The news: At a time when worldwide luxury sales grew just 0.9% YoY last year, retailers still invested in Europe—opening 96 stores, a 13% increase over 2024, per Cushman & Wakefield.

• Brands owned by LVMH, Kering, and Richemont accounted for about 30% of those openings, in line with prior years.
• The remaining 70%—up from 65% in 2024—came from nearly 60 brands, including Samsonite’s Tumi, Prada, and Spanish jeweler Carrera y Carrera, underscoring broad demand for luxury retail space.

Zooming in: Fashion and accessories accounted for more than half of openings in 2025. Activity picked up last year, with 40 brands opening 48 stores, including multiple locations from Bottega Veneta, Brunello Cucinelli, Dior, and Max Mara. That concentration reflects both the category’s scale and its role as the primary driver of visibility in key luxury corridors.

At the same time, expansion spread into adjacent categories. Jewelry and watch openings came to 28, led by Tiffany, Bulgari, and Chaumet, alongside continued growth in monobrand watch boutiques.

Other segments leaned into lifestyle-oriented retail.

• Luxury fragrance brands were especially active in Paris, where there were six openings, including Acqua di Parma’s European flagship and Interparfums’ Solférino debut.
• Home brands also expanded, with four openings, including RH’s gallery on Paris’ Avenue des Champs-Élysées, where furniture is displayed alongside art and antiques, and two rooftop venues—a lower-level “winter garden” restaurant and an upper rooftop champagne bar with panoramic views—extend the experience beyond retail.

Why it matters: Luxury brands are increasingly using physical retail not just to sell products, but to deliver immersive experiences. Stores increasingly feel like destinations, with cafés, bars, and restaurants, concierge-style services, and VIP spaces.

These experiences are also commercially effective. Coach has found that adding cafés increases traffic and dwell time, in some cases driving double- or triple-digit sales gains—showing how hospitality can elevate brand equity while boosting conversion.

Given consumers’ preference for high-touch, engaging experiences, it’s not surprising that physical luxury retail isn’t losing share to ecommerce as quickly as other categories. We expect physical stores to keep pace with ecommerce growth through 2029, allowing them to maintain their share of total sales.

Implications for retailers and brands: While that strategy isn’t unique to luxury—it has been the formula behind Apple Stores’ success for nearly a quarter century—luxury brands show how others can use stores to build awareness, drive engagement, and deepen relationships with consumers.

They also demonstrate how physical retail has evolved into an experience-led channel, where environment and service drive both traffic and conversion. Retailers from Wayfair to Dick’s Sporting Goods are applying the same principle, using stores to create reasons for customers to visit, stay, and return.