Webtoon: Wait or Pay

In 1987, Bernard Arnault engineered one of the most audacious corporate takeovers in European history. He acquired a struggling textile company, used it to gain control of Christian Dior, and manoeuvred into the chairmanship of LVMH. The fashion establishment dismissed him as a property developer. They underestimated him completely. Arnault's genius was not acquiring luxury brands. It was what he did with unsold inventory. In most industries, when something does not sell, you discount it. LVMH burns it. Louis Vuitton has never held a sale. Not once in its entire history. Unsold handbags are destroyed rather than marked down because a single discounted item tells every full price customer that they overpaid. The psychology is devastating. When consumers know a brand will never go on sale, they stop waiting and buy at full price immediately. There is no reason to hesitate because the price will never be lower tomorrow than it is today. This no-discount discipline is enforced across seventy five brands spanning fashion, wine, jewellery, perfume, and hospitality.