Lining up for Hermes - thoughts, rants, raves

[prepster]

The structure of how H operates the business is a bit more complicated than that. Someone can probably explain better than I do. But basically each store has different budget based on their previous performance. And each store determines what they want to / can order/ stock based on their budget. And what they can order for each category is determined by which tier they are in for that category. That goes back to their previous performance.

Okay, that's great, but that's just accounting. My point is, why, if you are H, why not just fill your stores with your merchandise? Right? You have all of these boutiques, you build these fabulous boutiques all over the world, you have grand openings, it's all very exciting...right up to the point where the stores actually have to conduct daily business. Why go through all this song and dance and then not let your boutiques sell your stuff?

A store cannot possibly sell bags they don't have. So the boutique says, "Hey Mama H we've got a lot of customers coming in asking for our bags. Could you send us some bags?" Then Mama H ostensibly says to its own boutiques, "Oh, gosh no, we're not going to give you bags. We're keeping all of the bags here in Paris. If your clients (Oh, whoops, our clients) want a bag, they'll have to come here." "Oh, and by the way, you needy little boutiques, not only are we going to make your (uh, our) clients fly to Paris to get a bag that we could have allowed you to put into their hands locally, we're going to make them wait in line for 8 hours here, endure mortal combat on our sidewalk, or flop about our store like (well-heeled) vagrants. Then most of them won't get an appointment anyway, possibly alienating them as customers and opening the door to our competition." My point is that H seems to be engaged in an adversarial relationship with its own stores.

 

[footlocker]

Okay, that's great, but that's just accounting. My point is, why, if you are H, why not just fill your stores with your merchandise? Right? You have all of these boutiques, you build these fabulous boutiques all over the world, you have grand openings, it's all very exciting...right up to the point where the stores actually have to conduct daily business. Why go through all this song and dance and then not let your boutiques sell your stuff?

A store cannot possibly sell bags they don't have. So the boutique says, "Hey Mama H we've got a lot of customers coming in asking for our bags. Could you send us some bags?" Then Mama H ostensibly says to its own boutiques, "Oh, gosh no, we're not going to give you bags. We're keeping all of the bags here in Paris. If your clients (Oh, whoops, our clients) want a bag, they'll have to come here." "Oh, and by the way, you needy little boutiques, not only are we going to make your (uh, our) clients fly to Paris to get a bag that we could have allowed you to put into their hands locally, we're going to make them wait in line for 8 hours here, endure mortal combat on our sidewalk, or flop about our store like (well-heeled) vagrants. Then most of them won't get an appointment anyway, possibly alienating them as customers and opening the door to our competition." My point is that H seems to be engaged in an adversarial relationship with its own stores.

Yes. You are right. Local stores are in adversarial relationship with Paris. In the past, Paris shipped bags to customers outside Europe. In the past, customers who purchased bags in Paris could exchange other colors or style in local stores (so that customers could lock in the lower price in Paris and got a better colors in local stores). But this song is a totally different one now. Local stores complained Paris shipped bags out and indirectly got business out of local stores, so Paris has stopped shipping bags since 2 to 3 years ago. Local stores have also stopped exchanging colors or styles for leather goods - customers are stuck with what they got from Paris.....all these measures aim to encourage customers to shop locally. Will this help? Yes and no. Given the pricing of bags in my local stores, they are 30% more expensive than Paris, and we need to play the game with SAs here locally, I would still buy from Paris and try my luck there. However, the line system right now does scare me off and this may in fact have the effect to indirectly encourage me to buy locally......

 

[Stansy]

Hi im new to this thread.

I come baring good good news though , Police forcefully removed all the line sitters yesterday.

The problem with the line sitters was not that they were selling their place, but rather that that were expoiting it by selling one spot to up to 10 people and on top that they were posing a security treat and causing discomfort for local residents because they were camping on the pavement in latge groups.

Had they been more discreet and just sold one spot to one person i don't think there would have been a problem. After all thy probably had to put food on the table as well. Paris can be a tough city.

In all cases i hope it will make shopping at Hermes a bit more pleasant ☺️

While this is a positive development concerning the situation at H I find it terrible that the police have to take care of this situation and cannot work on other, maybe more pressuring problems. Sorting out the mess on Rue Faubourg should not be the task of the police!

