The US luxury fashion brand is hoping to grow customer engagement across its global retail portfolio with a permanent Ralph's Café within its flagship Hong Kong store, joining similar outlets in Tokyo, Beijing, London, Munich, Doha and Kyoto
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Ralph Lauren launched its Ralph’s Coffee concept in August 2014 on the second floor of its Polo store in New York City | Photo credit: Ralph's Coffee
Fashion retailer Ralph Lauren has opened its first permanent Ralph’s Coffee location within its flagship Hong Kong store,
The café, which has opened on the mezzanine floor of the Ralph Lauren Landmark Prince’s flagship, serves Ralph’s Coffee supplied by Philadelphia-based coffee roasters La Colombe, as well as a selection of teas and bakery items. Additionally, the store sells branded merchandise including Ralph’s Coffee mugs and dessert plates.
The new permanent site follows the success of a Ralph's Coffee kiosk at the apparel brand's Ocean Terminal, Harbour City outlet in Hong Kong.
Ralph Lauren launched its Ralph’s Coffee concept in August 2014, opening on the second floor of its Polo store in New York City, and entered the Asian market in 2018 with its Ocean Terminal store in Hong Kong. It now has permanent locations in Tokyo, Beijing, London, Munich, Doha and Kyoto.
The coffee chain has previously opened smaller café-kiosks next to its larger retail stores, as well as several coffee cart concepts. However, the success of the coffee concept is expected to lead to more permanent locations within Ralph Lauren stores.
Combining retail and coffee has been a popular marriage in the US for the last decade, with Ralph’s Coffee following in the footsteps of Ralph Lauren Corporation-owned fashion brand Club Monaco which added a specialty coffee retail component to its stores in 2013.
French-Japanese inspired café and dining concept Café Kitsuné is also merged specialty coffee experiences within boutique retail stores. In January 2022, the Maison Kitsuné-operated brand made its debut in Canada, adding to its 21 stores in Europe, Asia and the US.
In East Asia coffee and retail tie-ups are also gaining traction. In June 2022, Chinese sports retailer Li Ning applied to register its Ning Coffee brand with the China National Intellectual Property Administration, with in-store coffee shop concessions already operational in select outlets in Beijing, Xiamen and Zhanjiang.
The commercial potential of coffee is also being explored by China's state-run post office, China Post, which opened the first Post Coffee store in the Xiamen International Trade Building in February 2022.