out. Previously, if anyone wanted to buy branded goods, they could only go to the Mandarin Oriental’ (now the Grand Lapa Hotel) lobby mall. But then came the Wynn Macau’s Wynn Esplanada. The arrival of the Venetian Macao brought with it the Grand Canal Shoppes and its vast collection of mid-rangeBrands, and the more upscale Four Seasons Shoppes.
The Boulevard at the City of Dreams not only has a watch-themed store (‘Timeless’), but also premiered such brands as Ralph Lauren and Vivienne Westwood in Macau. One Central Macau, which opened at the end of 2009, brought a fresh wave of flagship stores like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Cartier, Bulgari, Gucci, Fendi, Dior and Dolce & Gabbana under one roof, offering a shopping experience on par with Hong Kong.
“As these brands set up their boutiques or flagship stores in Macau, they are showing their power,” Hoffmann explains. And according to Hoffmann, Macau offers some of the best retail spaces in the world. “From the Mandarin Oriental’s lobby mall to today’s One Central Macau, you can find nearly all top brands in Macau. Look at Chanel’s or Dior’s displays and the spaces they occupy, and you get an idea of how important the Macau market is to these brands.” Although the retail spaces are impressive, one cannot help but notice that they are usually devoid of customers. “Many people have this kind of doubts; they look at the Four Seasons Shoppes or One Central Macau, and it all seems quiet, with little apparent foot traffic,” Hoffmann agrees.
“It makes one wonder whether there’s enough business for the brands who have invested so much here. But the fact is, most brands are very happy with the growth and business they have in Macau.” As Hoffmann points out, no customers in the shop does not equate to no business. Many of the big spenders will most likely be tucked away in a VIP room, or have their private shopper bring products to their hotel room for their selection. They certainly don’t need to be seen wandering through the stores.
Fashion brands often want to attract shoppers with multi-level spaces and alluring window displays – but it’s actually the watch and jewelry brands with small shopfronts that enjoy the higher sales volume-to-space ratio. Unlike jewelry, wristwatches are near-necessities for both men and women, and also represent a potential long-term investment. Rumors of Chinese customers carrying million dollars in cash and buying up top watches are commonplace in Macau.
Both Timeless at The Boulevard and Wynn & Co Watches & Jewelry at the Wynn Macau revealed that haute horlogerie is a hot item these days. Both shops ordered dozens of top watches from Switzerland before Chinese New Year, and in both cases, the watches were snatched up almost instantly. Production – which is necessarily slow and precise – literally can’t catch up to demand created by the nouveau riche Chinese market. So willing are these customers to buy up anything with a high price tag that even moribund brands like Chaumet and Boucheron have set up flagship stores in the region and engineered a revival.
“China has a huge population.
Each province has more people than a small European country.
And nowadays, the customers come not only from Shanghai or Beijing and the big cities, but from as far away as Heilongjiang or Inner Mongolia,” an industry insider observes.
To China’s nouveau riche, luxury goods are not a symbol of good taste, superior craftsmanship, engineering, design or heritage – they’re no more or less than a blunt shorthand of status. “A watch is a must,” says Sandy Chen, research director, TNS China. “When buying up, they start with a luxury watch, next comes the luxury car, and last is the luxury apartment. Men compare and discuss watches, and they need a watch of a certain quality to be part of the social circle.” The most aspirational brand is Rolex, cited by 31 percent of consumers in a survey of men and women with monthly household income above RMB9,000 (US$1,300), as reported in the 2009 TNS China Luxury Study. Omega (18 percent), Vacheron Constantin (nine percent), Longines (eight percent) and Cartier (seven percent) follow.
Undoubtedly, the Chinese shop still overwhelmingly by brand rather than model. They are still at the early stages of luxury consumption, and because of this, the brands are making a great effort to capture their hearts. And increasingly, Macau is in their crosshairs.
November 14, 2009. More than 300 well-heeled guests swirl into the Four Seasons Macao to sip at Moet Chandon and puff hand-made Davidoff cigars. The live Latin jazz is soft and warm, but never too loud to drown out the conversation. A typical cocktail party? Not quite, for these guests are here at the invitation of DFS Galleria Macau, and about 90 percent of them are from China. They’re here to get close-up look at approximately200 exceptionally rare wristwatches.
Many of the limited edition pieces at the occasion are also being revealed for the first time, including Hublot’s ‘One Million Dollar Black Caviar Bang’, adorned with 544 black baguette diamonds.
Blancpain’s ‘Carrousel Volant Une Minute’ features a remarkable karussell mechanism. The Jaeger LeCoultre ‘Joaillerie Reviere 101’ has the world’s tiniest mechanical movement; and Blancpain’s ‘Equation Marchante Pure’ displays both nature’s time as measured by the sun’s movements and human time as we know and use it.
DFS, the world’s largest travel retailer, dubs the event ‘The Masterpieces of Time’, a product of its desire to not only show off some amazing haute horologerie, but also sell a few examples of such to invited guests. In this respect, the host is quite satisfied: most of the watches shown have found owners within the following two weeks.
But how much DFS profited from the event is besides the point; the fact that it has picked Macau rather than Hong Kong to debut its collection is more significant. To luxury brands, Macau has become a rather attractive point on the map.
“There’s a lot of money here for sure,” says Marie- Amelie Hoffmann, general manager of LVMH Watches & Jewellery Hong Kong. Her observation is reinforced by government statistics. In 2009, Macau’s GDP grew to MOP169.34 billion – exceptional for a city of barely more than half a million residents. Most of this vast wealth is built on a burgeoning gaming industry. In 2009, for example, Macau’s gaming revenue alone reached MOP120.38 billion.