 

[dollybobo]

What would be the outcome if H would fully stock its boutiques all over the world? What exactly is behind this absolute refusal to fully stock any of their own stores except FSH? From a business perspective, I have a hard time getting my head around these decisions. Why would you not want to stock your own boutiques? And therefore create this utter mess in Paris? What am I missing? Is this simply nationalism? Lol! Or Parisianism?

They are trying to maintain this aura of exclusivity and rarity by constraining supply.

 

[EmileH]

What would be the outcome if H would fully stock its boutiques all over the world? What exactly is behind this absolute refusal to fully stock any of their own stores except FSH? From a business perspective, I have a hard time getting my head around these decisions. Why would you not want to stock your own boutiques? And therefore create this utter mess in Paris? What am I missing? Is this simply nationalism? Lol! Or Parisianism?

The eternal question. Even more difficult than resellers to answer. I won't even try.

 

[kashmira]

When I first heard of "professional line sitters" I thought it was a joke and when seeing photos of people sleeping outside of FSH I thought it was people waiting for tickets to a rock concert... I think it is good that it is not allowed to sleep on the pavement outside of H any longer but I wonder what will happen next? There will still be a higher demand than a supply and it seems as if (some) people are doing just anything to be able to "score" (and I just dislike that word when it comes to buying a handbag...) a Birkin or a Kelly.

They are trying to maintain this aura of exclusivity and rarity by constraining supply.

Not anyone can make a Kelly or a Birkin and one shouldn't forget the craftsmanship behind these bags. It is not that H can employ 100 more people tomorrow in order ramp up the production of these bags.

 

[Yoshi1296]

Personally, this is a major turn off for me. I don't think anything is worth a wait this long, paying for a line sitter, or the chaos. This is just too extreme.

 

[jackyluxury]

Not anyone can make a Kelly or a Birkin and one shouldn't forget the craftsmanship behind these bags. It is not that H can employ 100 more people tomorrow in order ramp up the production of these bags.

Indeed not tomorrow, but if they were to want to produce in a volume that close to fully satisfies demand, ofcourse they could. It is the power of their businessmodel not to do so. It's what initially created the buzz about the " elusive, almost mythical Birkin/Kelly bag" (Who remembers that episode of sex and the city with Samamtha trying to get her hands on a Birkin for Lucy Liu? )

If they were to produce birkin's and Kelly's to fully satisfy demand, first profitable resale would die, but thay would also mean the (stable) investment value of the bags would. If someone were to then sell a birkin or kelly after some time, it would be sold well under the retail price considering people can get one new in the store. This would then eliminate a large part of the demand, bing consious of the fact that there is no rush to buy, you can buy any time you please.

Let's not forget Bottega Venenta for instance is known for it's equally excuisite craftsmanship. They near fully produce to satisfy demand (except some limited edition models, colors, skins etc) You don't see any treads on here filled with questions for tips on how to buy one of their bags, no people happily lining up, spending a fortune on other accesoiries and to pretty much beg to be given the "honor" of being allowed to buy a handbag.

This is the Hermes business model, and it is obviously working for them, otherwise i'm sure they would have changed it.

I suppose with the line system this whole businessmodel that was otherwise really good is just starting to tip the scale to negative. It would be nice if they returned to finding a good and might i add peacefull middleground that allows customers a pleasant shopping experience wether they manage to get a B or K or not.

 

[mistikat]

A reminder about the purpose of this thread; from the first post:

There are other threads for how you feel you are treated at Hermes, the ease or lack of same of getting bags in general, should a luxury brand do this, Paris tourism/what to do while you wait for a bag, the merits of buying from resellers, etc.

If this thread proves to be an extension of these other discussions, we can always merge it but thought this might be worth trying.

Though I realize all these topics contribute tangentially to the subject of the line, can we please stick to that? So please, no more discussions about the ease or lack of same of obtaining bags, the company's business model, etc.

Thanks.

