Luxury stores as home-like places: How domestic meanings are staged and mobilized in luxury retail

Abstract

While prior studies have examined the creative and sacred aspects of luxury brands, home-like aspects of retail remain under-investigated and under-theorized. Yet this issue is central because in-store domestic experiences can entail strong forms of customer engagement and loyalty. Drawing from observations in luxury stores in Paris, this study demonstrates that domestic meanings are a pervasive element of the luxury in-store narrative that complements the portfolio of meanings luxury brands already use to support their high-end positioning. More specifically, this research shows to what extent and how luxury stores instill home-like socio-material cues that fit with the luxury context in which they are embedded. In doing so, this study contributes to the literature on luxury retail by examining how homeyness is staged in high-end environments, thus complementing prior research on luxury houses as creative and sacred institutions.