What Happened To Montblanc?

[TheModernGent]

 

That was the Scenium that was introduced some years ago ... and then they stopped producing the pen very soon because it did not sell well.

 

Overall, let's not forget that Montblanc produces all kinds of products such as watches, jewelry, perfume etc. ... I would expect that the problems origin from all these brand extensions and not from pens ... as stated above by Zenistar ... the women's jewellery market might be one reason...

I agree with the woman's jewelry. I don't know how most boutiques are, but the 2 I've been in have mainly pens, followed by various leather goods and men's watches.

[Opooh]

Well, the only figure that is important as such is the 4,7 % loss in sales. Even then one can't find out , based on these figures, where that loss was made.

[orfew]

 

That was the Scenium that was introduced some years ago ... and then they stopped producing the pen very soon because it did not sell well.

 

Overall, let's not forget that Montblanc produces all kinds of products such as watches, jewelry, perfume etc. ... I would expect that the problems origin from all these brand extensions and not from pens ... as stated above by Zenistar ... the women's jewellery market might be one reason...

I remember the Scenium...I bought one. However, MB is coming out with a lower priced line this year. This collection is called "Cruise" and is available only in BP or RB. It will be available in 3 colours, Orange, Blue, and White or Cream.

[Mister Mont Blanc]

I wonder what may happen in the long term if this trend continues? Will they start scaling back production of the high priced limited editions or start branching off into sub £200 and sub £300 pens.

When I was younger (maybe 12-14 years old) they finally came out with a line I could afford, the Scenium. It was priced at $90 USD. They quickly discontinued the line and I believe their lowest price-point pen has been $330 USD (before the price increase) ever since. I believe that they use the marketing technique of selling high-priced items to convey a high-class brand so I would guess they would change materials/advertising/production costs first.

I've also read on this forum about some changes coming from Richemont in the next few years that probably deals with this very issue of profits.

[Mister Mont Blanc]

I remember the Scenium...I bought one. However, MB is coming out with a lower priced line this year. This collection is called "Cruise" and is available only in BP or RB. It will be available in 3 colours, Orange, Blue, and White or Cream.

This sounds similar to the Generation line of pens (minus the fountain pens). It seems these "new lines" don't always stick very well except for the Starwalker line.

[meiers]

They will be fine.

[KAC]

Regardless of all that other stuff they make and sell, the only MB line I'm interested in are fountain pens and of those I'm mostly interested in vintage models. I didn't read the original report so I can't comment on the apparent decline in sales and what part of that is pens vs. other items.

 

While I personally think they should have stuck exclusively with pens (and re-introduced "heritage" lines like some watch companies have done to great success), I grasp the concept that this approach probably doesn't fly economically. Yes, I know that "heritage" items have been revamped and sold to a certain extent as limited editions, but those aren't enough to float the company, even given the profit margins.

 

Leaving the pens out of consideration, MB has very stiff competition with their other "stuff". Considering only pens, the same conclusion probably applies (outside the small community of collectors). Most of the current pen line is not to my taste (restricted as it is) and the items I vaguely favor are generally too pricey.

 

To summarize, I won't extrapolate from my idiosyncratic opinion, but I suspect many casual buyers might react the same way as I do: too much money for too little perceived benefit for most items MB makes and sells. I'm sure the company has many astute and well-informed analysts endeavoring to figure this out. Maybe the reversal of fortune might stimulate innovation (witness what happened to Apple after Jobs departed and the re-birth after a refreshing journey into corporate purgatory).

 

With the usual disclaimers,

KAC

Edited June 5, 2014 by KAC

[79spitfire]

It's Noodler's...

 

(Heck, Nathan gets blamed for everything else!)

 

[max dog]

I think limiting point of sale to Montblanc Boutiques and moving the sale of their products out of the regular retailers was a bad idea and probably hurt Montblanc sales growth overall.

 

I wonder how many pen sales MB lost out on to others like Dunhill and Caran D'Ache because their product was just not visible at a jewellery store when someone was there looking for a luxury pen to go along with an expensive watch they were there to buy?