 

[phqcurated]

I am planning a trip to Paris and I'd give myself one day lining up for the FSH, not for B/K but a seasonal bag I truly want. Yet what I find annoying about the lining up is the presence of "professional sitters", and some powerful resellers whose beautiful stock seems so easy to get. They will definitely ruin my patience and the delayed satisfaction of getting a bag worth the long wait. My friend told me that the H security are doing things on these phenomenon and I hope for the better. Otherwise it makes one feel being bullied or involved in some sort of nasty competition with those who never care about enjoying the bag at all.

 

[allanrvj]

Did anyone go to FSH today and can he or she give us an update on how the line situation is after the police work yesterday?

 

[NANI1972]

Why should Hermes have to devote so much money and so many resources for the convenience of a group of customers who are not their best customers? Most of the people lining up are one timers who only want a bag or resellers. Again read the word most. Not all. Why should they encourage people to line up all night by providing all night supervision? I would think that they want to discourage this behavior and get rid of the mess rather than encourage it.

I don't own a Hermes bag, probably never will. Personally I would never line up and wait in line to possibly get an appointment to give a brand my hard earned money. As for the "one timers" , there's always someone trying to score their first Birkin or Kelly, how else are they suppose to do so? Either wait in line or I'm guessing having a friend who is a long standing client hook you up with their SA? At some point someone is going to get hurt over these line resellers, either the line resellers, or the ppl waiting in line when someone has finally had enough of this ridiculous procedure. Then Hermes may find themselves being responsible for people's injuries.
I personally just don't have the patience or care enough to have to grovel to buy a bag. JMO

 

[prepster]

They are trying to maintain this aura of exclusivity and rarity by constraining supply.

Right, but understanding the topic of this thread, this is about the line. H is only constraining supply in worldwide boutiques. FSH has lots of supply, which is why instead of everyone staying home and shopping at their home store, everyone must fly to Paris and line up to get a bag. Hermes appears to be purposefully creating the line at FSH. I think the line will remain and the system will not improve until H concludes the line has served its purpose. Or it creates more problems for them than benefits.

 

[Carrierae]

I am planning a trip to Paris and I'd give myself one day lining up for the FSH, not for B/K but a seasonal bag I truly want. Yet what I find annoying about the lining up is the presence of "professional sitters", and some powerful resellers whose beautiful stock seems so easy to get. They will definitely ruin my patience and the delayed satisfaction of getting a bag worth the long wait. My friend told me that the H security are doing things on these phenomenon and I hope for the better. Otherwise it makes one feel being bullied or involved in some sort of nasty competition with those who never care about enjoying the bag at all.

I agree. My husband and I are starting to plan a trip to London and Paris next summer, and I'm just hoping that most of this chaos will be over by then. We will probably line up once, but that's it. It's no big deal if I don't get a bag...I'll work with my store go get my next dream bag and probably buy a Chanel Flap in Paris.

I do wish there was a separate appointment process for people wanting B/K/C. I would honestly want something else because of the discount, like a Jypsiere or Lindy. I have been eyeing a Jypsiere for awhile, but can't commit since the resell value is much lower, yet I want to buy through the store. Buying in Paris would make sense to make up for the declining resell value. (Not that I would resell, I just can't stomach paying $3-4k more just because I want it brand new.)

I think the line is a turnoff to people who want non K/B/C bags. My guess (and I could be completely incorrect) is that most (most) people who stand in line buy the non-B/K/C bags because the B/K/C they seek aren't available.

 

[allanrvj]

I agree. My husband and I are starting to plan a trip to London and Paris next summer, and I'm just hoping that most of this chaos will be over by then. We will probably line up once, but that's it. It's no big deal if I don't get a bag...I'll work with my store go get my next dream bag and probably buy a Chanel Flap in Paris.

I do wish there was a separate appointment process for people wanting B/K/C. I would honestly want something else because of the discount, like a Jypsiere or Lindy. I have been eyeing a Jypsiere for awhile, but can't commit since the resell value is much lower, yet I want to buy through the store. Buying in Paris would make sense to make up for the declining resell value. (Not that I would resell, I just can't stomach paying $3-4k more just because I want it brand new.)

I think the line is a turnoff to people who want non K/B/C bags. My guess (and I could be completely incorrect) is that most (most) people who stand in line buy the non-B/K/C bags because the B/K/C they seek aren't available.

Yes! My sentiments exactly! Why do I need to fall in line and make an appointment if I don't want any of those status bags? Annoying.