New | Gucci the latest luxury brand to diversify into food and beverages in Asia-wide trend

Luxury brands have begun to expand beyond their core but saturated fashion businesses into the food and beverage sector in Asia.
Iconic fashion brand Gucci, for example, opened 1921 Gucci in Shanghai iAPM, which is owned by Sun Hung Kai Properties in the Puxi district of the city.
“This is the luxury brand’s first fine dining restaurant in the world,” Maureen Fung Sau-yim, director of Sun Hung Kai Development (China), a unit of Sun Hung Kai Properties.
The 360 square metres shop has received a good response since opening about three months ago, said Fung.
The luxury restaurant is aimed to enhancing customers’ intrinsic aspirations which plays a role in luxury consumer behaviour. It would become part of a trend as mainland Chinese have been changing their shopping habits, she added.
Adding an F&B component in stores enables luxury retailers to provide their consumers with a more complete experience in which they can shop, relax and socialise, said international property consultant CBRE.