The 110,000 sq ft outlet in Baku’s Globus Plaza will be the upmarket London department store’s eighth overseas venture, joining others in Turkey, Hong Kong, Saudia Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai.

Azerbaijan, a former Soviet state, has a fast growing market for luxury goods, and brands including Dior, Burberry, Armani and Valentino all have stores in the city.

Luxury international hotels have also sprung up in recent years to cash in on local oil wealth and a hoped-for rise in tourism. Donald Trump will open a hotel in Baku in June and the Marriott group will open two.

They will open in time for the inaugural European Games, organised by the European Olympic Committee, when more than 6,000 athletes will compete in 20 sports.

The country’s president, Ilham Aliyev, who inherited his job from his father, a former KGB general, has invested a reported £6.5bn in sports venues and infrastructure for the games, but the human rights group Index on Censorship has accused him of using the event to "whitewash” the country’s reputation in the wake of a crackdown on freedom of speech.

There are around 100 political prisoners in Azerbaijan and many more journalists, campaigners and activists have been subject to harassment and travel bans.

The Economist ranked Azerbaijan’s economy as the second fastest growing in the world in terms of GDP between 2000 and 2010. According to Euromonitor, the number of affluent people in the country has risen more than fourfold in the last five years.

Harvey Nichols’s group chief executive, Stacey Cartwright, said: "This market is fast becoming one of the top luxury retail destinations in the world and we are excited to offer the ultimate in luxury shopping and hospitality to the discerning customer in Baku.”

The store will offer stylists , personal shoppers, restaurants, a beauty hall and more than 500 international designer fashion brands.

 

(Guardian)