Norwegian Jens Werner really likes Burberry, so much so in fact that he has covered his home in Burberry's trademark Haymarket check black, tan and red pattern.
Mr Werner wanted to turn his home, which used to be a public lavatory in Larvik, Norway, into a place where happy people could gather. So let us hope he gets his wish.
Meanwhile back in the world of
stocks and shares,
Burberry, the quintessentially British luxury brand, which went through difficult times a few years back is now positioning itself once again as an upmarket brand selling handbags and designer Wellington boots for $1,000.
They have recently said that they will be targetting shoes and purses for the expected economic recovery.
In an important development they have also decided to expand into India with its vast market of wealthy and willing customers keen to buy some stylish
Burberry handbags.
Burberry is teaming up with Indian retailer Genesis Colors and is hoping to repeat the success it has had in China, where it already has 44 stores and is experiencing double-digit growth in revenues. They expect to have over 100 stores eventually in China. At the moment in India they only have two but they see the same growth potential as in China.
Burberry is expected to invest £2.1 million for a 51% stake in the joint venture, with the aim of rolling out 21 stores in India.
Last year Indians spent almost £2 billion on luxury goods, a number which, accordin
g to analyst AK Kearney should reach £15 billion in 2015. India according to marketing research company Nielsen, is the third most "brand conscious" country in the world – after Greece and Hong Kong.
Burberry recently announced operating profit before one-off items down 19% at constant currencies to £86.3 million in the 6 months to September 30, which is slightlyy better than analysts' forecasts of £83 million, due in part to cost cutting.
(Burberry $500 Wellington boot - if you want the other one it will cost you another $500)
The half-year dividend was lifted 4% to 3.5p a share.
In another development Burberry has created a new social network which has already attracted over 200,000 unique users and 3 million page views since it launched last week.
The network known as the
Art Of The Trench invites people to upload pictures of themselves wearing a Burberry trenchcoat thus building its own community of Burberry fans. Burberry already has 700,000 fans on Facebook (note to myself - "figure out what Facebook is one day before it is abandoned in favour of something else").
It seems to me that Burberry is serious about making money so may well be a good long-term investment ! But I would be more inclined to buy the shares than
Burberry bags coats, handbags and thousand dollar wellies.
Check out the Burberry stock chart ! Congratulations if you bought Burberry's shares back in December !
Burberry Five Year Chart with 50 and 200 day moving averages
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