They say when you’ve got it, flaunt it. And it’s hard to flaunt any harder than zooming down your street in a Lamborghini, which start at $200,000.
But what if you don’t have it and you still want to flaunt it?
Well, you can drive your Toyota Corolla to the Automobili Lamborghini Boutique in Richmond, B.C., and buy yourself a Lamborghini jacket, hoodie, or maybe just a coffee mug.
The purveyor of ultra-exclusive, outrageously styled exotic cars has opened only its third retail shop in the world in this Vancouver suburb–the others are in Beijing and Los Angeles.
In the last three years, company officials have discovered what other ultra-luxury automakers such as arch-rival Ferrari have known for some time: a lot of people want to identify themselves, even in a small way, with la dolce vita.
“If you’re a luxury brand there is always the opportunity to sell even outside the core business,” said Stephan Winkelmann, president of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., in town for the store’s grand opening.
“As long as this is giving additional profit and it’s not diluting the brand, it’s a must-do because a luxury brand always has a limited opportunity to grow, because a luxury business is always to produce less than demand.”
Lamborghini, headquartered in Sant’Agata Bolognese, sells on average about 2,000 cars a year. Last year it was down to just over 1,200, 38 of which were sold in Canada.
In a good year the company sells about 70 cars in Canada, according to Winkelmann, who moved to Lamborghini five years ago from FIAT, the Italian auto giant that owns Ferrari.
“It’s all about emotions; it’s about fulfilling dreams and we have even the duty to do something to let the people feel part of this world of Lamborghini,” he says. “There’s at most a few brands that have this opportunity and we are among them.”
Newly rich Chinese entrepreneurs have also emerged as a target–Lamborghini sold 80 cars in China last year and expects to sell 100 this year–which is why the Aberdeen Centre location made sense.
The store, with two Lambos on display, actually has been open since Chinese New Year in February.
Store owner Asgar Virji, said many shoppers are so-called “astronauts,” who divide their time between Canada and China.
“We get a big influx of wealthy mainland China customers,” he said. “Clearly we don’t sell cars here but we tease them.”
In fact, Virji said he has indeed sold cars to visitors who came in to browse the clothes, then ended up at his downtown dealership.
