Luxury retailers are popping up in upscale hotels throughout the nation’s capital this weekend as an array of social, political and entertainment elite descend on Washington, D.C., for Barack Obama’s second presidential inauguration.
Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Montblanc and Bloomingdale’s are among stores staging temporary boutiques in hotel lobbies.
Guests at the Ritz-Carlton at 22nd and M streets in northwest D.C. can schedule complimentary appointments with makeup artists from Chanel and Dior as part of the hotel’s partnership with Saks, Jan. 18 to Jan. 21.
The Saks shop will also feature fur coats and wraps, designer jewelry and memorabilia such as a snow globe of the city. And guests can browse the full inventory of the brand’s Chevy Chase, Md., store on an iPad in for a last-minute ball gown or other specialty needs, says Kerri Larkin, marketing director for the Chevy Chase Saks.
The Saks and Ritz partnership, which has been taking place since George W. Bush’s second inauguration in 2005, makes sense because of the overlap in the two brands’ customer base, Larkin says.
“We do have a very similar clientele,” she says, “so it makes sense for our brand to be involved.”
The Ritz will also have a new partnership this year with Bloomingdale’s at its Georgetown location, which often hosts more guests in the entertainment business, says Ritz spokeswoman Colleen Evans.
Most of the hotels’ guests have “some connection to the (presidential) administration, so they’ve got a jam-packed calendar for those four days. They don’t have time to run out to the department store to pick up any items they’ve forgotten.”
Read more: USAToday
