The latest trend in luxury retailing:

Sales prevention It's not often that retailers try to discourage sales, but Louis Vuitton is doing just that, said Scheherazade Daneshkhu in the Financial Times. The luxury retailer has recently been closing its flagship store on Paris' Champs-Elysees an hour earlier than usual, as well as raising prices on some of its signature handbags. Why? The retailer "is trying to sell fewer products and preserve stock for Christmas."

A newly robust appetite for luxury goods, sales of which slumped after the financial crisis, has blindsided other carriage-trade firms as well, including shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo and sports-car maker Ferrari. But the crunch may be most severe at Vuitton, where supplies will remain tight until the company opens a new factory next year. Says HSBX analysr Antoine Beige, "it's a nice problem to have."

Business pg. 44 THE WEEK October 15, 2010