While vacancies in retail real estate have surged since the pandemic, luxury brands from Gucci to Chanel are betting big bucks that their in-store experience will draw in shoppers for the long haul. Kering, which owns Gucci and Saint Laurent, recently spent $1.4 billion on a building in Milan's Via Montenapoleone, The Wall Street Journal reported. The purchase comes in addition to a $1 billion property acquisition on New York's Fifth Avenue made by the company in January, the outlet reported. Representatives for Kering did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.