Luxury labels are having a rough go of it lately, what with fewer tourists flocking to department stores and slowing traffic at standalone stores. So if you’re looking for a wide variety of handbag options this holiday season, you might be limited in your choices: the luxury retailers that usually peddle high-end handbags are trimming their lineups. [More]
luxury
Dept. Of Justice Claims ‘Wolf Of Wall Street’ Was Financed With Stolen Money
By 7.21.16
It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood movie starring, perhaps, Leonardo DiCaprio, and yet it’s real life: the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit this week claiming that fraudsters stole $3.5 billion from the Malaysian people, and moved some of that money through U.S. banks to buy luxury hotels, yachts, a jet, and to produce the movie The Wolf Of Wall Street. [More]
Does Simply Being Near A Luxury Store Turn People Into Unfeeling Jerks?
By 6.15.16
Does where you shop influence how you treat others? According to one group of researchers, the very act of standing near luxury stores turned people into jerky jerkfaces who’d likely rather sniff the air and saunter off than help someone in need. [More]
Saks Fifth Avenue Parent Company Buying Flash-Sales Company Gilt Groupe For $250 Million
By 1.7.16
The owner of Saks Fifth Avenue is branching out into the world of here-and-then-gone Internet discounts, snapping up flash sale site Gilt Groupe for $250 million in cash. Because luxury brands obviously have that much money just sitting in their gilded piggy banks. [More]
It Only Costs $21K To Get A One-Way Flight In A VIP Three-Room Suite With A Butler
By 5.5.14
Calling all bargain hunters — haha, just kidding, this thing is so extravagant that likely none of us will ever experience such a luxurious set-up, and in the air, no less. Etihad Airways just announced a new set of A380 planes, equipped with digs fancy enough to include a trained butler and a private bathroom. [More]
Would You Buy A $33,000 Rolex Watch From Sears?
By 7.24.13
When you shop at Sears, what are you looking for, usually? Some kind of appliance, a set of tools, perhaps a lingering sense of dissatisfaction for the whole retail experience, that kind of thing. As for designer handbags and flashy watches that cost more than the annual salary of many Sears shoppers? That’s not the usual fare. Not anymore: Bring on the $33,000 Rolex watches and the $4,000 designer purses, says Sears CEO Eddie Lampert, issuing instructions from his Florida bastion. [More]
Study: Fancy Cars Make Us Happy, Briefly
By 7.27.11
In an amazing breakthrough for both Science and the study of consumer behavior, researchers have determined that the pleasures of having an expensive car is fleeting and quickly replaced by thinking about the anxieties of day-to-day existence. [More]
OpenSkies Offers Passengers Refunds If They're Not Completely Satisfied
By 9.9.10
One airline is trying a refreshing marketing strategy, competitively differentiating itself based on customer service. Luxury airliner OpenSkies says they guarantee you will enjoy your flight, and offers a full refund, minus taxes and fees, if you’re not completely satisfied. [More]
What Do $155K Shoes Look Like? Kinda Like $15 Stripper Heels
By 6.30.10
When Paul Simon sang “She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes,” we don’t think he was daring anyone to actually make said shoes. But jeweler House of Borgezie has gotten pretty close, slapping over 2,000 diamonds on a pair of stiletto heels and charging $155,000 a pair. [More]
The $25,000 Hot Chocolate
By 6.25.10
What’s the best thing to eat in your $33,000 bed? A $25,000 “frrrozen haute chocolate” from Serendipity 3 in New York, obviously. [More]
The $33,000 Mattress
By 6.24.10
How much would you pay to sleep on the Porsche of mattresses? How about $33,000? That’s how much E.S. Kluft & Co.’s king-size Palais Royale mattress and box spring will run you. It contains 19.5 inches of of luxury fabric and materials, including: [More]
Hyundai Luxury Car to Use iPad as Manual
By 4.2.10
In what we can only assume is a bid to make sure you don’t spend too much time thinking about the fact that you just spent between $50,000 to $60,000 on a Hyundai, the new luxury Hyundai Equus will have an iPad as a manual. [More]
Faberge.com Sells $7 Mil Baubles To Special People Only
By 9.16.09
The reborn Faberge has decided that the rich don’t shop online like the rest of us.
Since When Is Dropping $1600 On A Purse An Investment?
By 5.8.09
How do you turn the purchase of a purse with a four-figure price tag into a sound financial decision in a recession? That’s the task luxury brand marketers and fashion magazines have right now, and their solution is to spin luxury purchases as an “investment.” But is it a good investment? Not really.
$35 Per Ticket Movie Theater Comes With Valet Parking, Blankets And Slippers
By 10.3.08
That new luxury movie theater we told you about back in March will open Friday in affluent South Barrington, IL. At $35 a ticket, you’re treated to valet parking, waiter service, individual reclining chairs, and should you require, blankets and slippers. And no, the food isn’t included.
NYC Cracks Down On Stores That Sell Fake Luxury Items
By 2.27.08
Like fake designer handbags and watches? We have bad news.
Court Rules "World Yacht" Can Be Sued For Not Distributing Gratuities To Its Servers
By 2.19.08
“Hold on,” you say to yourself—”If it’s a gratuity, doesn’t that by definition mean it goes to the wait staff?” Not if you’re a server for World Yacht, a “luxury dining fleet” in Manhattan that will now be sued by its employees for slapping automatic gratuities on diners’ bills, then keeping the extra money for itself. New York labor laws require “employers to pass on to workers any payments that customers understand to be tips,” but World Yacht argued that the banquet industry was exempt, and its servers should get nothing. Thanks to last week’s ruling, the employees can move forward with their suit.
Coach CEO Says Proposed Stimulus Package Necessary So Consumers Will Buy His Purses
By 1.23.08
Whether the U.S. is technically in a recession or not, Coach’s CEO Lew Frankfort says consumers are already pretending that it’s here. That’s why he’s in favor of the President’s proposed stimulus package—it will “restore confidence in consumers that they will have some additional discretionary money that they would otherwise not expect.” That’s right: we need a nation-wide tax credit this year so that we can buy more Coach purses.
