Press

September 4th, 2010
Pre-loved luxe: Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes at a nice discount
The Gazette, VANESSA MURI

Frederick Mannella, owner of LXR Produits de Luxe, a store that sells gently-used goods from high-end brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton, including bags, jewellery and watches. 5372 Queen Mary Rd., Montreal, 514-623-2052. www.luxury2ndhand.com

So how would you describe this store to a new customer?
LXR boutique is a specialist in second-hand products, luxury products, like Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel, so we sell anything from leather goods to handbags to jewellery. Most of the stock is for women, and for men we have jewellery, watches, and some silk ties from Hermes.

And the name is LXR Luxury Products?
Yes, it's LXR as in "luxury" -luxury products, or luxury secondhand. Although sometimes we don't want to use the term second-hand because, well, it's not that it sounds pejorative to the brand, but some people might refer to second-hand as something that's been really well used, whereas most of the products you see on the floor here are in really mint condition. So it's not just vintage, because a lot of these items are from very recent collections. For a product to be vintage it has to be at least 30 years old. But it's second-hand, mainly pre-loved, pre-owned stuff.

So then, people might mistakenly believe that you're selling second-hand cheap stuff? Or, that you're selling original items at full price?
Yes, when people walk in they ask me similar questions. One question is "How come your knock-offs are so expensive?" A lot of people think that they're fakes. So you have to always tell the clients that no, no, everything is authentic, but it's been slightly used. And then people look around and they see the stuff and they see the condition is really mint and that it's about 60 per cent off retail, so it gets people going. It's 40 to 60 per cent off, depending on the brand. My Louis Vuitton is always 60 per cent off. The Hermes and the Chanel are a little bit harder because the market price for this type of second-hand good is still high.

So the hottest items right now are Chanel and ...?
Chanel. The hottest. Always. I think it's always going be like that. Well, I can't be sure, but vintage Chanel, whatever, anything Chanel is very hot right now.

Do you have much vintage Chanel?
Yes, I've got quite a bit on the floor right now. We'll be getting some more next week. The thing that's been happening with customs at the port, we've got some stuff stuck there. We buy a lot from France, so the shipment that was supposed come in to double the inventory and get us prepared for fall is stuck. A lot of vintage Chanel, a lot of stuff that you'd find in the streets of Paris.

Ah. I was assuming that a lot of your stock came from Montrealers who no longer want their purses, etc., anymore.
That's only 20 per cent of our purchases. Because people who own this kind of stuff, either they don't want to sell it or they keep it and give it to their daughters or their granddaughters.
It's actually hard to find people who want to sell this stuff, so you have to open the market and really go out and look for things. You can't just expect the people to come to you and sell you their stuff. Even though it does happen.

So, how did you end up in this business, in this particular niche?
When I was a business student, I studied abroad, and I was always looking for ways to make some extra cash on the side.
My wife and I started selling on eBay; we were buying stuff at a cheaper price and then selling on eBay. We saw the kind of margins that we were making and we said to ourselves, "This is an interesting business."
Eventually, we decided to come back to Montreal and open the store with the experience that we had gathered and the connections that I'd made in Paris. And you have to get the products that clients want. If you wait for people to come and sell you stuff that they don't want anymore, your clients won't want it either!
The key is to get the product that people want, and that's not easy. So through the years of experience doing this as a side project, we were able to bring forth some trusted sources for authenticity as well, and set up shop.

Which raises the question: Why did you pick Queen Mary Rd.? It's not an obvious location for something like this.
Exactly. I did some market research; I wanted to know where would be the best location to set up shop for people to have easy access to it. Close to them, a little bit more accessible, but also not downtown. This is a low-key kind of business. Often clients don't want to be seen buying this stuff or even selling this stuff to me. It's a little bit touchy, so through experience I understood that.
We tested a few markets, we went to the Plateau and tried out a little space in the beginning, and then we came here. Farrah next door was a client of mine and she had a salon for about 15 years and extremely good clientele. She offered this spot and we exchanged clientele. So, it's largely because of her that we set up shop here. And now, our clientele is mainly Hampstead, Cote St. Luc, and Westmount.

You've mentioned authenticity. Do you have certificates that come with the bags? How do people know what they're getting?
If the brand carries the authenticity card, we'll have it. Prada and Gucci have a certificate. A lot of the products that we buy from clients we ask for the original receipts, because if they bought it in Holt Renfrew or Ogilvy's, usually when you spend that amount of money on a bag, you keep it.
So, often we have original receipts, and we never share any personal information. We usually scan the receipt and give it back to the client when it's sold. And for Hermes and Chanel, we buy a lot in Paris at actual vintage auctions that are organized by the mother houses.
So, it happens that Hermes, every six months, eight months, will have an official vintage sale in Paris. A lot of our stock is bought there, and we get really interesting pieces, and much of it is vintage.

I'm amazed how much Hermes you have in stock. Do you ever get Birkin bags? Don't people wait a year or two just to buy one?
Not anymore. In 2010, it's easier to get a Birkin. I've had a few in the past, I do wish-lists for Birkins, and so clients who want a particular model and a particular colour, I can go and look for it. That goes for regular Birkin skins, but I also look for the crocodile skin, which is a $40,000 handbag. I have the connections; I can go and find it.
The key for Birkins is to try to find the right colour because the client maybe wants this type of hardware, that type of leather, and even if they go to Las Vegas, to New York, to a Hermes store, they might not have it. I've had three of them here, and all sold within a week.

There must be some interesting stories behind these bags.
The first time I sold a Birkin, the client was very particular. She was really into fashion, and she would only buy certain brands. She had all the Diors, the Guccis, she had all those brands. And her dream was to have a Birkin.
Now, a Birkin comes with maybe a certain level of maturity -you have to be ready for it. The timing was very good, I had a client who happened to sell me a Birkin at the same time, and it was exactly what she was looking for, she was incredibly happy. Two months later, she comes into my store, and I ask her how she's enjoying the bag. I had seen her passing on the street a few times, but I'd never seen her with the new Birkin. She said: "It was always my dream to have one, but it is the most impractical bag ever! It's very heavy, you can't put anything in it, and I just can't wear it! So I have it sitting in my living room, to just look at it whenever I'm there, because it's like a piece of art."

Wow, that's nearly tragic. A fashionista's nightmare.
The leather is very thick, there's a lot of hardware. It's a heavy bag. And it's not very easy to open, either. So, you wait all your life for a special bag, and then you can't wear it. It's the most expensive bag in the world -and is the least practical.

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