Queen's luggage maker to open huge Mayfair store as wealthy jetsetters flock to capital

 
12 November 2013

A 116 year old luggage maker to the Queen is to open a giant shop in Mayfair to take advantage of wealthy jetsetters flocking to London.

British brand Globe-Trotter has agreed a deal to open at 35 Albemarle Street next year and will relocate from its small shop in Burlington Arcade.

It will be twice the size of its current boutique as it expands its bespoke business. and will include a special VIP area for customers who want to create individually designed items.

The brand, whose customers include Kate Moss, Daniel Craig and Dita von Teese, has been popular among the world’s elite for more than a century - the Queen used luggage from the brand for her 1947 honeymoon while Sir Edmund Hilary and Winston Churchill were also fans.

Its luggage is still made using vulcanized fibre — a paper based material that was patented in Britain in 1859.

The brand, which makes all its products in a factory in Hertfordshire, has also expanded into leather goods.

It now employs more than 80 people and has increased production of suitcases from 200 cases a week two years ago, to 425 cases a week currently.

Jeff Vaughan, chairman at Globe-Trotter, said: “After 10 successful years in Burlington Arcade the move to larger premises will allow the brand to showcase the ever expanding collection of heritage suitcases.”

Historic luxury luggage companies have been making a beeline for the capital. France’s richest man and luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault is bringing luggage brand Moynat to the UK to open by Christmas at 109-112 Mount Street. While another French group, Goyard, is located at 116 Mount Street.

As the global wealthy travel more frequently, the desire for fancy luggage has grown.

Harrods recently relaunched its luggage department as part of a wider makeover at the store.

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