Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-10-07)

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LV WORKSHOP: BALINT PORNECZI/BLOOMBERG (4). KUO-I: JOHNSON LEE; BLOOMBERG (3). DATA: NOMURA, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, CHINA GENERAL ADMINISTRATION OF CUSTOMS

Luxury Boosting Production at Louis Vuitton

Surging demand for products such as Louis Vuitton

handbags means the luxury sector is a bright spot

for retail. In September, LV opened its 16th leather

workshopin France,whereit planstoadd1,500jobs

overthenextthreeyears.�RobertWilliams

RecentyearshaveseenLouisVuitton

openfactoriesfromTuscanyto

Texas.Butthe165-year-oldbrand,

whosesalessurpassed€10billion

($10.9billion)in 2019,saysit’s

committedtokeepingthemajorityof

itsproductionin France.“Ifweletthe

craftsmanshipleave,eventoplaces

ascloseasItaly,I thinkit’sinevitable

thatthecreativityin thesectorwill

follow,”saysChiefExecutiveOfficer

MichaelBurke.Tokeepemployees

happy,the60,000-square-meter

(646,000-square-foot)facilityin

westernFrancefeaturesnatural

lighting,minimalnoise,andoptimal

energyuse.

①Beehousesonthe

propertyofthenew

facility,whichis in

Beaulieu-sur-Layon

②Employeesat

theworkshop,

whichspecializesin

handbags③Hand-

stitchinga leather

strap④Conducting

a qualitycheck

①

②

③ ④