Karine Titli (Toulouse, France, 54 years old) has spent her entire professional career dedicated to the world of luxury. Mainly at Chanel, where he worked for almost 30 years. He claims to have fallen in love with Galería Canalejas in 2017, when he visited the works “in a helmet and yellow vest”. Chanel ultimately didn’t land on the project, but did so in 2023 as general manager. “It was a dream come true.” In the elegant private room that the gallery reserves for the most exclusive clients, Titli demonstrates two of the attributes that luxury sellers are expected to have, exquisite education and protection of privacy, when asked about the current situation of the Canalejas Center in the heart of Madrid. OHLA and Mohari Hospitality, the two partners in the retail and hotel development, where Four Seasons is also located, have agreed to distribute their assets and debts. The construction company will maintain the shopping mall, the main car park and a third of the 160 million debt. “I am not authorized to comment on this topic,” Titli apologizes, without losing the smile she shows throughout the interview.
Ask: What is the average ticket price at Galerías Canalejas?
Answer: They are around 3,000 euros. The situation is very different if jewelery and watches are taken into consideration, which in this case would be much higher, around 6,000 euros. The gallery’s average ticket price is higher than that of Madrid’s luxury buyer, which is 2,600 euros, according to Global Blue data
Q: What is the buyer like?
A: It is a very demanding profile. He wants privacy, and that’s why we have this private room where a lot of famous people come who don’t like to be seen. It also requires extreme customization, which is why we offer services such as shopping assistants or stylists. And you don’t just want to buy a product, but have an experience. The architecture of the space is essential in this sense. We also offer workshops and conferences in our private space. It is essential to make each experience unique and memorable, so that the buyer wants to repeat it. Despite being an international customer in 70% of cases, it is important that there is a recurrence.
Q: What are the main nationalities of the customers?
A: 36% of our customers are from the United States. Latin America follows, with 21%, with Mexicans as the most important nationality, followed by Brazil and Colombia. And with Argentina experiencing strong growth. In third place we have China, with 12%, which was so important for luxury in the previous decade. And then there’s the boom in the Middle East, which represents 10% of gallery spending, but is booming.
Q: Is the number of buyers from China the same as before the pandemic?
A: It is true that the Chinese customer has not returned to the way he was before the pandemic. I think they also found a way from China to get them to buy more locally. And now they buy a lot in Japan too, due to the depreciation of the currency. So they didn’t go back like before. However, we note a very significant growth of this buyer, who spends three times more than a European. So you have a very attractive central basket.
Q: Does what a customer buys change depending on their nationality?
A: Yes, the truth is that for me it is very curious, very interesting to analyze. At Galería Canalejas we receive customers from more than 100 countries, but we see that there is a purchasing model based on nationalities. For example, the Middle Eastern customer is the one with the most diversified basket, he buys a bit of everything. His predilection is for shoes and then for perfumes. The Chinese customer focuses their purchases on bags. The Latin American opts first for footwear and the second category is bags. And the American customer is more interested in jewelry and watches.
Q: And is it also different in the way you buy?
A: As for the experience, it is very different depending on your nationality. The American customer is the one most interested in culture, beyond simple purchases. This is what we ask for most for the historical tour that we sell to discover these buildings, or for the museum-related experiences that we create in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. The Middle Eastern public, for its part, loves to be accompanied in its purchasing process, both by and personal buyer or our Customer Experience Manager. And being in a reserved area of the boutiques, having truly special attention. And Asian customers, who usually come in groups, really appreciate that the gallery is closed to them. We have done this on a few occasions, opening an hour early in the morning exclusively for a group of Chinese shoppers.
Q: Do you have any strategy aimed at attracting the Spanish customer?
A: It is still a little difficult for us to convince local customers, who are very used to the Salamanca neighborhood, the traditional golden mile. The local buyer represents 30% of the total. We have to convince them to get here. And to do this we always remember that we have a 400-space car park within the complex. We work a lot with the Municipality to improve mobility and accessibility of the centre, because it is true that it is not an easy area. It is very normal for a tourist to come to the centre, but also for someone from the province. But we have to help the Madrilenian a little. And to do this we brought in brands that can’t be found anywhere else, such as Stefano Ricci, Giorgio Armani or Tom Ford. The latter, for example, brought us many local customers.
Q: They have many international brands, but little presence of Spanish brands.
A: It’s one of our challenges. We have the ground floor already very consolidated with the largest international brands, and our big bet on the first floor is to attract Spanish brands, to which we want to give visibility. We also want to do it with craftsmanship. Because in the end the international customer finds the same thing everywhere. And it is essential that we also offer you something very local. That’s why La Pajarita, which started with us as an ephemeral store, works so well, and ultimately works very well for them.
Q: What advantages does Spain have over neighboring countries for a buyer of luxury goods?
A: Prices are very homogeneous throughout Europe, what is most advantageous here is the tax-free refund, the percentage of which is more attractive than in other countries.
Q: Were you penalized by the closure of the gastronomic space located in the basement?
A: Not exactly. It is true that after closing there is less traffic in the tunnel. But it’s a very different customer. It hasn’t hurt our sales at all. In 2024 we sold 120 million euros, 36% more than the previous year.
