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If you’re in the market for a faucet that looks like fine art or a German-engineered dishwasher, look no further than Pirch, a retail chain that sells luxury kitchen, home and bath appliances. Pirch recently opened its ninth location in Manhattan, NYC (the perfect limo trip stop during your next visit).
The store arranges appliances into “vignettes” that serve as suggestions for real-life functional environments. And we do mean functional—everything in Pirch works, so that customers can see for themselves how that $19,000 faucet or $60,000 oven might function in their home. This fits neatly with Pirch’s mission, which is to help customers envision possibilities for their home that may have been previously unimaginable.
Appliances like works of art—Remember the $19,000 faucet? There’s a reason for the price tag. Pirch sells DXV’s 3-D printed faucets, which put ordinary chrome faucets to shame. DXV’s faucets are sculptural marvels—one is a bundle of separate arcs that create a single stream of water, while another is a cleverly twisted, hollow faucet that makes it look as through water is magically appearing.
Cooking classes—The appliances in Pirch are truly beautiful—enough to be tempting. One look at the circular, cast-iron griddle by Evo and it’s hard to not fantasize about cooking a perfect pancake breakfast on top of it. At Pirch, you can do exactly that. The store hosts daily cooking classes during which customers can test-drive kitchen appliances.
Forward-thinking appliances and throwbacks—At Pirch, you’ll find some of the most advanced appliances to grace any kitchen. For example, Dacor’s Discovery Wine Station preserves fine vintages for up to 90 days, and a German engineered dishwasher by Miele seems to magically open to whoever knocks twice. As forward-thinking as these appliances are, Pirch also stocks items with vintage appeal, like a stainless steel-accented La Cornue oven painted in a warm shade of pink.
Ferrari levels of luxury—What do a sports car and a kitchen appliance have in common? In the case of the Bertazzoni Azzuro range available at Pirch, it’s the paint job. The bright blue hue of this range comes from none other than the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy.
What else is possible? In the case of our executive limo service in NYC, we aim to offer you similar levels of luxury through the art of chauffeured hospitality. Learn more about the possibilities at http://www.empirecls.com.
Photo: Tech Insider
Within the past few years, the sale of luxury homes (worth more than $1 million) has risen as the housing market recovers. But instead of choosing typical luxury locales, buyers are opting for something a little different, tending towards cities that abound in natural beauty and are more quiet than they are cosmopolitan. EmpireCLS recently took a look at the top five fastest-growing places for luxury homes, according to Christie’s International Real Estate.
Auckland, New Zealand—Luxury sales have grown over 60 percent in this coastal city on New Zealand’s North Island. Like most places on this list, Auckland seems a rather unassuming location, lacking the overt glamour of more cosmopolitan locations like New York or London. If the growth of Auckland’s luxury market is anything to go by, it looks like an unassuming, peaceful location is exactly what luxury buyers look for these days. Auckland combines the best of a quietly thriving cultural hub with a rural retreat where trailways and rocky coastlines are never too far away. Plus, Auckland’s strong economy and lack of visa requirements, capital gains tax and stamp duty are appealing.
Toronto, Canada—Real estate agents have reported sales of high-end Toronto homes that have been on market for a mere 4 weeks. The city’s economic stability and business boom have been extremely attractive to luxury home buyers, and its growing population recently made the city larger than Chicago. Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in North America, and its citizens’ pride in their hometown’s progressive, peaceful culture is matchless. The city’s cultural beauty is also paralleled by the contrast between its striking post-industrial architecture and lush wine country just beyond Toronto’s limits.
