Why a Frenchman calls Hong Kong home (hktdc.com)


	Hermès' Asia Pacific boss Bertrand Michaud lives it up in Hong Kong, the city he is proud to call home

Bertrand Michaud, Managing Director of Hermès Asia Pacific, has helped the luxury French brand treble its turnover in the past eight years. He explains why the company's strategic retail network in Hong Kong acts as a showcase to the Chinese mainland market.

"When my wife and I first visited Hong Kong on a business trip about 15 years ago we were, to be honest, not so enchanted. It turned out that we just hadn't stayed long enough to appreciate all Hong Kong has to offer. Later, Hermès proposed that I move here to head up their Greater China business, and within six weeks, boom! – my wife and I were in love with Hong Kong. That was eight years ago. Now I am a permanent resident who is happy and proud to live in Hong Kong.

Hermès has been in Hong Kong for 30 years, so we enjoy a long and happy relationship with the city. Business is booming. Our customers here are very knowledgeable, and the market is mature. They are people who travel to New York, London and Tokyo, so they know exactly what we are selling which is a good point for us. Of course, quality has a price but in Hong Kong everyone understands that.

Healthy competition

Hong Kong as always been perceived as a shopping paradise, and it is still exciting for me to shop here. With so many international brands – whom we call friends, not competitors – it pushes you upward, and forces you to be excellent every time. There is space for everyone, and we're happy to have our friends from Italy, the US and France here as to gives a good image to the city. But it's also very important for Hong Kong to keep its tax free status.

China is still a small market but within 10 or 15 years we believe it could be as big as Japan is now. When you're talking about foreign direct investment into China, half of it comes via Hong Kong, so that is one of the reasons it's important for us to be here. A lot of Chinese mainland tourists visit Hong Kong, and this is a good gauge for us to know the people. We present our best in Hong Kong, and step by step will go into China.

Four years ago, Hermès made Hong Kong its Asia-Pacific headquarters. For us Hong Kong is the perfect location – in the heart of Asia, with Asia at its heart. And yet it is an international city.

Investing in the future

From 1998 till now our turnover has almost tripled in Hong Kong, with the same number of shops. For us the network is fine. We renovate and expand our premises every time we have the opportunity. In 2003 Hermès bought our premises in the Galleria, Central, next to Princes Building. This was a major investment for us, but it is a strong sign that we are here for the long term. I think we are the only major brand to have done this.

Hong Kong means a lot to me. When my wife and I arrived we had one daughter, and now we have three. When they go to France for vacation, they ask, "when are we going home?" Hong Kong offers us a fine choice of international schools, and a very safe living environment. Business-wise everything works perfectly, and the city is so well connected. Hong Kong is my home of choice. Voila!"