Publications

08 Apr 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

The Life of Luxury and How to Sell It

Research released recently by iseecars.com seems to indicate a fleeting happiness with luxury cars. New buyers of BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche sell them more frequently in the first year than owners of other models.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Retail; Retail

November 2014
Case

Taryn Rose Launches Dresr: Street Marketing a Luxury Brand

By: Lena G. Goldberg, Marcel Saucet and Christine Snively

Serial entrepreneur and shoe designer Taryn Rose, M.D., prepared to launch a new e-commerce platform, Dresr, which would connect shoppers with tastemakers online. Dresr would bring the service element found in brick and mortar luxury stores into the online shopping... View Details

Keywords: E-commerce; Online Platforms; Online Marketing; Footwear; Legal Aspects Of Business; Street Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Luxury; Marketing Strategy; Digital Platforms; Legal Liability; Fashion Industry; Technology Industry

30 Dec 2019
News

Buying luxury items makes you feel less confident and authentic, study says

11 Dec 2014
News

Fashion's Retail Revolution

limit. “The growth of interest in fashion and luxury products on campus has been tremendous,” he says. “The vast and rapid changes in retailing and technology are democratizing fashion and luxury,” Alvarez... View Details

Keywords: April White; fashion; Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Finance

November 2002 (Revised February 2009)
Teaching Note

Value Retail (TN)

By: Arthur I Segel and Ani M Vartanian

Teaching Note for (9-803-008). View Details

Keywords: Investment; Risk and Uncertainty; Performance Effectiveness; Brands and Branding; Planning; Strategy; Luxury; Milan

October 2016
Teaching Note

Longchamp

By: Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS No. 316-086. View Details

Keywords: Brand Positioning; Luxury Brand; Luxury; Retailing; Product Strategy; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; France; Europe

25 Nov 2009
Working Paper Summaries

The Devil Wears Prada? Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making

Keywords: by Roy Y.J. Chua & Xi Zou; Retail; Retail

02 Mar 2015

Retail Sector at HBS Webinar

This webinar will provide an overview of the resources available at HBS to students coming from (or who are interested in pursuing a career in) the retail sector. A member of our Career and Professional Development Office will review... View Details

10 Jan 2020
Blog Post

Know Your Audience - Recruiting HBS Students for Retail

and appeal to MBA students. Tailor your presentation to MBA level students and focus on how opportunities at your company build on the MBA level learnings and skillsets. We also encourage recruiting retailers work to get to know the View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

June 2016 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Longchamp

By: Jill Avery, Tonia Junker and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Longchamp’s Le Pliage is one of the fashion world’s most successful products, a cultural icon across the globe. But managing the low priced, nylon handbag is challenging as Longchamp tries to move its brand upmarket into higher priced, luxury leather goods. How much... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Luxury Brand; Brand Positioning; Product Strategy; Retailing; Pricing Strategy; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Luxury; Family Business; Price; Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; France; Europe

December 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Troverie (A)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Lindsay N. Hyde and Olivia Graham

Six months after the August 2018 launch of Troverie, a U.S.-based online retailer of luxury watches, the average cost of acquiring a customer is much higher than originally projected, and the startup is incurring a substantial loss on each sales transaction. Could... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Luxury Goods; Customer Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Luxury; Failure; Internet and the Web; Revenue; Fashion Industry; United States

17 Nov 2020
In Practice

How Retailers Can Thrive in a Shopping Season Like No Other

stay-at-home orders will likely make brick-and-mortar stores and shopping malls less appealing to consumers, and will likely fuel online shopping. On a more positive side, consumers are likely to continue to indulge in little luxuries... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Retail

February 2022
Case

Toraya

By: Lauren Cohen and Akiko Kanno

Mitsuharu Kurokawa was the 18th generation leader of a family firm that produced and sold premium Japanese sweets, Toraya Confectionery Co., Ltd. He had succeeded the business from his father, Mitsuhiro Kurokawa who had led the firm for thirty years. Mitsuharu was... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Luxury Brand; Succession; Family Business; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Marketing; Expansion; Globalization; Innovation and Invention; Customer Satisfaction; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Japan

January 2015 (Revised July 2015)
Case

Jimmy Choo

By: Anat Keinan and Sandrine Crener

Jimmy Choo is a British luxury accessories brand, specializing in shoes, handbags, accessories, and fragrances. Founded in 1996 in London by couture shoe designer Jimmy Choo and Vogue accessories editor Tamara Mellon OBE, the brand enjoyed immediate success and rapidly... View Details

01 Jun 2004
News

Luxe Redux

Cashing in on the $60 billion global luxury goods market has never been tougher — or more rewarding. Competition is keen. And consumer preferences are constantly shifting, causing the concept of luxury... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; luxury; Retail Trade

March 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Ghurka

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Walter J. Salmon and Christine Snively

Ghurka was a 38-year-old luxury leather goods brand that specialized in leather and twill luggage, handbags, and accessories. Brightwork Brand Holdings Corp. acquired it as an asset purchase in 2011. Ghurka, under CEO John Reuter, worked to re-launch the brand with a... View Details

Keywords: Retailing; Luxury

February 2012 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Saks Incorporated

By: Carliss Baldwin and Stefon Burns

Saks Fifth Avenue, a luxury department store chain, has been hard hit by the 2008 financial crisis and stock market crash. Speculation about impending bankruptcy is rampant in the press. The CEO, Stephen Sadove, must decide how to respond. View Details

Keywords: Retail; Fashion; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Crisis; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States