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The luxury shift toward the East continues especially for the larger brands. Gucci recently opened its 28th store in China and plans to open two to four more stores this year in China. In a Reuters article Gucci CEO Patrizio Di Marco said that Gucci wants to have 40 stores in China within the next few years. Instead of scaling back, they are pushing forward and he says that "to have 28 stores, or to think of having 40 stores, is not excessive at all." Gucci's leather goods sales have continued to rise; sales of Gucci-branded products in China, Hong Kong and Macao went up 41.5 percent in 2008 and Gucci is hoping that Chinese consumers will be the new engine to power the luxury products in today’s market.
