CHINA. Van Cleef & Arpels, the renowned Richemont Group-owned luxury French jewellery house, officially opened its pop-up store in the CDFG Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex on 1 August.
The pop-up will remain open until 31 March 2022, allowing Van Cleef & Arpels and China Duty Free Group (CDFG) to send exclusive Sanya ‘lucky blessings’ to domestic and foreign visitors.
Following the successful launch of the ‘Lucky Alhambra’ pop-up store – a reference to the Lucky Alhambra jewellery creations, first launched in 2006 and inspired by nature, one of the luxury house’s favorite themes – Van Cleef & Arpels will also officially launch its first duty free flagship store with CDFG in Sanya at the end of this year.
This marks not only a new chapter in the cooperation between the two companies but also a deepening of CDFG’s continuously extending cooperation with brands in the luxury boutique sector, the retailer said.
Outlining the context of the launch, CDFG pointed out that by virtue of Hainan’s offshore duty free business, Sanya has become one of the most popular travel and holiday destinations for domestic and foreign tourists. It is a place where visitors can enjoy clear skies sometimes punctuated by pure white clouds, fresh coconuts, sea breezes – and duty free shopping, CDFG said.
Apart from attracting tourists from all over the world, the Sanya store has also rapidly introduced many international luxury brands over recent times, CDFG pointed out.
CDFG commented: “In the past CDFG has maintained an excellent cooperative relationship with Van Cleef & Arpels’ parent company Richemont Group.
“Together we have conducted a series of high-profile promotions, including Watches & Wonders, which have contributed much to the development of Hainan’s tourism market and its offshore duty free industry.
“Since its establishment, Van Cleef & Arpels has been loved by consumers around the world for its exquisite craftsmanship and a series of classic designs. We look forward to establishing a closer relationship with Van Cleef & Arpels, creating a deeper cooperation so as to jointly provide better services and choices for consumers.”
The Van Cleef & Arpels pop-up boutique is located in the rear square of Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex.
Citing the famous quote of Jacques Arpels, nephew of Estelle Arpels (co-founder along with her husband Alfred Van Cleef), “To be lucky, you must believe in luck,” CDFG said that luck is a value that Van Cleef & Arpels has always cherished and drawn on for creative inspiration.
Therefore, the interior design of the pop-up store adopts the family’s signature four-leaf clover pattern of Van Cleef & Arpels to maintain this theme.
After entering the store the first thing that visitors see is a four-leaf butterfly totem, sowing the seeds of luck along the way, especially created for Alhambra by French and Turkish design duo Burcu & Geoffrey. It guides tourists as they wander through Lucky Alhambra to explore the “dreamy and charming” atmosphere together and experience a comfortable and pleasant space to enjoy the jeweller on offer.
The Sanya Burcu & Geoffrey concept pop-up is the brand’s first in China.
[Burcu Sankur & Geoffrey Godet are famed for creating a beautiful balance between craft and observation. Sankur is passionate about illustration and design while Godet’s fascination lies with 3D animation and its technical aspects -Ed].
In addition to the original design, the Van Cleef & Arpels Lucky Alhambr’pop-up offers a dazzling array of products for visitors from China and overseas.
Besides the Alhambra four-leaf clover Lucky series, Frivole series, Perlée series and Two Butterfly series, the boutique features the rare Poetic Complications poetic complication series, the Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux (lovers’ bridge) watch, and a series of high-end jewellery pieces.
As the world’s leading duty free retailer [Source: Moodie Davitt Report Top 25 Travel Retailers ranking], CDFG said that with the strong support of its parent company, China Tourism Group, it has continuously consolidated its five major capabilities in procurement, operations, channel expansion, digitalisation and marketing, to strengthen service quality and expand market share.
CDFG said that it had seized the opportunity offered by Hainan’s enhanced offshore duty free shopping policy to improve the quality and range of its consumer services. It has achieved this by rapidly expanding retail space; adding new category specialty stores; boosting the number of pick-up points; launching a range of promotional activities; and developing a successful home-delivery programme.
In the future, CDFG pledged to continue strengthening communication with global brands and industry partners. The group said that it will provide consumers with better products and prices and a comprehensive range of services through multi-dimensional cooperation.
CDFG said that it has established strong cooperative relationships with over 1,000 well-known brands around the world, forming a “two-way growth channel” to horizontally expand the brand range and vertically develop product categories. This has seen an acceleration of boutique brand development and an enrichment of popular categories, CDFG commented.
