Lithuanians seem to have less cash in their pockets, and merchants
have been forced to put lower-quality items on their shelves or slash
prices. Economists are bewailing depression, pundits are crying
Russian crisis, and shoppers are counting their pennies.
Meanwhile, smack in the middle of the ritziest block on Gedimino
Prospect is a gleaming new Faberge store, opened in April. Yes, it is
the same Faberge, the one of egg acclaim, the same creator of
fabulous jewelry prized by nobility and museum curators. It is the
Faberge that hawks wares that the middle class could not even begin
to covet. But right in the heart of Old Vilnius, these self-same
jewels are being hawked for four-digit-and-up prices.
Most of the time, Faberge sits empty, inhabited only by a sales lady
and a guard, and the occasional gawker unafraid of browsing way
beyond her means. However, says Valentina Trofimova, the store's
director, only a handful of sales are needed each month to call the
project a success. And, she maintains, they've been getting the sales.
"There have been quite a lot of sales in fact," Trofimova told TBT.
"We have been selling about three or four items a month. It is enough
for us, because the articles are rather expensive. We think we have
found our buyers. There are only a few people every day, but they are
our potential clients. And there are a lot of people who do not have
enough money for our goods but told us they would put away every cent
and would later buy the article. Women like the earrings. Men have
already bought tie clips."
Now about the prices. The most expensive trinket is the Faberge egg,
clocking in at 100,000 litas ($25,000). (Do not worry - the eggs here
cost next to nothing, compared to the older Faberge eggs shown in
museums around the world.) Not quite so pricey are the pendants and
rings, which can be had for as low as $500 to $1,000.
Expense is all relative, really.
"For one person $1,000 is not very expensive, for another, it is,"
said Trofimova, who told of a young Kaliningrader who purchased a set
of earrings there for $1,000. "He told me it would be the present for
one young lady, and she did not want a very expensive thing."
Now about those jewels. Karl Faberge started crafting his prized eggs
for the nobility in 19th century St. Petersburg. Now the Faberge
workshop is located in Germany, and only a limited quantity is
produced of each Faberge item, which gets its own certificate. "It is
high quality gold, 70-50 carat, but the most important thing is that
this article is covered with emale," said Trofimova.
Not to be confused with e-mail, emale is a special protective
technology developed in Karl Faberge's time, Trofimova explains.
She adds that the Lithuanian store will only order one of any
particular item made by Faberge.
"Only a single woman in Lithuanian will have a particular set of
earrings," said Trofimova.
The Vilnius shop is owned by Vladas Bieliauskas, who operates the
Status Financial Industrial Group, a Vilnius-based real estate
concern that also owns and operates two retail businesses on Gedimino
Prospect - Children's World and the Vilniaus Centrinis Gastronominas
grocery store, just a few storefronts down from Faberge.
While a usually empty store carrying museum-quality merchandise may
raise some eyebrows, Trofimova assures to the legality of the store.
"Everything is very legal," she declared. "Our idea was to show that
Faberge exists. See in Russia everybody knows Faberge and in
Lithuania no one does. It is a legal thing, it is a good thing, and
we have found our clients."
But Trofimova does not dispute that there were huge risks inherent in
opening such a store in Vilnius. Opening and operating this store
took a hefty investment, which she says will take at least three
years to turn a profit.
"Of course it was a risk to open the store, but now our doubts have
flown away, and now we are sure that this business should be
successful. Now we are working only to pay salaries, to pay rent, and
to make our collection. But to give money to the owner who invested
we must wait, wait, wait."
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