TOKYO —

Louis Vuitton said Tuesday it was dropping plans for a massive flagship store in central Tokyo as the global economic crisis dampens the market for luxury goods. The French luxury brand had planned a 12-floor, 12,000 square-meter store off a major street in Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza district that would rival in size its main shop in Paris.

Louis Vuitton counts on Japan as its most lucrative market with some estimates saying that a third of young Japanese women own handbags or other apparel from the retailer.

A spokeswoman for the local unit, LVJ Group KK, confirmed that an agreement on building the store was off.

Hulic Co, a Japanese real estate firm constructing the building, said it had been set to open in 2010 with Louis Vuitton selling goods throughout almost the entire complex.

“We understand the company canceled the project due to its own conditions,” said a Hulic spokesman. “We will construct the building as scheduled, inviting other tenant candidates.”

The spokesman said the developer was not too concerned about filling the building space thanks to the location but declined to comment whether the company would seek compensation from the luxury handbag company.

French parent LVMH Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton said its Japanese sales fell 7% on the year in the nine months ended Sept 30. The company last week announced it would cut prices in Japan.

Japan’s Nomura Equity Research recently estimated that global sales of luxury brands would sink by 4% next year and another 3% in 2010.

Wire reports

Latest 15 of 16 Total Comments Show All

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  soldave at 08:52 AM JST - 17th December

  And a nation of office ladies sigh.

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  saborichan at 09:28 AM JST - 17th December

  Twelve storeys of LV... Enough to make me want to hit the button for the 13th floor and throw myself off. Perhaps my fall would be broken by the oversized purses being towed by housewives with more money than sense. yappa LV saikou

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  whitepocky at 10:05 AM JST - 17th December

  Thank goodness, get the tat of the streets. How can brown bags be a fashionable accessory.

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  noborito at 10:30 AM JST - 17th December

  not only ladies.

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  Scrote at 10:52 AM JST - 17th December

  These companies must be raking it in given the fall of the Euro against the Yen and the paltry Yen price cuts they made in response.

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  TokyoGas at 11:08 AM JST - 17th December

  Found this somewhere on the internet...

  What’s the ugliest bag you’ve ever seen? Close your eyes, I’ll remind you. Start with an unfashionable color, add a poorly executed two-letter-combination logo and top if off with some flowers that look like clip art. Can you picture it? Need another hint? It’s also the bag on the top of your wish list.

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  Samuraiiki at 11:24 AM JST - 17th December

  I carry a plain paper bag when I ride the trains or airplanes. No need to false attention.

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  30061015 at 11:40 AM JST - 17th December

  Ahhhhhh! We're doomed!

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  Zer00 at 11:48 AM JST - 17th December

  After a year and a half here, I never knew all the ladies here carried expensive bags until I read articles on JT about it! The bag carried by the lady is the last thing I would be interested in.

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  thepro at 12:10 PM JST - 17th December

  One of my tests on a first date is: if she has an LV bag I don't want to get to know her.

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  saborichan at 12:19 PM JST - 17th December

  This is a good rule of thumb. I once dated someone who'd go into Salvatore Ferragamo stores to try on shoes for an hour or two with no intention of buying them. She drove me mad, and the pandering, sycophantic staff made me feel like breaking the windows. Such a massive amount of lying compressed into everything said.

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  oreoreda at 12:28 PM JST - 17th December

  Good

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  ImYcare at 02:02 PM JST - 17th December

  12 floors ? I didn't know Vuitton became more popular than food.

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  Bogi at 02:40 PM JST - 17th December

  I lot of young J-men will be disappointed, too.

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  Richard_III at 08:03 PM JST - 17th December

  Louis Vuitton counts on Japan as its most lucrative market with some estimates saying that a third of young Japanese women own handbags or other apparel from the retailer.

  Sometimes you'd think it was more like 70%. Nothing lowers my opinion of a lass more than seeing one of these awful bags.

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