Leonardo Del Vecchio
Chairman
We see the growth in our retail business over the year as very positive also in view of the global economic situation, which gradually worsened due to the contraction in consumer demand in North America and the persistent weakening of the Dollar against the Euro.
Wholesale too continued to grow in 2007, thus endorsing our business model in all major markets and demonstrating the consolidated force of our brand portfolio. The year also saw two splendid debuts: the launch of our first Polo Ralph Lauren collection and Tiffany’s first ever appearance on the eyewear market.
We celebrated our first ten years in China, where we started up with the Tristar plant and now have new offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, and around 300 stores, a retail platform we intend to expand in the near future. Like China, all our emerging markets also saw considerable growth, allowing us to predict strong development also in regions whose economies are evolving rapidly and are less dependent on the US Dollar.
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