Edited June 5, 2014 by max dog

[Dillo]

 

I'm looking at this dispassionately, but you don't seem to be. I'm beginning to assume you're a MB fanboy. That's ok, but if that's the foundation your discussion will be built off of then there's no point to me bothering with it.

 

When Apple opened a store in Birmingham vs when MB opened a store in Birmingham is irrelevant. MB's first "boutique" was opened in the early 1900's. Their first "flagship" store was opened in the late 1990's or early 2000's. Apple's first corporate store opened roughly around the same time. It's not germane to the discussion though. This is about business models. Apple's store model (notwithstanding the complaints) are very successful. In business terms, that's "profitable". They take in more money than they expend. That's not even their goal (which is why John Browett was let go). The purpose of an Apple Store is to expose buyers to the product, with little to no sales pressure, so that they buy the product somewhere (usually online at Apple.com).

 

Lots of other companies see Apple's success, and try to emulate their practices (i.e.: the earlier references to Samsung and Microsoft). Those other companies don't have the complete ecosystem Apple does, and I therefore can't see them succeeding. Montblanc appears to have been opening "boutiques" at a significant rate. I don't know what else explains their expenses this last year. Their revenue is relatively constant (if you haven't looked at the document linked, starting on page 18, then please do so or refer to the first paragraph and let me know...).

 

I don't see MB Boutiques being feasible, and nothing more than an unnecessary drain on profit. People can already try-out MB products in all kinds of places (and buy them cheaper there).

 

The Montblanc boutique has a very different environment to the Apple Store. In the Apple Store, it's all very pleasant, and you can play with and try out lots of different products and explore on your own before asking one of the people walking around for help. At the Montblanc store, you need to approach one of the people working to test out the different pens and other items. I'd imagine that this makes it a bit more intimidating for some people. Even I, who own a nice special edition Montblanc, was hesitant to ask the Montblanc representative to look at pens that were cheaper than the one I had. They are usually very friendly in both stores and help you with purchasing decisions, but the environments in the stores are very different. I'm not entirely certain you can run a Montblanc store like an Apple store. Montblanc stores are more like some other luxury boutiques where you get personal attention in a sharp-looking, colder, formal atmosphere. Apple stores have a more casual atmosphere. Having tester pens out all the time that customers can play with is very risky in any case. What if something gets damaged by someone who doesn't know how to handle it? In the Apple store, the worst you can do is drop the display unit, but then it's tethered to the stand, so it's not going to hit the floor and shatter (and you can't steal it either). Montblanc boutiques probably do have some merit as a sort of image thing. Many luxury brands have boutiques of sorts that pop up in more upscale malls. One difference is that every boutique I've gone to has been empty when I walked in even if most other boutiques on the same level had one or two people in them at any given moment. That can't necessarily be good for business.

 

Dillon

[sd10521]

I was at the Montblanc store in Manhattan just a few weeks ago, there were quite a few people in there not sure if they were buying or just spinning wheels. One of the security people had to go in the back to find someone to help me.

They are very polite, especially to someone who just walked in with jeans and a t-shirt. I was offered coffee, sparkling water, or just plain water.

I tried a few different nibs and walked out with a 146 platinum fine point, Da Vinci Sketch Pen and some ink.

I thought it would be a little more stuffy in there, but they are quite helpful, I will shop there again.

[Dillo]

I was at the Montblanc store in Manhattan just a few weeks ago, there were quite a few people in there not sure if they were buying or just spinning wheels. One of the security people had to go in the back to find someone to help me.

 

They are very polite, especially to someone who just walked in with jeans and a t-shirt. I was offered coffee, sparkling water, or just plain water.

 

I tried a few different nibs and walked out with a 146 platinum fine point, Da Vinci Sketch Pen and some ink.

 

I thought it would be a little more stuffy in there, but they are quite helpful, I will shop there again.

 

Sounds pretty good to me. I've never been to that boutique. I was never offered anything at the boutiques I've been at.