Victoria, Canada—Another, very different Canadian city sits just below Toronto on the list of luxury hotspots. Victoria is another culturally-rich city that tempers its urban landscape with surroundings on clear water and white mountains. Victoria has a reputation for retaining its Britishness, sometimes to the point of being stuffy. However, in recent years, afternoon tea till holds a place in the Victorian heart, but has made way for lattes and kombucha, as well. This combination of refinement, trendiness and natural beauty has made it an irresistible location for buyers.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming—Wyoming’s reputation as a somewhat desolate, hardscrabble place might make it surprising that Jackson Hole is a prime luxury location—but one look at this rural destination puts that perception to rest. The “Hole” is actually a 400 square foot valley surrounded on all sides by towering mountains, free-roaming wildlife, pristine water, open land and prime skiing territory. Not to mention, the tough Wild West image of Wyoming belies a warmth and friendliness rarely found in larger cities.
Portland, Oregon—Portland’s reputation as an eco-conscious, left-wing hipster city is so ingrained that it’s earned an entire TV show dedicated to parsing it quirks. Thanks to the tech industry generating an economic boom, it’s also slowly becoming a luxury bastion, though “slow” might be an understatement, since Portland’s luxury housing market has grown by 40%. (Don’t worry, Portlandians—the city’s still weird.)
Even if you don’t plan on buying a home in these locations, we highly recommend a visit to each of them. Learn more
about how we can help get you there with chauffeured, luxury car service by visiting EmpireCLS’s homepage.
Photo: flickr
Long airport lines have unfortunately become a summertime vacation staple, thanks to increasingly strict Travel Security Administration regulations and a lack of adequate staffing. This year, many travelers will wait in line for hours to go through security, but according to a recent Travel Weekly article, some of them might opt out altogether.
According to Travel Weekly, a report by the US Travel Association discovered that out of 2,500 people surveyed, almost a quarter will cancel a summer vacation flight or choose alternate means of transportation due to the media’s “saturation coverage” of long security checkpoint lines at the airport. US Travel Association CEO Roger Dow expressed in no uncertain terms that this disinterest in airline travel could pose a major economic problem, to the tune of $4.3 billion loss.
Dow called for a “national solution” to the TSA’s wait-time problem. While the Department of Homeland Security recently announced a plan to allocate staffing that will ease TSA wait times, Dow, despite acknowledging the plan as “encouraging,” noted that there was “little hope” that the plan would be enough to catch up to this year’s number of summer travelers. He expressed his hope that policymakers would continue to work on solving the TSA’s security system once peak travel season has passed.
In most cases, however, airline passengers’ plans for summer travel won’t be affected by long lines and the media hype that accompanies summer’s slow news cycle. The majority of respondents to the survey said they’d get around airport security problems by arriving at the airport earlier—it seems like for most people, waiting in line is worth everything that comes after. 17.9% of people said they wouldn’t change their plans at all, and this laid-back attitude should offer some encouragement to industry leaders like Dow.
At EmpireCLS, our Airport Concierge service offers an alternative choice to either waiting in interminable lines or cancelling your flight plans, whether you’re taking limo service to LAX in Los Angeles or LaGuardia in New York. This white-glove treatment gets you priority access through the security line, typically making your wait much shorter. In addition to expedited security lines, our Airport Concierge service means you’ll have access to VIP lounges, be personally escorted through the airport and have your luggage handled for you. Your concierge will also accommodate any special requests that you have and will stay in touch with you and your chauffeur in order to keep you updated on your flight’s status.
With Airport Concierge from EmpireCLS, you won’t have to choose between a difficult flight and none at all—your limo service to Atlanta airport and any other major airport will be smooth from start to finish. Learn more at http://empirecls.wpengine.com/Booking/airport-concierge.aspx.
Photo: flickr
No matter who you are, a good travel experience is bound to take up a not-negligible portion of your budget. Even the thriftiest among us tend to splurge when taking a vacation, or even a routine business trip—it’s part of the fun of travel. To allow for indulgences, many of us also tend to scale back on certain expenses, whether it’s seeking out “glitch fares” from airlines or eating like a local.
Or maybe your travel tricks aren’t about budget at all—in fact, you have no problem spending whatever it takes to have a unique, memorable experience. In either case, EmpireCLS commends you, but we also want to offer a word of warning. Disreputable travel agents and agencies do exist, waiting to take advantage of travelers. Make sure you don’t get taken in by these sadly common scenarios, and stick to providers with excellent reputations.
