As the state’s economy surges into unchartered prosperity, Western Australians are reaping the benefits of a bumper past few years and indulging their love for the good life.
As the state’s economy surges into unchartered prosperity, Western Australians are reaping the benefits of a bumper past few years and indulging their love for the good life.
Cashed-up locals are refining their taste for the finer things in life and spending on luxury goods. Almost every luxury retailer contacted by WA Business News said there had been a notable increase in sales during the past year.
Kailis Australia retail and consumer sales manager Josephine Archer said Kailis was enjoying strong sales and that there had been a lot more celebratory purchases made to mark special occasions.
“Sales have been strong in the last year, and we are certainly reaping the benefits of an economic boom,” Ms Archer said.
“People who are buying want to reflect themselves or an occasion, and the bulk of what we sell is $2,000 pearl pendants or earrings, but just recently we had a man purchasing a $100,000 necklace for his wife.”
But it’s not just the men who are buying jewellery for women, with Ms Archer saying a lot of businesswomen were buying pieces for themselves.
“We just sold an beautiful pearl and sapphire necklace to a well-known business woman,” she said.
Chellingworth Motors marketing services manager Paul Perich said sales at the top brand level were usually relatively consistent and it was the middle brands that fluctuated more with the economy.
“Brands like Jeep take a beating when the economy turns, but brands like Bentley and Porsche don’t get overly affected,” Mr Perich told WA Business News.
He said Chellingworth had sold 10 Bentleys in the past 12 months, which start at $400,000 and go up to $900,000, and 60 to 70 Porsches ranging from $140,000 to $400,000.
“We are certainly seeing a lot bigger cross section of people buying cars from the top end of the market – younger and self-made people are coming in more often,” Mr Perich said.
“There is a lot of interest from people who want something flashy, and there seems to be a shift away from understatement.”
Self reward was the main motivator for people looking to purchase luxury cars, he added.
Bang and Olufsen state manager Michael Senior said the Perth store, located in David Jones in the city, was the second most profitable in Australia.
“A lot of our clients are going through boom times and are feeling rather flush at the moment; the last four to five months in particular have been quite strong,” Mr Senior said.
“There is a heavy demand for higher end LCD TV screens, the most popular of which retails for around $15,000.”
He said while B&O did some corporate fit outs, that end of the market had remained relatively constant, while the personal consumer market had increased.
Perth is ready for more high-end retailers according to Mr Senior, but one of the main problems is that the right shopping strip did not exist.
“In terms of the Perth market, it is looking for higher-end retail and the state is well set up for growth, but the right location just isn’t there,” he said.
Louis Vuitton CEO Philip Corne disagrees. He said King Street was a perfect location for the Perth Louis Vuitton store, which has been there 10 years.
He said sales had been going very well, and that 2005 was shaping up to be a very good year.
“We have a real cross section of customers but we are seeing more and more business people coming through,” Mr Corne said.
He added that, relative to population, the Perth Louis Vuitton store was as good as any other state, but in terms of growth it was one of the best.
Parker and Co manager Christian Tana told WA Business News there had been an increase in spending recently, and that the store’s client base had grown considerably.
“We do a lot of made-to-measure suits, and once clients start to get a taste for good quality clothing they only want the best,” Mr Tana said.
A western suburbs wine retailer said the strip from Perth to Fremantle was often referred to by those in the industry as the ‘champagne alley’, and that the strip was a good indicator of how things were going in the economy.
“People buy better quality wines and more of it when the economy is going well, and it’s pretty obvious from sales over the last 12 months that things are going very well,” he said.
“We are expecting to sell a truckload of champagne this Christmas.”
The top end of the wine market, where bottles sell for between $400 and $500, was more of a trickle than a flood, according to the retailer, but while it was “very hard” to move the top end wine a few years ago, sales were now steady.
He said people were a lot more cautious when it came to spending on wine for boardrooms, and that extravagant company spending on wine was mostly a thing of the past.
