One country’s woes are a luxury shopper’s gain. As Turkey fights for itssliding lira, international luxury shoppers are taking advantage of itsattractive prices for designer goods.
Queues outside Chanel and Louis Vuitton this week saw Chinese, MiddleEastern and a plethora of nationalities hoping to score a designer bag atnear bargain prices, at least for luxury goods. Turkish shoppers werenowhere to be seen. With the lira plunging to record lows with over 7 lirato the dollar, Turkish banks were looking for liquidity, and shoppers werelooking to cash in.
According to Reuters, the lira has lost more than 40 percent against thedollar this year, amid worries about President Tayyip Erdogan’s influenceover the economy, his repeated calls for lower interest rates, andworsening ties with the United States.
One Egyptian shopper estimated he had saved about 1,000 US dollars incomparison to buying the same gifts and clothes at home, the news platformstated.
According to Chinese publication Global Times, a Chinese tourist inIstanbul purchased more than 2 million yuan worth of designer goods,spending 800,000 yuan less that it would have before the currency's plunge."But you have to wait several hours before getting inside the shop. Manyitems are sold out. Shops, including those of Gucci, Bvlgari and Cartiercancelled their discount events," the man told the Global Times.
Turkey may now be the cheapest place to buy luxury goods, with many citingprice reductions of 25 percent in comparison to European website prices.But shoppers should be quick, the lira is bouncing back from record losseson the strength of a Qatari pledge of 15 billion dollars in “economicprojects, investments and deposits" to shore up Turkey's economy, theAssociated Press wrote.
Photo credit:Louis Vuitton Istanbul, source: Louis Vuitton website