Many seasoned travelers like to claim bragging rights over those hidden-gem sites that offer little-known discounts. But sometimes, a so-called hidden gem is unknown for a reason. JustFly.com, a third-party airline ticket booking site, recently earned itself an F rating from the BB due to over 250 complaints lodged against it for price discrepancies, passenger name spelling mistakes and wrong flights being booked altogether. According to an ABC news report, JustFly.com has all of the hallmarks of a disreputable third-party site: no customer service, misleading information, outright scams, and offering low price that turns out to be a bait and switch and cutting corners.
In other cases, cheap fares are the result of outright scamming. Recently, a travel agency phishing fraud cost the industry $2 million. Phishing is simple scam tactic in which a con poses as official representative of a company to request sensitive information from users. In this case, Eric Donys Simeu of Cameroon used this tactic to target travel agency employees in the US and request their GDS information. From 2011 to 2014, Simeu used the phished information to book tickets for personal use or sell the ill-gotten flights to unsuspecting customers at deep discounts. Buy with caution: that deal might, indeed, be too good to be true.
Sometimes it’s not intentional deception that makes a travel agency bad news—it’s plain old poor business skills. Take the case of Ingrid Scott, a travel agent who was acquitted of 29 counts of intentional deception that she had been charged with after multiple customers complained that they could not use tickets she’d booked for them, due to non-payment. It turned out that Scott wasn’t conning or embezzling—she was just, well, bad at her job, and lost her own home trying to keep her travel agency running. The agency didn’t profit from the $25,000 worth of tickets that clients paid for but Scott never purchased. Instead, Scott had been using payments to cover previous orders from clients, setting up a credit scheme that ultimately ran her into the ground.
If you’re reeling a bit right now, take a deep breath. By and large, travel agencies are respectable. You can ensure that you’re working with a reputable one by working with a network like Virtuoso, a select group of travel agencies and other providers that has been in the industry for years. The network has earned a reputation of only working with truly trustworthy, high-quality travel providers (including EmpireCLS, which was recently accepted into the Virtuoso fold). Not only are you assured honesty and reliable business practices, but each provider has carved a unique niche in the luxury travel market. Your investment will be worth every cent.
Photo: flickr
For a time, luxury trains seemed to be a thing of the past. Millions of passengers travel to work each day by commuter rail, and longer trips in America and Europe are still commonplace enough, but taking a train for its own sake lost its popularity once commercial flight became affordable. The nostalgic appeal and leisurely pace of upscale train travel have found renewed favor among luxury travelers in recent years, however. Thanks to a recent Independent article praising Japan’s first luxury sleeper train, the Seven Stars line in Kyushu, this travel mode will likely be in even greater demand this year.
Called a “luxurious mini-cruise on rails” by the Independent’s Leslie Woit, the Seven Stars train isn’t your average Amtrak trip. The line is named for the seven prefectures of Kyushu, Japan’s third-largest island, which is a far cry from the urban density of its best-known and largest island, Honshu. Visitors can take their pick of either a four-day, three-night trip, which circles around the entire island, or a briefer trip of only two days and one night, which sticks to Kyushu’s northern region.
Whichever package travelers choose, their trip will be a breathtaking one that hearkens back to the Golden Age of train travel. Nowhere is the sumptuous quality of this journey more apparent than in its deluxe suite, which includes a full bathroom (with shower), a writing desk, two beds, a sitting room outfitted with plush couches and floor-to-ceiling picture window for the ultimate viewing experience of the Japanese countryside (including spectacular sunsets over the East China Sea). Travelers will also enjoy both Japanese and French cuisine and free wine in the dining car, which, like the rest of the train, boasts luxurious interiors with cherry walls and parquet floors. By no means are passengers confined to the train, however. Seven Stars makes frequent stops to must-site Kyushu sites like the Yufuin hot springs, Kumamoto Castle and the Kakiemon porcelain works in Arita.
