Old England, Paris, to be replaced by watch shop

[HHD]

Albert Goldberg is reportedly vacating Old England, selling out to Richemont which plans to convert the building into France's largest watch boutique. Richemont owns Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC and hopes to capture some of the €600m sales Chinese tourists bring to the Opera / Place Vendôme / Grands Magasins neighbourhood.

Le Tribune says that Richemont is paying 15m to facilitate the exit of Old England, which has been owned by Goldberg for couple of years. Goldberg's Albert Arts brand, which never seemed to do very well in Paris, will be closed down in the capital and function under reduced capacity in its Nice base.

This article in Le Tribune reports that the big French shops like Galeries Lafayette pay a "tip" of 10-15 percent of every watch sale to the Chinese tour operators who deliver shoppers to their businesses. Richemont will probably be expected to do the same:

http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises...la-bataille-de-la-montre-de-luxe-a-paris.html

More:

http://stiffcollar.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/soiree-cuir/

Times change, I suppose. Old England under Goldberg was more about Italian brands like Cucinelli and his unloved Albert Arts than the traditional and quirky English clothing that was stocked there before. It was always a good place for Drakes ties and Edward Green shoes, though the mark-up as the euro appreciated vs the £ put a lot of older clients off, me included. It will be sad to see the shop go, though its demise was inevitable: It's almost always empty when I visit and even before Goldberg took over its Anglophile collection of tweeds, covert coats and itchy pullovers was playing to a smaller and ageing market.

 

[add911_11]

THe shop is filled with excellent items, I am really sad that is going

 

[NotoriousMarquis]

Damn, Ive always wanted to buy something there but could never afford to. Now I suppose I never will, sadly.

 

[comrade]



Albert Goldberg is reportedly vacating Old England, selling out to Richemont which plans to convert the building into France's largest watch boutique. Richemont owns Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC and hopes to capture some of the €600m sales Chinese tourists bring to the Opera / Place Vendôme / Grands Magasins neighbourhood.
Le Tribune says that Richemont is paying 15m to facilitate the exit of Old England, which has been owned by Goldberg for couple of years. Goldberg's Albert Arts brand, which never seemed to do very well in Paris, will be closed down in the capital and function under reduced capacity in its Nice base.
This article in Le Tribune reports that the big French shops like Galeries Lafayette pay a "tip" of 10-15 percent of every watch sale to the Chinese tour operators who deliver shoppers to their businesses. Richemont will probably be expected to do the same:
http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises...la-bataille-de-la-montre-de-luxe-a-paris.html
More:
http://stiffcollar.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/soiree-cuir/
Times change, I suppose. Old England under Goldberg was more about Italian brands like Cucinelli and his unloved Albert Arts than the traditional and quirky English clothing that was stocked there before. It was always a good place for Drakes ties and Edward Green shoes, though the mark-up as the euro appreciated vs the £ put a lot of older clients off, me included. It will be sad to see the shop go, though its demise was inevitable: It's almost always empty when I visit and even before Goldberg took over its Anglophile collection of tweeds, covert coats and itchy pullovers was playing to a smaller and ageing market.

Quel dommage!

 

[cigarMan]

For me the shop never made much sense. Lots of different brands and pricepoints, no real concept and the worst of all, extremely unfriendly staff.
Once I wanted to try some EGs and they wouldn't help me. They just ignored me, not even a hello. Ok, I was dressed casual and had a tourist map in my hands, but that is no reason not to serve a potential customer.
Just hope that they will have a sell off of their stock, as there are some real gems hidden in that store.

 

[michaelvl]

Shame that Old England shall be leaving their current location. I have been there recently and purchased my first pair of Edward Green's there. I found the staff, at least the lady that helped me to be very friendly and eager to be of assistance.