Boodles opens first outlet in Asia
Luxury jeweller Boodles has opened an outlet in Asia in its first move outside of the UK and Ireland according to a report in the Financial Times.
The retailer has taken a concession in Hong Kong’s Lane Crawford department store and has said that if all goes well it will look to take further concessions throughout Asia or even open its own stores there.
The 200 year old family business said it had looked at expanding into New York and the Middle East but felt that Hong Kong offered the best market for its upmarket jewellery at present especially with its proximity to China.
Managing director Michael Wainwright said that the jeweller may consider taking outlets in Shanghai or Beijing but could also look at opening in New York during the next five years.
However, he warned against the company doing too much too soon, telling the Financial Times: “We are a family business. We don’t want to spread ourselves too thinly and we want to do it really properly in the Far East. We don’t want to have too many eggs in too many baskets.”
Boodles was founded in 1798 and now has eight stores in the UK and one in Ireland.