The only downside to the Seven Stars is the limited availability of tickets on the line, which takes only thirty passengers at the time. But if you can’t nab them, there are plenty of other rail travel options in Japan. Many travelers opt for regional travel passes (similar to those you might find in Europe, for example). And if you still crave a five-star travel experience, call our global luxury chauffeur service.
Photo: flickr
In a recent report, Luxury Daily observed how brands have used Instagram and other social media sites to forge connections with influencers (users who hold sway over a large audience), and stressed the importance of developing organic partnerships with influencers and other brands. We took notice because Luxury Daily’s findings reflect EmpireCLS’s own philosophy about brand partnerships.
From the start, the Luxury Daily report asserts that consumers can tell if a brand partnership or sponsorship—say, an influencer being gifted a product and asked to share it on social media—is gimmicky. With the proliferation of information available to consumers these days, the majority are able to spot a forced placement right away. This kind of contrivance is directly opposed to what today’s consumers want from brands: Real relationships, authenticity, and products that are tailored to their lifestyles.
On the other hand, several successful brands have earned their loyal customer base through fresh, genuine engagement with influencers who are also real customers. For example, denim brand Frame grew out of a niche that its founders, Jens Grede and Eric Torstensson, identified in the denim market—the perfect skinny jeans. By emerging from the very real desires of grateful customers and reworking the line around organic customer feedback (from Karlie Kloss, no less), Frame established itself as a responsive brand that closely engages with customer needs. The brand’s unpretentiousness, too, has hit a note with customers: “A lot of big brands analyze things to death,” says Grede, “and there’s something to be said for old-school gut feel.”
The core philosophy of brands like Frame and other successful luxury providers is that they focus less on profits and more on the actual product. The bottom line is, inarguably, an essential consideration, but the success of these engagement-driven brands clearly indicates that more than ever, consumers are most likely to become loyal buyers of products that are tailored to their specific needs and reflect their lifestyles. Luxury Daily notes that this experience-based philosophy of luxury has also expanded to brand flagship stores, which are reducing their supersize grandeur to reflect a more affordable, experienced-based, accessible version of luxury.
At EmpireCLS, we have long held the viewpoint that alliances with our hotel and airline partners must reflect a genuine relationship. Each of our partnerships has come about because of a shared understanding of what constitutes luxury and a strict adherence to the industry’s highest standards. We choose partners that we know will serve our customers well, and brands like Four Seasons know that our car service provides the same five-star accommodation that guests expect from their hotel stay.
To learn about all of our luxury brand partners, visit http://www/empirecls.com/partners.
Photo: flickr
In any hotel stay, even the most impeccable customer service and delicious dining do not a luxury experience make—not without a few essential details. For the most part, the heart of your hotel stay is in the comfort of your bed and bath. Plush pillows, inviting soap scents, and satiny sheets are all the hallmarks of a true luxury experience. And if you’ve ever been tempted to smuggle your hotel sheets home, now you can (legally)—thanks to Larry King.
Yes, that’s right. The bespectacled, suspender-clad journalist seems like an unlikely candidate for peddling plush terrycloth bathrobes and jacquard bed linen. But that’s exactly what’s happened, with King becoming business partner to his wife, Shawn, and launching their Sleep Like a King brand of luxury bedsheets and other bedroom accouterments.
The Kings were inspired to create Sleep Like a King after visiting the Wynn and Four Seasons hotels in Las Vegas and being particularly impressed by their bedding. Shawn King tells the LA Times that she made a point to visit the Four Seasons’ home shop and purchase a set of sheets for her own. After discovering that the sheets were manufactured by hotel bed linen supplier Sobel Westex, the Kings decided to partner with the company and create a line of luxury bedding at department-store prices. By using a direct-to-consumer model, the Kings explain, they can offer their customers opulent bed and bath wares without shelling out for a Four Seasons stay.
