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Suitcase brand Rimowa, part of luxury group LVMH since 2016, has stopped all of its dealer contracts. It wants to initiate a new procedure soon and only a fraction of the current dealers will get a new contract.
New contracts
The luxury suitcase brand made the decision after LVMH decided to restructure Rimowa’s sales: dealers will have to meet higher standards and in order to start with a clean slate, it decided to halt every contract. The goal is to end up with fewer dealers, but maintain closer ties to them. LVMH may want to give Rimowa a more exclusive image this way.
The German trade organization for leatherwear entrepreneurs has already investigated whether the termination of these contracts is in fact legal, but experts say it will be hard to fight, considering everyone is being treated equally: LVMH has found a loophole to only work with dealers it has chosen itself.
Several dealers in Belgium and the Netherlands will also lose their Rimowa deal. Van Beek Lederwaren feels lost after working with the brand for 45 years: “We hope we can come to a deal regarding a new contract”, Maarten van Beek told Dutch Couturekrant. “We will have to wait and see however.” 27 Dutch and 16 Belgian entrepreneurs have been hit by Rimowa’s actions. The brand also has its own stores in Antwerp and Amsterdam.
