EDITOR'S LETTER
The New Luxury
Stephanie K. De Long, Editor-in-Chief

We look at the luxury market every February. But, thanks to several new trends we address in this issue, as well as some mentioned in a recent article in Stores magazine, it's never been so fascinating.

1. Today's luxury market is tiered. There's uber luxury, and now, thanks mostly to the past decade's tripling of working women earning more than $100,000, there's a more mass-friendly luxury, too. For example, "Karl Lagerfeld designed pieces for mass retailer H&M that sold out in hours and brands like Coach (COH) are making handbags and key chains at lower price points," reports Stores.

2. At the same time, the traditional luxury customers are definitely getting
richer. According to Prince & Associates, families with assets totaling more than $10 million are expected to increase 70 percent by 2008.

3. Despite retail's traditional obsession with youth, luxury is now focusing on an older market. Why? By 2010, Americans over age 40 will be spending a whopping trillion dollars more than will those under age 34.

4. With the middle class shrinking by 15 percent, more retailers are moving upscale. That means more Bergdorfs on one end and Dollar Stores on the other.

Regardless of their level of spending, one thing consumers are demanding is customer service that parallels, and even exceeds, products' pricetags. That's a
lesson all of us—high end or not—need to remember.

P.S. Don't miss this month's Seiko Optical-sponsored continuing education course for opticians, "Edging Today's Lenses."