One of the first times I saw a queue outside a luxury store was at the Louis Vuitton store at the DLF Emporio Mall in 2020. The world had just begun to grasp what Covid-19 was, and social distancing was the norm. That said, the Vuitton store was the only one which welcomed up to five people at a time. The Dior store right across did not have a closed-door policy.
I remember taking a picture and walking by, thinking this would be the new normal. Everything was new in 2020, and nothing was normal at all.
A few weeks back, I found myself queuing up outside the Loewe store in New York’s Soho. Covid-19 has been long forgotten like a bad dream, and the only masks we wear are metaphorical. But Loewe was such an au courant brand, its new creative head JW Anderson has turned a boring old Spanish company into a surrealist fantasy. I wanted to see up close what the fuss was about. So, I queued up, too. And took another picture.
Just 10 minutes later I was in. I asked the cheerful sales executive why I was made to wait outside as the store was not really crowded. I was informed that the brand wanted to ensure that every customer has a sales associate taking care of them. Ok, wow.
But is this good service? Nope.
There is no joy in waiting on the street to be “allowed” into a store to browse or buy. Luxury shopping needs to be a luxurious experience. The Vuitton store in Mumbai’s Taj Mahal hotel would serve its guests a glass of champagne when they walked in. (They still serve you tea or coffee, in a full-service tea set, and you can sit by their large windows as they bring you your favourite sneakers in your size.) The Sabyasachi store in New York’s Christopher Street serves you rose-flavoured tea in vintage hand-painted china, along with ginger biscuits, while you browse and are regaled with stories of the great Indian design wizard.
This is luxury. Not being told to wait your turn until they accept your money.
The Financial Times writes on queues outside luxury stores upon spotting one during the Paris Fashion Week in September, at the new The Row store on the dull Mont Thabor, just a few streets away from Chanel’s iconic Rue Cambon boutique. (It seems there was a 50 minute wait to get into Chanel, too.)
Brands are just creating a false hype and exclusivity around their names by introducing a door policy. Officially, their word is that they want to ensure you are ably and amply served. And that they want to prevent shoplifting, which seems to prevail when the stores are crowded.
But a new and not-so-normal post-Covid phenomenon are the break-ins and robberies that are taking place at premium and luxury labels in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Miami and Paris. How do they beat that? They can’t, despite an alarm system and CCTV cameras, and cops that look like they belong on TV.
Meanwhile, the Apple stores in Mumbai and Delhi reported unprecedented queues on September 20, when the iPhone 16 was launched. Some customers waited in line for 21 hours for their phones. I even read a report about a customer who waited in line, ordered the phone online and received it while he was still in queue.
Let’s hope they served him coffee at least.
X@namratazakaria