HIGH-END US JEWELLER Tiffany & Co said today it plans to open a multi-storey megastore in 2014 on a prime location – currently occupied by a fast food restaurant – on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris.

The firm – showcased in the 1961 film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” starring Audrey Hepburn and which this year celebrates its 175th birthday – already has a store in the French capital in the upscale Opera district.

Its new site – 10,000-square-feet premises at number 62 on the fabled avenue – is currently used by an outlet of the Quick restaurant chain to sell burgers and French fries.

The Champs Elysees hosts millions of tourists every year and sports a growing number of luxury outlets like the flagship Louis Vuitton store and US clothes retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Banana Republic.

“Establishing this store on the Champs Elysees will be the ultimate symbol of Tiffany as a truly global luxury brand,” said the firm’s executive vice president Frederic Cumenal.

The company currently has shops in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Europe and the United Arab Emirates.

Its biggest shareholder is Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, which has a 5.2 per cent stake in the retailer known for its diamond rings and blue, ribboned boxes.

- © AFP, 2012

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