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Luxing away the Recession

Selling the same

Now that the recession has supposedly hit bottom, we look back at the period of decline to find great companies or business that survived or even thrived through the period and consider their strategies to move on in this snail-pace recovery. The Economist recently reported on the strength of the Louis Vuitton in their briefing, the substance of style. The article highlighted their strengths in branding, the placement of stores in malls and their discipline when it comes to selling their leather goods, refusing to ever put them on sale at a discount and choosing to destroy inventory.

In contrast, François-Henri Pinault is being tested in this recession to diversify his family's PPR Group. Fortune reported on how Pinault's timely acquistition of Puma has helped balance off the effects of the recession on their luxury brands, including Gucci and Printemps.

In any case, LVMH will have to learn to duplicate Louis Vuitton's success across their brands and Pinault might benefit learning a thing or two from LV as well.