Tiffany & Co.’s Iconic Fifth Avenue Store Reopens Under New Ownership LVMH

New Yorkers and tourists will once again be able to walk among the rings and diamonds of the tiffany jewelry in his mythical store on Fifth Avenue, a step that reflects the impulse given by its new owner, French luxury giant LVMH.

The store immortalized by the envious glances of the actress Audrey Hepburn in the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (“Breakfast at Tiffany’s, from 1961) officially reopened its doors on Wednesday before celebrities such as Anya Taylor Joy, Blake Lively, Katy Perry, Hailey Bieber, among other personalities. Today it opens to the public.

The works, which began in 2019, took “longer than expected,” Tiffany’s CEO Anthony Ledru admitted on this occasion, but the result “exceeds our wildest dreams.”

read also: Anya Taylor-Joy is the new face of Tiffany & Co.

On the ground floor, visitors are greeted by a succession of jewelry counters and walls decorated with large mirrors that intermittently project videos of Central Park.

Elevators lead to the upper floors, where clients can access the Tiffany collections, private lounges or a cafeteria dominated by the turquoise blue that symbolizes the brand.

The goal is to offer “a unique customer experience”, with “a mixture of art, crafts, heritage and lifestyle”, explained Ledru before the inauguration in a message to AFP.

Tiffany seeks to remain true to its origins while remaining culturally “relevant,” he said, adding that it wants to open up to “all generations.”

Tiffany, from yesterday to today

Founded in 1837 in New York and known above all for its diamonds, silver jewelry and engagement ringsthe company was acquired by LVMH in early 2021 for around $16 billion. It has 14,000 employees and manages around 300 points of sale.

Bernard Arnault, LVMH’s chief executive, said in January that “Tiffany was going to surpass $1 billion in recurring operating income for the first time.” “We were only halfway there when we acquired this business,” he added.

Ledru, assisted by one of Bernard Arnault’s sons, Alexandre Arnault, carried out an update of the brand: he summoned the most outstanding couple in the American show business, Jay-Z y Beyoncéto promote its products, launched a campaign around the provocative slogan “not your mother’s Tiffany” and established a partnership with Nike sneakers.

Tiffany by LVMH

“Tiffany was a sleeping beauty,” said Erwan Rambourg, a specialist in the luxury sector at HSBC bank. She relied on a “very strong reputation”, but she was also “very conservative in her choices, very slow and quite closed in the short term” to satisfy shareholders, he explained to AFP.

The new direction, driven by “the spirit of conquest typical of Bernard Arnault“, according to him, repositioned the brand image giving a little less importance to products related to weddings and silver jewelry and raising some prices.

“The old management talked a lot about lower prices, which is not necessarily a good approach in the luxury sector,” said Luca Solca of the Bernstein consultancy. Its marketing and communication are “more modern”, a necessary strategy “to attract younger consumers”, commented the analyst.

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