Secrets of the most exclusive store In the World: Bijan
House of Bijan, at 420 North of Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, is the most expensive and exclusive men's boutique in the world. Its clients are some of the most powerful and influential men of the World: Presidents of USA, Vladimir Putin, Giorgio Armani, Royal families, and a cadre of international billionaires. Buying a tie does not go below 800€, the suits start at 8.000€ or 18.000€ for a suede coat...it is not surprising that Bijan has been labeled the most expensive store in the world.
The boutique is, with only a few exceptions, strictly by appointment and the shopping experience is individualized. The average Bijan customer reportedly spends $200,000+ here.
Since the death of its founder Bijan Pakzad in 2011, his heir, 27-year-old Nicolas Bijan Pakzad, has focused on attracting new generations without losing luxury and glamour at the helm of the house. His main challenge has been to attract a new generation of clients, younger, but equally installed in the culture of luxury, such as the middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, and a whole legion of new millionaires, mainly Chinese, which currently are 30% of the business.
The Boutique:
We arrive to Rodeo Drive and the store is one of the most Instagrammed sights in L.A. The front of the boutique reminds a Mediterranean Villa and perennially parked out front we can see the $2.5 million Bijan Customized Bugatti or limited edition yellow crocodile-embossed Rolls Royce. That is the best marketing you could ever ask for in Beverly Hills; people see this car and then they see this boutique.
The interior design of the store is breathtaking, with enormous bouquets of fresh flowers, each strategically placed to adorn a display of clothing of the same color. There is a sweeping staircase, which splits toward the bottom, the two sides meeting at a landing over which hangs an impressive Baccarat chandelier crafted from over 1.000 bottles of their classic perfume, an original Fernando Botero painting, and pictures with the most powerful men in the World.
All the clothing is rich with color, bold but not loud. Colors like violet, lime green, tangerine, or deep blue, is like the proverbial "kid in a candy store". The garments are displayed in wardrobes which when are opened appear as color-coordinated clothing merchandising. This vibe color palette used for 40 years has done a strong branding: Among a select clientele, this yellow tone is immediately recognized as Bijan Yellow.
Bijan has the highest sales per square foot of any menswear boutique in the world.
The strategic plan of the brand passes by bringing the Bijan experience to commercial enclaves such as London, Hong Kong and Dubai. The revenues have almost doubled to reach 30 million euros in 2016, with profits around 25% in a good year, and this trend continues.
Is All About Customer Experience:
In luxury, the experience and customer care are the Kings and when customers pay a certain price for something, they expect to receive a certain level of service. The boutique is strictly by appointment and the shopping experience is individualized, having 3 people to attend you.
If a client doesn’t like a zipper, will change the zipper. If they want a custom jacket for tonight, they will have it before the sun sets. Bijan’s tailors will also fly around the world to cut suits for clients who cannot visit the store in person. A lot of luxury brands around the world don’t give that, they don’t give the level of attention and service that Bijan is famous for.
And what about E-commerce? They have a beautiful web, but they are not worried about missing out on e-commerce, If a customer is spending $12,000 on a sports jacket, he wants to be treated like he is spending $12,000 on a sports jacket... As long as they provide an experience, we will be serving that experience, which is always going to be there.
Even one of their customers commissioned them to customize the interior of his limited edition Porsche 959 with Bijan´s signature materials and colors.
Nicolas spends much time at the store, for him is vital to keep excellent relations with the clients, “You never know really who’s gonna show up here at the boutique, missing one day in this place could be like missing a month at another store".
When somebody walks into Bijan, he is usually the only person in the boutique, the whole boutique is really working for that person.
Superb and Unique Product, One of One:
Only the finest materials and obsessively crafted. A crocodile weekender bag with kangaroo leather interior lining, A Bijan 800€ tie is made of pure silk all by hand, in Italy. Then they will wrap it in the same silk as the tie, and then maybe we'll take it a step further and we'll use the same silk to make a ribbon in the box that will hold the tie, this piece you thought was just a normal tie is actually a piece of art.
You will likely never run into another person wearing the same Bijan 20.000€ ostrich jacket, which you can even customize the color and fit when you order it for no extra charge. It is essentially a couture service with no rules and immensely high standards of customer service. Also, they have officially collaborated with Rolls-Royce making a limited series of cars, all of them customized from outside to inside with the signature colors and materials of Bijan, like ostrich or crocodile.
Shop at Bijan is like a secret handshake of sorts for many of the richest and most influential people on the planet. “They’ll see their friends wearing maybe a black suit, but they’ll notice that the lining is yellow, and they know, Oh, that gentleman knows about Bijan. He’s been to Beverly Hills. This is a gentleman that wants the best of the best and he can afford it.”
Define their clothing "wearable art”, these pieces are made in editions of one or two. They’re not mass produced, are made in Italy in the same factory for the last 40 years. The Bijan proposition starts to make sense when compared to runway fashion of similar price.
Continuing the Brand Heritage:
Nicolas is committed to preserving what his father built, refusing to compromise it for passing trends; for them to be classic and timeless rather than fashionable and hot, because they have been more profitable, year after year, for the past 42 years.”
The average age of the clients used to be about 50, but today they have so many clients coming from far east Asia, in their 30s and 40s. To cater to this new crowd has opened two outposts, one at the Beverly Hills Waldorf Astoria and one at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.
They have to be careful, they have a brand that has an extremely high amount of goodwill, and it's very easy to damage that.
In the economic post-recession era the House of Bijan has grown bigger than ever. So big that Bijan is churning toward a $1 billion valuation, a staggering number for a company with only about 50 employees. LVMH purchased the two-story Rodeo Drive boutique in 2015 for $110 million, now is currently on a 5-year lease, and will soon move to an even larger space just down the street.
In the economic post-recession era the House of Bijan has grown bigger than ever. So big that Bijan is churning toward a $1 billion valuation, a staggering number for a company with only about 50 employees. LVMH purchased the two-story Rodeo Drive boutique in 2015 for $110 million, now is currently on a 5-year lease, and will soon move to an even larger space just down the street.
When Bijan, came from Iran to Los Angeles, starts with 50.000$ and opened his store on Rodeo Drive on October 27, 1976, few could imagine it to become so determined.
Few designers have the key to the city of Beverly Hills and their own commemorative day, May 8, the "Bijan Day". Bijan faces is globalization, but undoubtedly his boutique, with the label of "the most expensive in the world" will remain an indisputable reference for the universe of luxury.