Retailers are also responding accordingly through providing consumers
with what has been dubbed in marketing circles as ‘Retailment’, a combina-
tion of the words ‘Retail + Entertainment’. This concept involves the combi-
nation of retail, leisure and entertainment services in a commercial location.
Most retail establishments such as shopping centres now also have leisure
centres, restaurants and cafés used as relaxation, refuelling and meeting
points. Retailment has also been adopted in the luxury goods retail sector. For
example, British luxury retailer Harvey Nichols is known for both luxury
goods retail and gastronomic expertise. Also, The Mall of the Emirates shop-
ping centre in Dubai has a ski slope although the mall is located in the middle
of a desert. Other luxury departmental stores like Printemps in Paris also
provide in-store entertainment for shoppers and spectators alike.
The use of retailment as a retail extension tactic is necessary to enhance
the status of luxury brands. The method has been used by the luxury sector in
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through associating luxury fashion
with different leisure aspects of society like arts and culture. As far back as
the early part of the twentieth century, haute couture designer Elsa
Schiaparelli collaborated with artists Jean Cocteau and Dali in fashion design.
This blending of artistic and fashion talent is currently being adopted by
several luxury brands and extended to other aspects to form an integrated
luxury retailment offering. Luxury brands are placing a strong emphasis on
the fusion of luxury retail with retailment forms like art, literature, music,
film, sports and gastronomy. The association of luxury brands with an appeal-
ing form of entertainment has become a necessity in the current challenging
luxury market because consumers increasingly seek substance from brands in
the form of background stories, fulfilled through retailment collaborations.
Providing consumer satisfaction through retailment links ought to feature as
a prominent aspect of the luxury retail strategy.
Retailment is also an effective means of generating positive publicity for a
brand through showing the brand’s commitment and interest in its commu-
nity. This also forms a part of corporate social responsibility, which improves
the brand’s public image in the long term. Retailment also offers a powerful
means of linking the world of fashion with intellect through literature. An
additional benefit of luxury retailment through art initiatives and sponsor-
ships is the chance to project the brand as not merely ‘profit-driven’ but also
able to share its financial gains with the wider society.
Several examples of art sponsorships and other related retailment initiatives
abound in the luxury fashion sector. They provide evidence that luxury brands
have recognized the importance of extended retail practices to include several
forms of entertainment. An example is Louis Vuitton, which launched an Art
Exhibition Centre named ‘L’Espace Louis Vuitton’ within its flagship store on
Paris’ Avenue des Champs Elysées in 2005. The centre is a means of artistic
and cultural expression and showcases the works of avant-garde artists such as
Vanessa Beecroft. Pierre Cardin also has a private museum at his Maxim’s
chapter 4 89luxury retail design and atmosphere