At the same time, the number of visitors was also growing. Last year, 21.75 million arrivals were recorded. Although it represented a slight fall compared to the previous year (due to visas restriction imposed by the Beijing government), about half of Macau’s visitors still came from China.
“Although Las Vegas is also a gaming town, it provides a more wholesome experience. In Macau, people come – and by ‘people’ we mean mainland tourists – simply to gamble,” says Hoffmann.
To luxury goods conglomerates like LVMH, what does it all mean?
“In Las Vegas, shopping is part of the experience; in Macau, shopping comes after gambling,” Hoffmann continues. But this doesn’t mean retail is all hard graft in Macau.
On the contrary, at a time when the world retail industry is creaking under the weight of a weak economy, Macau’s own retail sector grew steadily. Last year, total retail revenue reached MOP22.11 billion, a jump of 16 percent over
2008. Of this, the watch and jewelry sector recorded the highest growth of 33 percent, to MOP4.81 billion.
Industry insiders believe Macau’s impressive retail growth has a lot to do with casinos. “You want to spend whether you win or lose money [to get rid of bad luck]. That’s why having a shop in the vicinity of the casino will be almost guaranteed good business,” says one unnamed industry veteran.
Because most of the visitors come from China, they are naturally the prime target for the retailers. And as Hoffmann says, these visitors often buy on the spur of the moment: “Unlike those in Hong Kong who clearly know their budget and what they want to buy and where, in Macau, people buy on impulse.” In the past three years, Macau’s retail industry has seen exceptional growth. Shopping malls have opened, top brands have rushed in, and no-one wants to be left out. Previously, if anyone wanted to buy branded goods, they could only go to the Mandarin Oriental’ (now the Grand Lapa Hotel) lobby mall. But then came the Wynn Macau’s Wynn Esplanada. The arrival of the Venetian Macao brought with it the Grand Canal Shoppes and its vast collection of mid-rangeBrands, and the more upscale Four Seasons Shoppes.
The Boulevard at the City of Dreams not only has a watch-themed store (‘Timeless’), but also premiered such brands as Ralph Lauren and Vivienne Westwood in Macau. One Central Macau, which opened at the end of 2009, brought a fresh wave of flagship stores like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Cartier, Bulgari, Gucci, Fendi, Dior and Dolce & Gabbana under one roof, offering a shopping experience on par with Hong Kong.
“As these brands set up their boutiques or flagship stores in Macau, they are showing their power,” Hoffmann explains. And according to Hoffmann, Macau offers some of the best retail spaces in the world. “From the Mandarin Oriental’s lobby mall to today’s One Central Macau, you can find nearly all top brands in Macau. Look at Chanel’s or Dior’s displays and the spaces they occupy, and you get an idea of how important the Macau market is to these brands.” Although the retail spaces are impressive, one cannot help but notice that they are usually devoid of customers. “Many people have this kind of doubts; they look at the Four Seasons Shoppes or One Central Macau, and it all seems quiet, with little apparent foot traffic,” Hoffmann agrees.
“It makes one wonder whether there’s enough business for the brands who have invested so much here. But the fact is, most brands are very happy with the growth and business they have in Macau.” As Hoffmann points out, no customers in the shop does not equate to no business. Many of the big spenders will most likely be tucked away in a VIP room, or have their private shopper bring products to their hotel room for their selection. They certainly don’t need to be seen wandering through the stores.
Fashion brands often want to attract shoppers with multi-level spaces and alluring window displays – but it’s actually the watch and jewelry brands with small shopfronts that enjoy the higher sales volume-to-space ratio. Unlike jewelry, wristwatches are near-necessities for both men and women, and also represent a potential long-term investment. Rumors of Chinese customers carrying million dollars in cash and buying up top watches are commonplace in Macau.
Both Timeless at The Boulevard and Wynn & Co Watches & Jewelry at the Wynn Macau revealed that haute horlogerie is a hot item these days. Both shops ordered dozens of top watches from Switzerland before Chinese New Year, and in both cases, the watches were snatched up almost instantly. Production – which is necessarily slow and precise – literally can’t catch up to demand created by the nouveau riche Chinese market. So willing are these customers to buy up anything with a high price tag that even moribund brands like Chaumet and Boucheron have set up flagship stores in the region and engineered a revival.
“China has a huge population.
Each province has more people than a small European country.
And nowadays, the customers come not only from Shanghai or Beijing and the big cities, but from as far away as Heilongjiang or Inner Mongolia,” an industry insider observes.
To China’s nouveau riche, luxury goods are not a symbol of good taste, superior craftsmanship, engineering, design or heritage – they’re no more or less than a blunt shorthand of status. “A watch is a must,” says Sandy Chen, research director, TNS China. “When buying up, they start with a luxury watch, next comes the luxury car, and last is the luxury apartment. Men compare and discuss watches, and they need a watch of a certain quality to be part of the social circle.” The most aspirational brand is Rolex, cited by 31 percent of consumers in a survey of men and women with monthly household income above RMB9,000 (US$1,300), as reported in the 2009 TNS China Luxury Study. Omega (18 percent), Vacheron Constantin (nine percent), Longines (eight percent) and Cartier (seven percent) follow.
Undoubtedly, the Chinese shop still overwhelmingly by brand rather than model. They are still at the early stages of luxury consumption, and because of this, the brands are making a great effort to capture their hearts. And increasingly, Macau is in their crosshairs.
Message