Associated Press
Shoppers wait in line to enter the Louis Vuitton megastore
on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

There isn’t enough
for everyone at
Louis Vuitton

Hawaii boutiques
rationing merchandise

---

By Erika Engle
Star-Bulletin

Like their European sister stores, the six Louis Vuitton boutiques in Hawaii have imposed purchase-limits to deal with overwhelming demand, according to Pacific region Vice President and COO Gary Hahn.

He said the parallel market also exists here, in which a Louis Vuitton product is purchased from a company store and resold at a price either higher or lower than retail.

Hahn said Louis Vuitton products are often resold in discount stores in Japan as "loss leaders," to bring customers into the store. However, he said, "Often times the product is sold at a higher price because there's such a demand for them that someone is willing to pay more than the stated price in retail stores.

"On eBay some of our hottest-selling items are sold for three times the retail price," Hahn said.

While the practice is not illegal for an individual, it does become a problem if a company is involved. "Obviously our merchandise is only sold in our own licensed stores -- we don't sell to other people for resale," he said.

The company is hoping the new factories will ease both the parallel marketing problem and the rationing of merchandise, Hahn said.

In the meantime, he said, "It's a nice position to be in, where our merchandise is so popular and highly desired by our customers."

Among the company's more high-profile customers is the Princess of Brunei, who is said to have spent some $30,000 in one stop at the Louis Vuitton store at Ala Moana several years ago. Hahn said her purchases involved "trunks and hard-sided luggage," items not among the current purchase limits. "I wish she came here more often," Hahn said.