JOAN MULLER: How the rich will shift to ‘wealth whispering’
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With the economy moving to level 2 from today, luxury brands will be pinning their hopes on the super rich to prop up sales, after a horrific few months has seen retail chains shutter stores.
But it’s an expectation that looks increasingly like wishful thinking. Covid-19 has not only plunged many countries into a deep recession; it’s also dealt a blow to the net worth of the world’s wealthiest people.
In the US alone — the largest wealth market in the world – Americans have seen the value of their assets shrink by 9% on average in the six months to the end of June, according to this wealth report ( released last week by US location analytics group Webster Pacific and wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth.
The report cites lower income levels and job losses, a weaker (top-end) property market, rising household debt and declining stock market returns (despite a second quarter recovery) as key factors that have dented Americans’ propensity for opulent living.
What’s particularly interesting, is that the pandemic has not only eroded personal wealth but has also prompted richer consumers to think twice about how they spend their moolah. It seems that the overt display of money is no longer considered cool.
Instead, big spenders are gravitating towards pared-down simplicity.
What now seems likely to be a renewed adoption of “wealth whispering” —a rather catchy phrase coined in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crises — is already having a ripple effect on the revenues of luxury goods manufacturers and retailers.
For instance, in New York, which has long been considered one of the world’s wealth epicentres, a number of upscale retailers and restaurants are closing their flagship stores permanently as affluent residents tighten their purse strings.
In this ominous account (®ion=footer&req_id=249423185&surface=most-popular) on how some brands are starting to abandon the city, the New York Times says once-packed sidewalks of Manhattan’s major retail corridors, from SoHo to Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue, are now nearly empty.
J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus, the anchor tenants at two of the largest malls in Manhattan, recently filed for bankruptcy. In addition, brands like Victoria’s Secret and Gap have yet to reopen their Manhattan outlets.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports ( that Richemont, the Swiss-based luxury goods maker started by the Rupert family in SA, plans to propose raising new equity at its general meeting in September to improve cash ...
But it’s an expectation that looks increasingly like wishful thinking. Covid-19 has not only plunged many countries into a deep recession; it’s also dealt a blow to the net worth of the world’s wealthiest people.
In the US alone — the largest wealth market in the world – Americans have seen the value of their assets shrink by 9% on average in the six months to the end of June, according to this wealth report ( released last week by US location analytics group Webster Pacific and wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth.
The report cites lower income levels and job losses, a weaker (top-end) property market, rising household debt and declining stock market returns (despite a second quarter recovery) as key factors that have dented Americans’ propensity for opulent living.
What’s particularly interesting, is that the pandemic has not only eroded personal wealth but has also prompted richer consumers to think twice about how they spend their moolah. It seems that the overt display of money is no longer considered cool.
Instead, big spenders are gravitating towards pared-down simplicity.
What now seems likely to be a renewed adoption of “wealth whispering” —a rather catchy phrase coined in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crises — is already having a ripple effect on the revenues of luxury goods manufacturers and retailers.
For instance, in New York, which has long been considered one of the world’s wealth epicentres, a number of upscale retailers and restaurants are closing their flagship stores permanently as affluent residents tighten their purse strings.
In this ominous account (®ion=footer&req_id=249423185&surface=most-popular) on how some brands are starting to abandon the city, the New York Times says once-packed sidewalks of Manhattan’s major retail corridors, from SoHo to Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue, are now nearly empty.
J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus, the anchor tenants at two of the largest malls in Manhattan, recently filed for bankruptcy. In addition, brands like Victoria’s Secret and Gap have yet to reopen their Manhattan outlets.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports ( that Richemont, the Swiss-based luxury goods maker started by the Rupert family in SA, plans to propose raising new equity at its general meeting in September to improve cash ...