Drawing visual and conceptual inspiration from the Kings’ world travels, Sleep Like a King’s debut collection (launching Summer 2016) includes 100% cotton bed linen, lush bath towels, cozy blankets, alpaca throws, pillow, robes, candles, fragrance diffusers and soaps. The line has been carefully and lovingly designed to reflect the spirit of the Kings’ favorite locales, with sheets and scents named for Soho, Hollywood and Rome. Sleep Like a King’s sheets, in particular, reflect their luxury heritage. Sheets are available in 400,500 and 700 thread counts, in peaceful, muted colors like rose, cream and dove grey, and feature subtle details like Swiss dot jacquard or border embroidery.
Having these luxury sheets lull you to sleep will elevate the meaning of the word “staycation” to new heights. But if you plan to travel soon, whether to Las Vegas or elsewhere, our limo service will ensure your luxury ground transportation experience as soon as you step off the plane. And if you stay with one of our hotels partners in LA or NYC, you won’t just get five-star limo service—you’ll also experience the finest in luxury accommodation. And yes, that means the perfect bedsheets.
Photo: flickr
Global travel growth has slowed in recent years, but according to a recent Amadeus report, luxury travel remains untouchable. In fact, luxury travel is indisputably the industry’s fastest-growing segment. As reported by Financial Express, the Amadeus report looks at why and what must be done to continue the pace of growth.
First, let’s look at the numbers: Between 2011 and 2015, the compound annual growth rate for luxury travel (measured by business and first class tickets on outbound flights) was 4.5%, as opposed to 4.2% overall. The pace of growth is expected to accelerate between now and 2015—the compound annual growth rate for luxury travel is projected to be 6.2%, as opposed to just 4.8% for overall travel. Most of this growth comes from North America and Western Europe, though the BRIC nations also show significant luxury acceleration.
Why has luxury travel enjoyed such an intense growth spurt? Financial Express explains that the growth is due to consumers’ increasing desire for unique, personal, and exclusive experiences. The transition from investing in material goods to investing in experiences is a theme that’s cropped up in our posts several times over the past year, and the recent Amadeus report confirms that the trend continues to accelerate. The luxury travel sector is best equipped to give consumers the extraordinary experiences that they crave, from white-glove executive car service to boutique hotel experiences.
The luxury travel sector must continue to capitalize on its ability to provide unique experiences in order to ensure its continued success. As we have observed over the past few years, the luxury industry has already changed its nature to accommodate shifting consumer desires. The “new” luxury, according to Financial Express, is “curated, real-time, and experience-led.” The Amadeus report delves into the specifics of what else makes luxury travel so appealing, noting that luxury travelers are drawn to particulars like five-star quality, concierge service, exclusive VIP access, discreet security. The report affirms, that luxury travel service and product providers must focus and enrich their standards of quality and service to continue drawing in luxury travel consumers, and identifies distinct “tribes” based on buying behavior that will help providers curate end-to-end luxury travel experiences.
At EmpireCLS, our mission is to fulfill all our your luxury ground transportation needs, with consistently superb services and special offers like Airport Concierge and wedding limo service. Learn more at http://www.empirecls.com.
Photo: flickr
In the past few years, our culture has taken on the task of re-examining the role of women in society, and much of that discussion has focused on women in business. Thankfully, the leadership capabilities, strength, and intelligence of women are no longer up for dispute or under scrutiny, and more women than ever are being recognized for the roles as strong influencers, leaders, and employees. However, wide gender gaps in pay and in positions remain, and the travel industry is no exception.
