Retail
For a Lucky Few, Luxury Is Suddenly a Lot Cheaper in Turkey
- Wait times of 30 minutes to get into Chanel before prices rise
- "Turkey is now the cheapest place in the world for shopping”
As everyone knows, there are two sides to every trade. With more than 80 million Turks substantially poorer following a plunge in their currency, the winners were foreigners behind the velvet ropes at Istanbul’s Istinye Park Mall.
They were lining up to splurge at some of the world’s priciest retailers -- Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Hermes among them -- at the ritzy open-air shopping complex under clear blue skies. All of a sudden, the wares on offer had gotten a whole lot cheaper for the lucky few with foreign currency to spend.