A ‘legacy to last for decades to come’, the new Hermès store at Place Vendôme, Lusail will be the melting pot of Hermès lovers not only from Qatar but from the entire region and beyond, noted, Florian Craen, executive vice-president, Sales & Distribution, Hermès.
“It took us around 7 to 8 years to plan the new store. This address is to last for a long time in Qatar and be a tribute to Qatar for decades to come. That is the reason we wanted to have it at this location. We believe that Hermès Place Vendôme will be a special and unique store in the region and beyond. We want to make the store a destination that our customers will be proud of not only from Qatar but also from around the region and I expect people to fly into Doha to visit Hermès Place Vendôme,” said Crean.
Craen was speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the opening of the Hermès store at Place Vendôme.
With 306 stores in 45 countries, Hermès recorded an annual revenue of $6.4bn in 2020 and the French luxury house excels in about 16 métiers crafted from exceptional materials by expert artisans ranging from stunning leather goods to exquisite ready to wear and accessories, silk and textiles to perfumes, jewellery and watches among others.
“This is one of the largest single floor stores in the world. Coincidentally, we have opened a few weeks apart our two largest single floor stores. The other one is at South Coast Plaza in Los Angeles,” noted Craen.
The executive vice president said that Hermès offers an extraordinary wide range of products, which no store in the world can offer entirely. “Even the biggest of our stores offer only a fraction of the diversity on offer. The aim of this store is to offer much more than what we had before but it will still be a portion of the diversity that we curate every season,” he explained.
“There are six Hermès stores in the Middle East. We don’t want to be everywhere. Instead, we want to have a few addresses but we want them to be comfortable, inviting, inspiring and convenient to our patrons,” he continued.
The official said that there are no plans to have more stores in Qatar. He pointed out: “This will be the one and only presence in Qatar as the store at The Pearl is wound up in a long-term perspective. This was the plan when we opened the Hermès The Pearl store and as we realised the need for a bigger store we have relocated to Lusail,” he remarked.
Craen said that Hermès Place Vendôme has probably one of the broadest and widest offers to see in a single store.
“Our practice is that our store manager comes to Paris twice a year to discover the new collections and chooses what he needs for the clients of its store. Our store manager and his team have chosen additional collections for our customers in Qatar. So, the customers here will get to see products that they will not see in many stores because only five or six stores in the world display these items. Because of the size of the store and the nature of the business, it is much broader than most stores,” he stated.
Craen stressed that Hermès wanted to pay tributes to the Qatari clients who are extraordinarily loyal to Hermès not only in Qatar but in many other key cities around the world. He described: “This store is aimed at nourishing the extraordinary relationships with our clients. We thought of having a comfortable experience for them in Qatar so they don’t need to run around the world for a Hermès destination as they meet Hermès at its best here in Qatar. We want to present this as one of our best stores to one of our best clientele.”
According to the official, there would be frequent programmes at the store such as receptions, private viewings of collections, fashion shows, animations and more.
“Our intention is to create a unique environment and this store is unique in many ways; the size, the furnishings, the artwork, the garden amongst others. We chose this space because of the day light coming into the store. We wanted to have both space and intimacy. Our intention is to have a humble look from the outside and a welcoming, contemporary and comfortable interior,” highlighted Craen.
Wissam and Kamal Al-Mana have been collaborating with Hermès in Qatar and the region to run the stores for about two decades.
“For us, every store is completely different and unique. From a single picture, I can recognise the store location without any address. This is something special about a Hermès store,” added Craen.
“It took us around 7 to 8 years to plan the new store. This address is to last for a long time in Qatar and be a tribute to Qatar for decades to come. That is the reason we wanted to have it at this location. We believe that Hermès Place Vendôme will be a special and unique store in the region and beyond. We want to make the store a destination that our customers will be proud of not only from Qatar but also from around the region and I expect people to fly into Doha to visit Hermès Place Vendôme,” said Crean.
Craen was speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the opening of the Hermès store at Place Vendôme.
With 306 stores in 45 countries, Hermès recorded an annual revenue of $6.4bn in 2020 and the French luxury house excels in about 16 métiers crafted from exceptional materials by expert artisans ranging from stunning leather goods to exquisite ready to wear and accessories, silk and textiles to perfumes, jewellery and watches among others.
“This is one of the largest single floor stores in the world. Coincidentally, we have opened a few weeks apart our two largest single floor stores. The other one is at South Coast Plaza in Los Angeles,” noted Craen.
The executive vice president said that Hermès offers an extraordinary wide range of products, which no store in the world can offer entirely. “Even the biggest of our stores offer only a fraction of the diversity on offer. The aim of this store is to offer much more than what we had before but it will still be a portion of the diversity that we curate every season,” he explained.
“There are six Hermès stores in the Middle East. We don’t want to be everywhere. Instead, we want to have a few addresses but we want them to be comfortable, inviting, inspiring and convenient to our patrons,” he continued.
The official said that there are no plans to have more stores in Qatar. He pointed out: “This will be the one and only presence in Qatar as the store at The Pearl is wound up in a long-term perspective. This was the plan when we opened the Hermès The Pearl store and as we realised the need for a bigger store we have relocated to Lusail,” he remarked.
Craen said that Hermès Place Vendôme has probably one of the broadest and widest offers to see in a single store.
“Our practice is that our store manager comes to Paris twice a year to discover the new collections and chooses what he needs for the clients of its store. Our store manager and his team have chosen additional collections for our customers in Qatar. So, the customers here will get to see products that they will not see in many stores because only five or six stores in the world display these items. Because of the size of the store and the nature of the business, it is much broader than most stores,” he stated.
Craen stressed that Hermès wanted to pay tributes to the Qatari clients who are extraordinarily loyal to Hermès not only in Qatar but in many other key cities around the world. He described: “This store is aimed at nourishing the extraordinary relationships with our clients. We thought of having a comfortable experience for them in Qatar so they don’t need to run around the world for a Hermès destination as they meet Hermès at its best here in Qatar. We want to present this as one of our best stores to one of our best clientele.”
According to the official, there would be frequent programmes at the store such as receptions, private viewings of collections, fashion shows, animations and more.
“Our intention is to create a unique environment and this store is unique in many ways; the size, the furnishings, the artwork, the garden amongst others. We chose this space because of the day light coming into the store. We wanted to have both space and intimacy. Our intention is to have a humble look from the outside and a welcoming, contemporary and comfortable interior,” highlighted Craen.
Wissam and Kamal Al-Mana have been collaborating with Hermès in Qatar and the region to run the stores for about two decades.
“For us, every store is completely different and unique. From a single picture, I can recognise the store location without any address. This is something special about a Hermès store,” added Craen.
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