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Innovations in fashion retailing and distribution
Edited by Stephen M. Wigley and Pammi Sinha
1. Introduction
Retailing within the luxury sector has been characterised as different from retailing in other product sectors in three important ways. First, most luxury retailers sell goods they have manufactured themselves, rather than those made by a third party. This means that what they sell and how they sell it is inextricably linked ([32] Moore et al. , 2010). Second, luxury retailers have been the most prolific of the internationalising retailers and many operate retail stores on a global scale. For most other retailers, trading activities (and therefore their retail stores) are principally in the domestic market. Third and perhaps most significantly, luxury retailers increasingly use direct investment as a method of foreign market entry (as opposed to the indirect methods of franchising/joint-venture/wholesaling) that are used by other retailers ([32] Moore et al. , 2010).
Crucial to each of these important features of luxury retailing is the flagship store. In international market development, the flagship is used as the primary form of direct investment for entry into a foreign market ([31] Moore and Docherty, 2007). Furthermore, the international flagship store has been identified as a powerful and important platform for growth in the foreign market by encouraging representation and distribution by third party stockists and securing interest and engagement among consumers. The importance of the flagship store is perhaps best demonstrated by the significant financial investments that luxury retailers make in these stores. [32] Moore et al. (2010) argued that on a proportionate basis, the financial investment they make is significantly greater than those of other retailers that operate flagship stores.
Other studies have identified that the flagship store serves principally as a means of communicating and enhancing the image and personality of a luxury retailer's brand identity ([25] Jackson, 2004). Furthermore, the flagship has been described as an important business-building asset that encourages and supports the sale of the brand among external distributors and partners ([32] Moore et al. , 2010). Yet, while there has been increased recognition of the function and value of the luxury flagship store, much less attention has been given to the characteristics of their format - specifically with respect to their location, scale...