First De Beers Store to Open in London
By Rob Bates, Senior Editor and Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA, Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 3/1/2002 2:00:00 AM
The first De Beers-LVMH retail store is due to open this year in London's exclusive Mayfair district, according to South Africa's Sunday Times.
The joint venture, now called De Beers LV, plans to open stores in cities throughout the world, including New York and other cities in the United States.
"Obviously we would like our flagship to be on Fifth Avenue," managing director Gary Ralfe told the Times. But he says the company still has to work out issues in the United States—although he's confident the chain can legally open here, since De Beers is only a "passive investor" in the project, which is being run by LVMH.
"For a company like us that aspires to global excellence, it is intolerable that we are not allowed to be present in America," he told the Times.
