JAPAN. High-end European retailers are raising prices in Japan due to the euro strengthening against the yen, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
Hermès Japan Co, the Japanese arm of the famous French luxury house, plans to raise prices on leather items starting 1 March to compensate for a strong euro and rising manufacturing costs at home. It will raise its mainstay Kelly bags from ¥ 600,000 each to Â¥ 660,000 and its Birkin bags from ¥ 650,000 to ¥ 720,000. Bvlgari Japan Co also plans to reflect the strong euro in its new Spring prices.
The LVJ Group, which sells Louis Vuitton in Japan, has decided to raise prices as early as next month due to the strong euro and other factors, and is now determining the scale of a price increase, the report claimed. But some brand name retailers, whose popularity is weakening, may refrain from price hikes. As reported in our Currency cross-checker, the yen stood at ¥ 126 to the euro at the end of last week.
