On Good Friday, craving a change of scene, I got a near empty tube to Embankment and wandered up to St James’s, along Jermyn Street, over Piccadilly and then up Old and New Bond Street before snaking back through The Burlington Arcade.
It’s one of my favourite walks - so much to see and to tempt. Paxton & Whitefield the cheese maker was open and stalwarts such as Floris, John Smedley and Turnbull & Asser stood ready to open their doors once “non-essential” retail resumes. One of the few exceptions was the perfumer Roja Parfums which still had a full Christmas window in the Burlington Arcade. It’s now April and the arcade, although far from busy, does have foot traffic. For a standalone, mini ‘flagship’ boutique this seemed odd and a missed opportunity.
However the purpose of this short blog was a visceral reaction I had to some wine glasses in the window at Asprey. It reminded me that, despite best efforts, browsing and shopping on-line is hard work. It’s incredibly efficient for standard items which we know we need and which provide some utilitarian purpose or a well defined service but it lacks serendipity and an all round sensory experience one gets from physical retail, at least when stores are open !
But back to the wine glasses. I don’t need wine glasses. They were not on my mind. I’ve never visited the Asprey website or it’s social media accounts and the last time I was in one of their stores was just after their, long since closed, Manhattan ‘flagship’ stores at the base of Trump Tower opened, which I think was 2003 !
Asprey was just not on my radar. Until I walked past their window. Spotted the glasses and walked back a step to admire. They were arresting. Upon checking the price (I did go on their site for the first time ever to do that) and seeing that the red and white wine, and water glass are all £1,100 each I continued my amble.
It was all a reminder that physical retail does have a future. Freed from the confines of our own homes and neighbourhoods we want to go out and ‘forage’ - that’s hard-wired into our psyche. We want to see things in 3D and touch and smell and ask questions which result in an organic conversation. Yes you can find and buy anything online but it’s all too easy to reach a destination too quickly without allowing yourself to be distracted by something you didn’t know you wanted.
The challenge now is for high streets and city centres to find enough retailers that attract and for those stores to be creative in their appearance and in-store experience.
The streets may be quiet for a little bit longer but it is only a matter of time before Old Bond Street in London, Via Montenapoleone in Milan, the Bahnhofstrasse of Zurich etc etc return to vibrancy. Let’s not forget that.
About Communicating Luxury
Since 2013 Communicating Luxury has been efficiently and effectively assisting companies to get the very best our of their brands. Our aim is to provide a fresh perspective, energise teams, provide actionable recommendations and deliver against a coherent strategy.
Our founder, Mark Izatt, has over 25 years’ experience within the world of luxury including spirits, automotive, technology and service sectors.
