EXCLUSIVE: Baccarat Is Moving Beyond Crystal — and Into NYC’s Meatpacking District
PARIS — For a 260-year-old brand, Baccarat is definitely feeling its oats, launching into products made of wax, porcelain, lacquer and leather; enticing Gen Z with perfume and heart-shaped crystal objects, and moving its Manhattan flagship from tony Madison Avenue to the hip Meatpacking District.
“Pushing the boundaries of the world of Baccarat further,” Adam Banfield, president and chief executive officer of Baccarat North America, said in an exclusive interview, disclosing a host of initiatives. “Being able to express ourselves as a true lifestyle brand is important to us.”
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Headlining the changes is the forthcoming Meatpacking unit on the corner of Ninth Avenue and 14th Street, slated to open in mid-2025 amid such eclectic neighbors as Gucci, Rolex, Soho House and the soon-to-open Chez Margaux.
Banfield noted that Baccarat’s retail operations in New York have been concentrated in Midtown or the Upper East Side since 1948.
“It was a very, very considered decision,” he said of the shift downtown.
Baccarat has recently been magnifying its dedication to joie de vivre, central to its DNA, via projects like the overhaul of its historic Paris mansion with French chef Alain Ducasse, the venue for a grand ball in Season Four of “Emily in Paris.”
Banfield lauded the Meatpacking District blend of high-end retail, art galleries, private-membership clubs and lively restaurants, touching on many lifestyle elements “that we hold dear to the brand.”
That said, the French crystal specialist will maintain two important footholds uptown, with a boutique at the Baccarat Hotel at 28 West 53rd Street, and an expansive showroom and penthouse at 55th Street and Madison that can host its top clients and curate “bespoke and dedicated shopping experiences, which is something we want to explore further,” Banfield said.
The Meatpacking boutique will display a new design concept by French interior design agency Moinard Bétaille that will first debut in January at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif., a stronghold for Baccarat since 1997.
Perhaps best known for its retail projects for Cartier, Moinard Bétaille has also done work for Galeries Lafayette and hotel operators Plaza Athénée, Four Seasons and JW Marriott.
In an interview, Banfield acknowledged Baccarat has lacked consistency in brand expression across its retail network, which numbers 30 stores worldwide.
“It doesn’t mean that we want to go out and produce cookie-cutter designs… but we need a common thread that ties each expression together. So working with Moinard Bétaille will establish this foundation, and this will roll out globally,” he said.
A shop-in-shop in Harrods slated for 2026 will also reflect a version of the new concept, and its locations in Miami Design District and in the 53rd Street hotel in Manhattan are first in line for renovations.
Banfield hinted that Baccarat’s revamped flagship boutiques will include elements that exalt its storied manufacturing facilities in Baccarat, a commune located roughly between Nancy and Strasbourg in eastern France.
Baccarat is one of Europe’s oldest and best-known purveyors of crystal creations, from chandeliers and Champagne glasses to jewelry pieces, vessels and figurines.
Last August, the brand mounted a pop-up at South Coast Plaza’s Jewel Court that brought to life its artisans’ complex blowing and molding techniques, and highlighted the iconic product lines like Harcourt and Harmonie tableware, Zenith chandeliers and design objects, with industrial designer Marcel Wanders its latest guest creative.
“The brand has always embodied this concept of working with different artists in different fields,” he said, also highlighting recent collaborations with fashion designers Thom Browne on bar ware and Casey Cadwallader on a crystal dress for Mugler’s spring 2025 collection.
At present, North America ranks as Baccarat’s second-largest market, after Japan, and it should reach the top spot within the next year or so, Banfield predicted. “We’re very focused on an ambitious growth trajectory here in the U.S.”
For example, “we see more expansion opportunity in the greater Los Angeles area.”
Roughly 40 percent of its revenues in North America come from its eight boutiques; 40 percent from wholesale distribution, with Neiman Marcus Group and Bloomingdale’s its key partners; 10 percent from e-commerce, and 10 percent from “business development and corporate sales” to casinos, resorts, hotels and restaurants, the executive detailed.
In total, Baccarat counts about 220 points of sale across the U.S. and Canada.
Also integral to Baccarat’s “new chapter” are porcelain plates, tea and coffee cups, flatware, lacquer and leather trays, and a range of candles, including wax interpretations of its Harcourt candlestick in a range of colors, and scented candles in crystal vessels.
These, along with a pet collection, are among the brand’s gifting propositions as it heads into the crucial holiday selling period.
Banfield said the move beyond crystal was less a play for accessible price points and more of a bold, youthful expression of its lifestyle proposition and brand elasticity.
Its Baccarat Red 540 fragrance by Francis Kurkdjian, introduced for its 250th anniversary, rages on as a favorite TikTok talking point, while its decorative crystal “Heartbreak” version of its bestselling Couer Amor — based on the “Emily in Paris” storyline — also attracted a new demographic, with 80 percent of purchasers new to the brand, Banfield said.
“It was able to bring clients through to the brand that hadn’t shopped with us before and perhaps weren’t familiar with the house producing crystal,” he said.
Among other large-scale initiatives in the U.S. are Baccarat residences in Miami’s Brickell district, slated to open in 2026.
The 350-unit location is already predominantly sold out, Banfield said.
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