Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, the world's largest luxury group, is set to visit South Korea for the first time in three years.
According to the retail industry on the 9th, Arnault will visit Shinsegae Department Store's main branch in Sogong-dong, Seoul, on the 11th of this month to tour "The Reserve" store. The Reserve, which opened last December, houses the "Louis Vuitton Visionary Journey Seoul" store. It is the largest Louis Vuitton store in the world, spanning six floors with the brand's fashion, beauty, and jewelry products, along with a restaurant and cafe.
Arnault's visit is interpreted as an effort to personally inspect the Korean market, reflecting its growing importance in the luxury industry. Louis Vuitton Korea, the domestic subsidiary, posted a record high of 1.8543 trillion won in Korean sales last year, up about 6.1 percent from a year earlier. After touring The Reserve, Arnault is reportedly scheduled to visit Lotte Department Store's main and Jamsil branches, as well as Shinsegae's Gangnam branch.
Arnault last visited Korea in March 2023. During that trip, he met with Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, Hotel Shilla President Lee Bu-jin, and Hyundai Department Store Group Chairman Chung Ji-sun. Whether he will hold similar meetings with business and retail industry figures during this visit is drawing attention.
Meanwhile, LVMH posted consolidated revenue of 19.1 billion euros (approximately 33 trillion won) in the first quarter of this year. That was only a 1 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.
