FRENCH RETAILER VIVARTE SIZING UP MACAU

2014/10/9

From：Macau Business Daily

French fashion retailer Vivarte is mulling opening 200 stores in Asia from next year, seeking to generate sales of US$350 million in four years. Macau is one of their destinations.
The French group – which owns 4,800 outlets throughout the world and manages some twenty fashion and footwear brands – has signed an agreement with GRI Retail to bring three of its brands, namely Minelli, André and Cosmoparis, to Asia, Spanish newspaper Modaes reported earlier this week.
According to the newspaper, Vivarte’s Asian project will kick off in January 2015 by opening its first store in Shanghai. Two other stores in Hong Kong and Macau will be launched in the second half of next year. Other destinations include Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan.
Business Daily reached the office of GRI Retail in Hong Kong, which told us that the store planning is not yet confirmed, and could not yet provide the exact date of the Macau store opening.
It is the first contract signed by Vivarte and GRI Retail after the French group reached an agreement with its creditors to refinance the company’s debt and reach new resources last July, the newspaper said.
Currently, the company has a workforce of 22,000 people and an annual turnover of about 3,000 million euros. Meanwhile, GRI Retail holds more than 1,000 outlets in Asia and France, managing more than 10 brands, such as Nine West and Steve Madden.

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