Harrods resists luxury price rises for now but 2017 will be different

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 3, 2016

Some luxury brands attempted to raise their prices at Harrods just a few days after the UK voted to leave the EU, the company said Thursday.

After filing full-year figures for 2015, which had been flagged last month, the retailer’s CEO told the Telegraph that while the store had resisted prices rises, the cost of goods to the consumer would inevitably go up. However, he would not say which brands had tried to raise their prices early.

He said the retail prices of luxury watches would go up by around 20% and that while the store would not change the price tags on stock it already holds, next season will see higher costs being passed on to customers.

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The news came as Harrods officially revealed that profits rose 16.9% in the year to January 30, hitting £129.7m after £110.9m a year earlier.

The luxury department store operator saw the uplift despite turnover rising only 2.6% to £788.9m from £769m. When sales from concessions were added in, the retailer’s gross transaction value reach £1.4bn, a 4% rise.

The company said it saw “tough trading conditions" during the year and that it invested £35.7m in capital spending both at the Knightsbridge flagship and at its travel retail locations in airports.