Tiffany Downsizing Shanghai Flagship: Report

Tiffany & Co. (New York) is planning to downsize its two-level flagship store in Shanghai, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg, as sales of luxury brands plunge in the world’s second-largest economy. The jeweler, which opened the 12,000-square-foot store in Shanghai’s Hong Kong Plaza in late 2019, has decided to give up about half of the space, said the sources, asking not to be identified because the deal is private.

Despite that planned downsizing, Tiffany says it opened two new stores in China this year and is planning three more openings in the country next year, per Bloomberg.

The brand will vacate the space later this month, the people said, and the landlord is already in talks with other potential tenants. Both Tiffany and Lai Sun Group, which controls the high-end mall’s landlord, Lai Fung Holdings Ltd., didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comment.

Tiffany’s pullback from China’s finance hub highlights the increasingly challenging business environment that global luxury giants have to navigate during an economic slowdown and a property market slump, the business news service noted. Shoppers in the country are turning more price-sensitive, looking for bargains either in the gray market or overseas, such as Japan where the currency is weak, Bloomberg reports.

The store features Tiffany’s first Blue Box Cafe in China (and third in the world), which will remain open, the sources said.

The 187-year-old brand has been missing LVMH’s ambitious sales targets since the latter firm acquired the jeweler in 2021, Bloomberg added.