Chris Banach

CHRISBANACH

GET TO KNOW ME

I'm a multifaceted entrepreneur based in Honolulu, Hawaii USA.
Whether as an Upscale Boutique Manager, Franchise Owner or Freelance Consultant, my passion has always been helping LUXURY BRANDS grow their Global Retail Footprint.

I’m a dual-citizen (French-American / bilingual), who graduated in 1993 from renown Paris School of Business (formerly ESG), with an MBA & Major in Retail Management.

Aloha and Welcome to my Professional Page!

My Expertise

Upscale Boutique
Management

My experience lies in the complete overshight of Luxury Retail Stores
Some of my responsabilities: Bespoke Sales Training & Team Coaching, High-Touch Customer Experience & Clienteling, Visual Merchandising of High-End Products, Marketing & Advertising, Logistics, and handling every other aspect of Daily Operations such as HR, Scheduling, Bookkeeping, Lease Negotiation and even Legal Matters.

Franchise
Ownership

My mission as a Franchisee has always been to contribute to the success of my Franchisor's brand. And my strategy to achieve this goal is to systematically uphold Maison compliance and achieve operational excellence.

Freelance
Consultant

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Quod quibusdam possimus

MY EXPERIENCE

CHARLES JOURDAN (franchisee)
Maui, Hawaii USA

I’ve launched (and 100% owned) the Charles Jourdan boutique at the Shops at Wailea on Maui, when the mall originally opened in 2001. I had met Emile Mercier, CEO of Charles Jourdan, at their Corporate Office on Boulevard Haussman in Paris. They already had a succesful store in Ala Moana Center in Honolulu. luxury French shoes with over 150 stores worldwide, including on Madison Ave. and in Ala Moana Center).

You might be too young to remember, but Charles Jourdan was so famous they manufactured also shoes for Hermès, Vuitton, YSL, Miu-Miu, Karl Lagerfeld and pretty much all brands under the LVMH umbrella as subcontractors, in addition to their own brand. CJ got featured many times on the HBO series ‘Sex & the City‘, before Louboutin became the more trendy brand along Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo.

Sadly Charles Jourdan (main factory in Romans, France) bankrupted in the late 2000’s mainly due to the 2008 crisis and 3,500 craftsmen lost their job. A tragedy for the city of Romans (the center of fine shoe-making near Lyon), where this century-old brand was a staple, leading apprentices Roger Vivier, Christian Louboutin and Robert Clergerie to learn from their master Charles Jourdan and eventually launch their own brands.

TOD'S (Freelance Consultant)
Gustavia, St. Barth

I consulted for and helped the famous Italian brand Tod’s open their boutique on the French Caribbean Island of St-Barts (Gustavia), working with local architects, selecting the location and handling pretty much everything from recruiting staff to sales training, window dressing or visual merchandising.

I worked directly with Tod’s Vice President at their corporate office in NYC and trained my staff at their Madison Avenue flagship boutique in NY.

Eventually the son of CEO Diego Valle took over the store as he dearly wanted to move to St-Barts and became the boutique’s manager after my tenure.

MONARCH (consultant/investor)
Warsaw, Poland

In 2015, after both my parents passed away, I handled my father’s estate and inheritance and opened an exclusive Private Business Club in Warsaw (my father was of Polish origin) called “Monarch”.

We had a tea room / coffee shop, restaurant and bar, which I managed entirely, hence my experience also within the hospitality industry.

That’s, by the way, how I met my wife KATE BANACH, a succesful Interior & Event Designer with international projects that led her eventually to meet her lifetime inspiration, the renown design Martha Stewart. Kate helped designing the luxury interiors of our Private Business Club.

We had also a luxury retail boutique within the club (selling upscale gift items such as branded cigar boxes and humidors, Rolex watches, luxury backgammon or chess games, high-end shaving sets, branded fashion accessories… to name a few.

I eventually sold my shares of Monarch Private Business Club to my partner, while my wife and I moved back to the US (Miami) in 2018, where I had purchased a villa in Fort Lauderdale.

I continued there as a successful Freelance Business Consultant. I intend soon to become a franchisee of a luxury brand again soon and move back to Hawaii in 2023.

SIBANI PEARLS (Retail Operation Manager)
Bora-Bora, Tahiti

After sadly being forced to close my boutique (due to Charles Jourdan Corporate’s Bankruptcy) I got recruited by Mr Didier Sibani himself and offered to move to French island Bora-Bora, where I managed 8 luxury Black Pearl jewelry shops for the Sibani Pearls brand, the largest in Tahiti.

Those 8 boutiques were all located in ultra luxury resorts, such as Le Méridien and Club Méditerannée. I managed a staff of 26 sales associates (including 8 Japanese-speaking I had personally recruited from Oahu).

Being bilingual English/French has always been an asset, that’s how I met Mr Sibani, founder of the black pearl jewelry empire industry in Tahiti.

LIDO SHOPPING (Boutique Owner)
Paris Champs-Elysées, France

Shortly before opening Charles Jourdan on Maui, I had also opened a luxury multi-brand boutique on the Champs Elysées in Paris (Nobylis LLC dba "Lido Shopping"), specialized in high-end accessories (in 1999).

It was located in the famous baroque “Gallerie du Lido” (Arcades des Champs Elysées) and was very successful. We sold high-end brands such as Versace, Gucci, Chanel, sunglasses, ties, belts, Hermès scarves etc. among many items.

It was a relatively small boutique (700 sqft) but with an amazing location adored by the wealthy, especially tourists from Saudi Arabia and Japanese who were regulars.

This century-old galleria still exists after over a century and attracts millions of tourists, it looks like a museum with original chandeliers from Lalique and amazing glass vaulted ceiling.

I eventually sold that boutique to focus on -and dedicate myself 100%- to my 2,000 sqft boutique on Maui, which was located across Louis Vuitton on the upper floor of the upscale mall, next to the Four Seasons resort in Wailea.

DEKOBAN (General Manager)
Warsaw, Poland

My father then sadly got sick with lung cancer so I moved back to Europe again, this time to help him with his own business Dekoban, a brand name combining the words "Decoration + Banach". We wholesaled luxury wallpaper imported from the UK, and distribution to DYI / Home Improvement store chains. I eventually inherited and became the Owner and General Manager for close to 5 years, before selling this asset.