Hermès has been on a tear these days, opening or refreshing retail stores in several cities across the U.S. The most important statement got here last fall when the French luxury brand took the wraps off a seven-story, 45,000-square-foot luxury emporium on Latest York’s Madison Avenue.

While the latest addition in Aspen, Colorado, which opens on Friday, will not be the identical size or scope, it’s nonetheless a mirrored image of the corporate’s ability to mix right into a community while remaining true to a heritage that dates to 1837.

The brand new store, Hermès’ thirty fourth within the U.S. and second within the state of Colorado, features carpets harking back to moss, gray-blue Aspen stone floors, honey-colored local larch wood on the staircase and a bay window that provides a panoramic view of the neighboring mountains. It was designed by the Parisian architectural firm RDAI and features 16 métiers, or departments.

The bottom floor features men’s and girls’s silk collections, fashion accessories, perfumes and sweetness together with the brand’s signature leather goods. The mezzanine, which is designed to appear like a cupboard of curiosities, offers the equestrian collections, and the second floor houses shoes, men’s and girls’s ready-to-wear, jewelry and watches.

The shop is full of original artworks including a chunk from Jean-Luc Favéro dedicated to piebald horses from the Émile Hermès collection that stands next to a photograph by Yann Stofer titled Horse within the Snow. There’s also a winter scene drawn by George Barbier within the Twenties and a special window designed by Mexican artist Raul de Lara.

Overseeing the opening of this store and the remainder of Hermès’ retail plans within the U.S. is Diane Mahady, who took over on April 1 as president of the American division, succeeding longtime chief Robert Chavez, who moved right into a recent role as executive chairman.

Mahady has a wealthy résumé that features merchandising roles at Coach, Louis Vuitton, Zegna and Saks Fifth Avenue. She joined Hermès two years ago as executive vice chairman, working closely with Chavez, whom she said continues to seek the advice of on real estate and other issues. “He’s an incredible colleague and really built the brand here,” she said in the primary interview since her promotion. “So it’s great to have him as a resource.”

She said that although Aspen could also be viewed as a winter destination, it has evolved right into a year-round resort community. “Post-COVID-19, we now have found that individuals have more flexibility in the best way they live and we expect Aspen will probably be a terrific marketplace for us.”

It’s also indicative of Hermès’ willingness to try unconventional locations. That was evident when it opened a store last 12 months in Austin, Texas — not in a luxury mall but on Congress Street, known for its full of life music and restaurant scene.

“Austin’s been terrific for us,” Malady said. “We have now a really loyal client base and we’re really a destination. What we search for in a store location is something where you may really express the brand in the correct way. No two stores are the identical. Sometimes we search for more trafficked environments, sometimes we search for something hyperlocal. Austin was a recent marketplace for us. But we feel we’re more integrated locally being in that location.”

Hermès can also be working on a location within the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, Latest York, one other spot full of trendy, youth-oriented boutiques. Until the space is prepared, the brand is working in a short lived location, she said, that is meant to specific that Hermès is “an excellent humble, fun brand,” she said. “Sometimes people have a unique perception of the brand, so [it’s important] for us to have the ability to point out that we’re warm and welcoming, and never so serious.”

Since she became president, Mahady said she’s been asked quite a few times how she goes to make her mark on the business, an issue she finds almost puzzling.

“Everyone asks what I’m going to vary,” she said. “But this isn’t a brand that should be modified. It’s a really healthy business with a terrific familial culture and really high retention rates here within the U.S. We’ve had explosive growth within the last two years, so now it’s really about how we prepare the brand for the longer term and ensure we will proceed to deliver the extent of service that is prime to the brand.”

What can also be fundamental to the brand is its retail stores. Apart from a number of categories corresponding to fragrance, watches and a few home products, Hermès now not wholesales and sells on to consumers through its fleet of greater than 300 stores in 45 countries in addition to online.

Within the U.S., the corporate opened a store in Naples, Florida, in February, and is now focused on Aspen, a market Mahady said is “a natural marketplace for us.” Next up will probably be a second store within the Los Angeles market in Topanga, where she said Hermès is “a bit under-penetrated.” It’s slated to open in July.

“The West Coast could be very necessary to us, between Hawaii, Los Angeles, Las Vegas,” she said. “So to have the ability to function more clients in Los Angeles area with a second store made a variety of sense.” She said to “create some energy” across the opening, Hermès will host a special experiential event, the Wings of Hermès, that will probably be a mix of poetry and cinema. It is going to be held in Santa Monica from July 15 to 23, just before the shop opens.

Then the main target will turn to Chicago, which is getting a facelift. “It’s a terrific marketplace for us. We’ve been there since 1990 and we’re in a short lived store right away because we’re expanding the shop on Oak Street. We’re adding a 3rd level, which allows us to have a VIP room with enhanced services.” That is anticipated to open at the top of October, she said, at which point Hermès will being its interactive exhibit, Hermès within the Making, to the town. That installation focuses on the artisans who create the brand’s products.

The ultimate project of the 12 months will probably be the shop on the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, one in all three in that city, that’s being renovated and is anticipated to be accomplished in November.

“Each of our stores could be very site specific,” she said. “So though there are three stores in Vegas, all of them have a really different personality, a unique aesthetic, a unique assortment.”

Looking forward to next 12 months, Mahady said Hermès will proceed to speculate in renovating a few of its existing stores and opening others. A recent unit is slated for Princeton, Latest Jersey, and the prevailing store in Atlanta is moving from Buckhead to the upscale Phipps Plaza.

Beyond that, Mahady said the corporate plans so as to add a pair of recent stores within the U.S. annually, together with renovations. “We’re very deliberate in our rollout. It might must be the correct location in the correct market.”

Turning to the U.S. flagship on Madison Avenue, she said sales have been “outperforming expectations” because the September opening. “We’re blessed to have a very diverse client base and there are a variety of great sales associates with loyal followings.” As well as, the design of the shop, with comfortable seating areas throughout the inside and an out of doors garden, creates a “more residential feeling,” she contended. “Our clients prefer to spend the day with us. It’s an enjoyable experience, not transactional, and is absolutely relationship constructing. We’re really joyful with what we’ve been in a position to achieve here.”

Mahady said Hermès stays enamored with what could be achieved in physical locations.

“We love retail,” she said. “It is a sixth-generation brand and we control every aspect of the business. The common time we’ve worked with any of our suppliers is 20 years. People often talk in regards to the scarcity of the brand, nevertheless it’s often because we’re maniacal about quality. That’s been our business model and can proceed to be our business model. And in our own retail environment, we will most control it.”

So while the U.S. retail count is barely about 10 percent of the worldwide total, Mahady said there’s no rush to dramatically increase the number here.

“A part of the fantastic thing about the brand is we’re selective within the distribution,” she said. “We don’t need to spread ourselves too thin. It’s still difficult for us to maintain up from a production standpoint, so we would like to be sure that the prevailing stores get the most effective experience possible without taking over an excessive amount of.”