Chanel raising handbag prices; shoppers in South Korea, China, queue from dawn to buy before increases kick in

Shoppers begin forming a line outside a Seoul department store at 5am to buy Chanel bags before price rises already imposed in France apply to stores in Korea

‘We’ve agonised whether to buy or not … We decided to buy now,’ say mother and future son-in-law buying bag as gift for daughter’s wedding, postponed to 2021

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People practise social distancing as they queue to enter the Chanel boutique at a department store in Seoul on Wednesday ahead of price rises on some bags and leather goods. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:37am, 14 May 2020Updated: 12:18pm, 22 May 2020

More than a hundred shoppers waited in line outside a Chanel store in Seoul on Wednesday, shrugging off concerns about a second wave of coronavirus infections to beat imminent price hikes by the French luxury brand.

South Koreans have been flocking to shops since the government this month began easing social distancing guidelines aimed at containing the virus, indicating a release of pent-up demand from people who had refrained from going outdoors.

Online speculation of Chanel price hikes prompted face-masked shoppers to arrive as early as 5am, forming a closely spaced queue which snaked around the Lotte Department Store in downtown Seoul. Those in line received a numbered entry ticket ahead of the store opening at 10.30am.

Longer than usual queues also formed at Chanel stores in China as people discussed pending price increases, social media posts showed.

A woman in Paris sports a Chanel Boy bag, one of those affected by price increases that began this week. Photo: Shutterstock.

Chanel later confirmed that it was increasing prices of handbags and some small leather goods worldwide. It said the increases ranged between 5 per cent and 17 per cent in euros, which reflected a rise in some raw material prices.