Market Developments

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Bulgari closes three stores, looks to new markets

By Catherine Dayrit
August 31, 2009

New York--Bulgari has shuttered three U.S. stores, including a prime location on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, but it is opening another three locations in the United States by the end of the year, a Bulgari spokesperson has confirmed.

In addition to shuttering the New York store, the Italy-based jeweler closed stores in Aspen, Colo., and Palm Beach, Fla., this year.

Meanwhile, new stores are expected to open by the end of 2009 in three new markets: Dallas, Las Vegas and San Francisco, said Paolo Piantella, Bulgari SpA's corporate financial press office director.

In July, Bulgari Group released its half-year financial report, which stated sales totaled 396.4 million euros ($568.4 million), a drop of 20.5 percent over the previous half-year and a decline of 28.9 percent at current exchange rates. The company also reported an operating loss of 32 million euros ($45.9 million) and a net loss of 40.5 million euros ($58.1 million) for the half year.

The company noted in a media release that sales in directly owned stores recorded "a definitely stronger performance" than the wholesale channel, with sales in the former increasing 3.3 percent at current exchange rates compared to the same period the previous year.

Broken down geographically the United States and Japan were Bulgari's more difficult local markets in the second quarter, with the former experiencing a 51.6 percent fall in sales and the latter experiencing a 42 percent drop.

Europe posted a 22.7 percent decrease, while performance in the rest of Asia showed signs of improvement (down 15.6 percent versus a 22.3-percent drop  for the first quarter of 2009). The Middle East/Other recorded 27.7 percent growth at current exchange rates, primarily due to outstanding performance in Australia, the company said in a release.
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