 

Dillon

[dneal]

 

The Montblanc boutique has a very different environment to the Apple Store. In the Apple Store, it's all very pleasant, and you can play with and try out lots of different products and explore on your own before asking one of the people walking around for help. At the Montblanc store, you need to approach one of the people working to test out the different pens and other items. I'd imagine that this makes it a bit more intimidating for some people. Even I, who own a nice special edition Montblanc, was hesitant to ask the Montblanc representative to look at pens that were cheaper than the one I had. They are usually very friendly in both stores and help you with purchasing decisions, but the environments in the stores are very different. I'm not entirely certain you can run a Montblanc store like an Apple store. Montblanc stores are more like some other luxury boutiques where you get personal attention in a sharp-looking, colder, formal atmosphere. Apple stores have a more casual atmosphere. Having tester pens out all the time that customers can play with is very risky in any case. What if something gets damaged by someone who doesn't know how to handle it? In the Apple store, the worst you can do is drop the display unit, but then it's tethered to the stand, so it's not going to hit the floor and shatter (and you can't steal it either). Montblanc boutiques probably do have some merit as a sort of image thing. Many luxury brands have boutiques of sorts that pop up in more upscale malls. One difference is that every boutique I've gone to has been empty when I walked in even if most other boutiques on the same level had one or two people in them at any given moment. That can't necessarily be good for business.

 

Dillon

 

You seem to have missed the point of my post(s). I was referring to business models, expenses and profits.

[Dillo]

You seem to have missed the point of my post(s). I was referring to business models, expenses and profits.

What I was saying is that it appears to me that the two companies may have a different strategy and reason for opening their stores, and the stores function differently. I tend to agree with you that they are likely an unnecessary drain per the reasons you have mentioned in your post.

 

Dillon

[c.esq]

Entering into 'haute horlogerie' will no doubt pose huge costs. That given, I would be more concerned the brand is ‘tanking’, as evidenced by their increasingly gimmicky marketing. Case in point: most of the newer LEs appear far more concerned with headline-grabbing in certain periodicals than with solid design. Indeed, a good many of these offerings harm the brand's longer-term prospects by eroding perceived cache among their core conservative/corporate market. Similarly, I very much doubt the kind of person interested in a Montblanc will be impressed by the incessant ‘brand ambassadors’.

 

[inkstainedruth]

It's Noodler's...

 

(Heck, Nathan gets blamed for everything else!)

 

Oh wait -- I have seven Noodler's pens (three FPCs, three resin Konrads, and an ebonite Konrad). All of which wrote well out of the box, with just a soapy flush to remove any manufacturing oils. I have precisely zero MBs (and no desire to acquire any). Maybe it *is* Nathan's fault....

Even if I had gotten them all at full price (and I didn't -- two of the Creapers and one of the Konrads I got when isellpens had a closeout last fall) that still would not have equalled the price of *one* MB. Throw in the semi-vintage Pelikan 400 brown tortoise from Ebay, and maybe all *four* of the Parker 51s and I might be getting into the same ballpark. Maybe....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mister Mont Blanc]

Just for the heck of it, I did some searching online for reviews as an employer from the employees. There weren't very many good things said. Most cons were the company not having professional growth opportunities, the individual boutiques left to opperate on their own creating a different system/environment in each boutique, and upper management lacking in providing direction. One person even said the company is being run into the ground from the inside out. There was talk about being able to move among other Richemont companies but that Montblanc employees are generally not desired and looked down upon from the other brands.

[eidola]

We have to accept it's over. Their best recent attempt, the Historical 1914, is priced 'Oligarch Only'. No praiseworthy Writers Series in a long while, and the recent Patrons border on 'Franklin Mint'. The management must rethink completely. Do they think odd nods to culture more than transparent, and the use of celebrity anything but loathesome?

[igor61]

I think the issue is, since Cartier bought Mont Blanc, the quality is not the same, also they began with all the leather, watches, perfumes, etc.

They are managing the brand the same as Cartier.

[georgeb]

Perhaps it's because William Kotzwinkle did not get a WE pen.