Ads
Published
Mar 12, 2013
Reading time
3 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Details emerge on Galeries Lafayette’s Beijing store, set to open in September

Published
Mar 12, 2013

Back in 2010 when Galeries Lafayette announced they had found a location in Xidan, Beijing on North Avenue, the French department store retailer said their first Chinese unit would open in 2013. That is now a done deal as the store is scheduled to open in September according to Paul Delaoutre, CEO of the group’s department store division.

The Beijing store is half the size of the Haussmann store in Paris

Construction work is in full swing. Not a company that does things halfway, Galeries Lafayette has even decided to cap off the building with a dome reminiscent of the one on its Boulevard Haussmann store in Paris. Moreover, the 28,000 square-meter store (half the space of Haussmann) will have an interior similar to the Paris store.

Unlike the stores opened under the retailer’s name in Dubai in 2009, in Casablanca in 2011 and the one opening this spring in Jakarta, Indonesia, this time the French group is directly involved in a joint venture on a 50/50 basis with the Hong Kong group I.T. Limited. Galeries Lafayette is heavily involved in the project, owing to the country’s immense size and the retailer’s ambitions, even if it has not officially revealed any details.

“We have a team that has been working on site for five years on this project,” said Paul Delaoutre. “We also created our own Galeries Lafayette antenna in Hong Kong that is exploring all of Asia in search of local brands, ones we could also establish in France. The same antenna is also handling our Jakarta unit.”

In fact, the Beijing store will carry many brands not available in Paris. And to define the positioning of this department store under a French name: “In China, products are organized by price; everything is mixed together. But we have chosen to classify by product, as in France, with a line ranging from accessible to luxury. Especially because the Chinese learn quickly, we have to come up with a standard for today and not repeat what is still being done. With how we talk about fashion, there we will also stand out.” Just to make sure that the Beijing store is a good fit to the retailer in France, the head of merchandising for the future Chinese unit is in training at Galeries Lafayette Strasbourg.

The retailer says it is definitely not targeting the richest Chinese but rather the middle class whose standard of living corresponds to 40% of the French average standard of living. “It should also be noted that in China, because the one-child policy has led to favor the birth of boys, women are less numerous, more pampered and have significant spending power,” said Paul Delaoutre.

The French group’s CEO for its department store division also stressed the importance of two levels of the six slated for restoration. “It’s important because the Chinese shop in groups,” said Paul Delaoutre, thus spending more time in stores.

The French retailer expects other openings to follow suit but does not mention any cities. “I'm going to China soon to explore other possible sites,” said Paul Delaoutre.

This internationalization of Galeries Lafayette is not new. The retailer had opened and then closed a store in New York. The Dubai store got off to a good start and is still doing well today, according to Paul Delaoutre. However, the unit in Casablanca, Morocco, is slightly struggling and undergoing some adjustments. “Rich Moroccans do not buy their clothes in Morocco but in Paris,” said Paul Delaoutre. As for Berlin, the celebrated store has gotten up to speed. Further openings are planned in 2015 in Doha and Istanbul.

Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.