(Yicai) Sept. 17 -- Bernard Arnault, the billionaire chairman and chief executive of French luxury group LVMH, is in Shanghai for his third visit in three years.

Arnault was first spotted yesterday at the new Louis Vuitton boat-shaped concept store on West Nanjing Road in the city’s Jing'an district, according to social media posts.

Called The Louis, the 1,600-square-meter, three-story building opened in late June. The first and second floors feature exhibition spaces showcasing the luxury goods maker’s long history and culture, while the third floor has a Louis Vuitton Café.

Later, Arnault visited Laopu Gold’s jewelry store in the Shanghai IFC Mall in Pudong New Area, netizens said, noting that he found the jewelry “exquisite and interesting.”

Yicai verified with insiders that Arnault and his entourage visited the Laopu Gold store. They said this was not the first time that LVMH executives had visited Laopu Gold stores. A senior executive went to one in Beijing in June for research purposes.

The customer overlap rate between Laopu Gold and brands under LVMH, such as Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Cartier, and Bulgari, exceeds 77 percent, according to data from Frost and Sullivan.

Global luxury spending has cooled over the past two years, and demand for premium goods has shrunk, weighing on the industry’s earnings. LVMH's first-half net profit sank 22 percent from a year earlier, while revenue fell 4 percent.

The ranks of global luxury consumers plunged to 350 million at the end of last year from 400 million in 2022, according to a report by US consulting firm Bain.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione