Valentino Opened First Store in Bucharest

Wow, seems like people in fashion retail have been really busy towards the end of 2011 in Bucharest. Some days ago, more precisely on 15th of Dec, VALENTINO joined the timidly growing luxury fashion market in Romania. The 250 sqm. store is situated on the Grand Avenue, the shopping gallery inside Marriott Hotel, and it was opened under franchise by Robert Coman, former owner of a computer retailing chain. Apparently, the refurbishment and fit-out costs reached around 1 million euros.

Again, I will say that I don’t consider Marriott Hotel as the right location for a luxury brand, despite the good conditions they have there. I love Valentino, and I would have wanted to see it on Calea Victoriei, contributing to the renaissance of the fashion retailing in Bucharest. I believe Calea Victoriei is the only possiblity at the moment for creating that shopping experience required for high-end brands: aspirational, desirable, easy reachable.

Nonetheless, VALENTINO will probably sell well from that location as well. What I actually want to stress on is a different brand statement that I believe is very important and shouldn’t be ignored, especially if you are considering of a long term investment in the market.

Below you can watch the full show of Valentino Spring Summer 2012 collection…