Travel Weekly recently investigated the travel industry’s gender gap, delving into the relative lack of women at the top, and also the disparity between the scant presence of women in leadership positions and their broad power as sellers and buyers of travel. Featuring conversations with female travel leaders and examples of pro-woman business initiatives, the article is a snapshot of women’s current triumphs and struggles in the travel industry. Here are a few takeaways from Travel Weekly’s coverage:
The higher you go, the fewer women you see. Michelle “Mick” Lee, founder of Women in Travel (Winit), a 3,000-member professional organization dedicated to providing resources and tools for success to women in the travel industry, shared some insights with Travel Weekly. Lee is a 30-year veteran of the travel industry, and told Travel Weekly than the higher she progressed in her career, the fewer women she saw in boardrooms and C-suites. Much of her motivation behind founding Winit was to change those numbers. According to Travel Weekly, it is nearly impossible to find a major travel company with mostly women at the helm—on average, only 10% to 25% of director spots are held by women.
But in other sectors, women outnumber men. The lack of female representation at the top contrasts sharply with the number of women in different segments of the travel market. Travel Weekly notes that 70% of women make all travel-buying decisions, almost ¾ of travel agents are women, and, on average, 65% of the hospitality workforce is female. The gap between the number of women consuming and selling travel and the number of women present in high decision-making positions is troubling—for female economic empowerment as well as the travel industry’s ability to keep up as women gain more economic power. Lee’s assessment is that since the travel industry doesn’t need to focus on getting women in on the ground floor, businesses should hone their focus in on getting women up the ladder.
Pro-women initiatives are good for social equality and for the bottom line. There’s no question that affording women more economic opportunity in executive positions is a stride towards gender equality. And according to Travel Weekly, travel companies should make conscious efforts to narrow the gender gap because not only is it the right thing to do, but it’s also a smart business decision. Ongoing McKinsey & Co. research has found that companies with more women at the top perform better than those with fewer female leaders.
There is still much to be done in the pursuit of workforce equality in the travel industry, and Lee herself says she won’t see the day her work is done in her lifetime. However, she is hopeful about the amount of change and engagement she has seen so far. EmpireCLS applauds these efforts towards equality and salutes all of the inspiring women in the travel industry, including those we’re proud to call members of the EmpireCLS team.
Photo: flickr
Lately, we’ve been focusing a lot on the future of luxury in everything from Boston airport limo service to classic European couture houses. Namely, we’ve taken note of the transition from an old-fashioned definition to a contemporary one. Old-world luxury is, primarily, characterized by a display of wealth: It means opulent materials, brand names with prestigious histories, and exclusivity. New-world luxury, on the other hand, is defined by its focus not on exclusivity per se, but rather its ability to hone in on customers’ desires for novel, authentic experiences and deliver them in thrilling and innovative ways. This week, our attention has been drawn to a classic brand that is dipping back into the past for a contemporary refresh of its brand image.
Jaguar Land Rover hardly needs an introduction. The auto company is responsible for the stewardship of two iconic marques of the vehicle world, and its Heritage division specifically deals with providing cars, services, and parts to owners of classic Jaguar and Land Rover models. This year, Jaguar Land Rover Heritage will be rebranded as Jaguar Land Rover Classic.
The rebranded division will continue to offer the same parts at services as before, with the additional capability to fully restore classic vehicles and provide repair and maintenance services on classic models. Restorations and repairs will take place at Jaguar Land Rover’s two classic workshops in the UK. The Classic division will also operate as a global supplier of more than 30,000 genuine parts for classic, out-of-production models. It will also be responsible for preserving the lineage of the Land Rover Defender model, which is ceasing production after 68 years. The company’s online Defender Journeys hub and Heritage Restoration Program will keep the legacy of this classic vehicle alive.
Jaguar Land Rover Classic, with its focus on midcentury auto design, embodies old luxury on the surface. However, the spirit of this rebrand is nothing but contemporary. Classic fits neatly into the new luxury because it is focused on providing customers with customized luxury experience, tailored to their lifestyles. Nowhere is this more apparent in customers’ opportunity to participate in the Classic Drives program with Jaguar Land Rover, including the Jaguar Classic Challenge, a racing series for Jaguar models build prior to 1966.
As a limo service serving the globe from Boston to Shanghai, EmpireCLS continues to keep watch on the latest luxury auto industry trends. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date.
Photo: flickr
