Why not allow, say, a BMW dealer to opena vehicular boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills or Fiat to showcase its models from a small storefront in the urban-hip Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago?
As for Belstaff, Mr. Hilfiger will serve as a board member and adviser for the 88-year-old label, which plans to opena New York boutique this fall, followed by a five-story London flagship in 2013.
The company in November opened aboutique shopping mall for imported goods, Waow Plaza, in Hangzhou and aims to open another 100 or so in as little as three years.