Take a first look inside the new Galeries Lafayette

The luxurious new flagship store is now the biggest retail space on Paris’ Champs Élysées

Galeries Lafayette has opened the doors to its huge new Parisian flagship store on the Champs Élysées.

A suitably glitzy and glamourous party was held to celebrate the opening of the department store, spanning almost 70,000sq ft, on Thursday 28 March, 2019.

It is now the largest retail space on the avenue and promises a new approach to shopping to tap into the digital market and return the ‘luxury lifestyle’ to the Champs Élysées.

The Art Deco design of the building was carried out by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels and his firm BIG – Bjarke Engels Group. BIG’s aim was to create a platform for expression for both visitors and brands. To achieve this, its team designed a unique layout that enables the easy flow of people between indoor and outdoor spaces and encourage them to wander around the store’s four interconnected floors, with spaces devoted to shopping, restaurants and events.

The ground floor has plenty of event space, pop-up stores and a beauty area; the first floor features fashions of the moment, with the latest trends and emerging brands, while the second floor holds the more timeless luxury brands. The basement food court has an original selection of groceries and eateries making the building a fully-fledged leisure and meeting destination.

The store will feature 300 ‘personal stylists’ chosen for their love of fashion and customer focus, who have received training with the Institut Francais de la Mode to make services more accessible for visitors.

It is moving into the digital market too, with the Personal Stylist 2.0 app which invites customers to book an appointment and discuss their individual needs. The Smart Hanger feature allows visitors instantly check details about a product’s availability.

Philippe Houzé, Executive Chairman of the Galeries Lafayette group said: “At Galeries Lafayette, we usually say that the future begins in the past. By opening on the Champs Élysées, our group is not only writing a new chapter in its entrepreneurial and family history, it is also fulfilling its founder’s dream.

“A dream expressed nearly 100 years ago on the corner of the ‘Champs’ and Rue La Boétie, where in 1927 Théophile Bader planned to build a venue offering something midway between retail, services and entertainment. Today, we are delighted to pursue his grand design with a store concept that is both historic and disruptive and which by combining two iconic brands, Galeries Lafayette and Champs Élysées, will also help promote a certain French ‘art de vivre’ and contribute to the revival of this world famous avenue.”

For more information visit galerieslafayette.com