May 24th marked the end of an 11-month renovation phase and the official reopening of the Vienna Cartier branch. The retail space, which extends over three floors, was expanded to 334 m2 tripled. There will now be more space for attractive customer service and places for staff to relax. 200 of the 334 m2 are reserved for the team. Cartier employs a total of 27 people in Vienna.
Local manufacturers
The store was renovated in the Viennese style to reflect the city’s cultural and artistic heritage, which Cartier highly values. “What counts is what surrounds a boutique. And cozy describes the surrounding Viennese flair best,” enthuses de Laporte. The furnishings of the new boutique contain elements of Viennese Art Nouveau, and numerous ornaments are a tribute to Gustav Klimt, as de Laporte explains. In collaboration with Austrian manufacturers such as Augarten Porcelain, the glass manufacturer Lobmeyr and the lamp manufacturer Woka, cultural influences from the federal capital were brought together in an elaborate interior.
“The redesign was mainly carried out for the local clientele, and the store attracts a good mix of tourists and locals,” says de Laporte. The Vienna branch is increasingly dependent on tourists, but at the same time enjoys the trust of a local clientele that appreciates Cartier’s tradition and storytelling.
According to de Laporte, Cartier places value on historical craftsmanship, timeless icons and modern sophistication. To celebrate the reopening and the global launch of the new Nature Sauvage collection, Cartier organized a two-week series of events at selected locations in Vienna’s art and culture scene, to which long-standing customers from all over the world as well as brand ambassadors and celebrities were invited.
As de Laporte explains, the boutique was redesigned and adapted primarily to improve customer service. Some mixed Google reviews of the Vienna Cartier store in the past have pointed to long waiting times or unfriendly service. Cartier wants to monitor and control customer satisfaction more closely in the future. According to the Northern Europe boss’s expectations, sales should increase with the expansion of the store space.
There are no specific trends to be seen in the jewelry and watch segments, “Cartier customers prefer timeless icons.” The younger generation is also showing interest in these icons, which include Love, Panthere, Clou and Trinity. In view of the current high gold prices, Cartier, like many other competitors, is also experiencing a more price-sensitive purchasing behavior in some cases.
Vienna as a luxury destination
According to Tourism Director Norbert Kettner, Vienna has established itself as a popular luxury destination with 25 luxury hotels and a variety of high-quality brands. 9 out of 10 tourists would recommend the city of Vienna as a tourist destination. According to the ITB World Travel Trends Report from 2017, around 7 percent of trips worldwide are luxury trips, which also account for 20 percent of global travel spending. Luxury tourists are therefore also of essential importance for Vienna and Cartier’s branch. Vienna’s coffee house culture and boutiques, such as Cartier, also play an important role in creating so-called third places, says Kettner. Third places refer to meeting areas for tourists and locals. “It is a very dangerous situation when tourists and locals live completely separated from one another in a city,” says Kettner.