Competition to attract duty-free shops begins as Louis Vuitton president visits Korea today, with the presence of Lee Bu-jin and Jeong Yoo-kyung

20 days visit… Distribution Major CEO Meeting
Discussion of additional stores and investment in department stores and duty free shops

Bernard Arnault, president of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), the world’s largest luxury goods group, will visit Korea on the 20th. Chairman Arno’s visit to Korea has been 3 years and 5 months since October 2019.

According to the distribution industry, Chairman Arnault will visit Korea for two nights and three days, touring major department stores and duty-free stores in Korea, and meeting key executives in the industry, including Lee Boo-jin, president of Shilla Hotel, and Jeong Yu-kyung, president of Shinsegae. Meetings with heads of major domestic department stores such as Lotte, Shinsegae, Hyundai, and Galleria will also be held.

Chairman Arno visited Korea regularly every year from 2016 to 2019, before the spread of Corona 19, and continued to meet with major CEOs of distribution companies. During this visit to Korea, as the domestic luxury goods market has grown rapidly during the COVID-19 period, the industry expects that attracting new stores and additional investment in domestic department stores and duty-free shops will be discussed.

In particular, it is observed that the direction of Louis Vuitton operation in domestic duty free shops will be concreted in the future. Previously, Louis Vuitton strongly criticized the resale method of China’s Bundarisang (Tai Palace) and announced that it would focus on airport duty-free shops in the future, announcing its policy of sequential withdrawal from domestic duty-free shops. The industry expects that Louis Vuitton, which has withdrawn from Busan Lotte, Jeju Lotte, and Jeju Shilla Duty Free Shop, will open an additional store in Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport. It is highly likely that Louis Vuitton will enter the Duplex Duty Free Shop, a duplex boutique store to be created in District 3 of Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport, which is currently bidding. Recently, Shilla and Shinsegae Duty Free Shops, which are about to undergo a second screening by the Korea Customs Service after being selected as multiple business operators in Incheon International Airport Duty Free Shop Zones 3 and 4, have all received letters of intent from Louis Vuitton.

Arnault is the head of LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, Celine and Tiffany & Co. In the Billionaires Index released by Bloomberg at the end of last year, his net worth was $170.8 billion (about 223 trillion won), making him the world’s richest person.