The Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville, Paris – photo: Chabe01, modified by Le Marais Mood
At 500 million euros – half a billion! – this is undoubtedly the biggest transaction of the year in the borough. The rumor, which had been circulating for months, came to fruition in February. The Galeries Lafayette group, which wishes to concentrate on the activity of its flagship on Boulevard Haussmann and develop abroad, has announced that it has sold the department store inaugurated in 1 to the Société des Grands Magasins (SGM), a family business. founded in Lyon and managed by Frédéric and Maryline Merlin.
The reasons are multiple but the new Parisian automobile traffic plan plays its part. For months, the wealthy clientele of the western suburbs had no longer been rendez-vous, due to traffic becoming impossible on rue de Rivoli, the main axis, which leads back to the west. This data was added to other calamities: 2015 attacks, strikes of December 2019 (against pension reform, already), Covid19.
Also the establishment of other luxury brands nearby did not bring the expected effect. In the Marais, Gucci, Fendi, Moncler, Givenchy and Valentino, which arrived from 2013, were a flop. After the initial enthusiasm, Eataly, the immense (3000m2) specialist in Italian gastronomy installed at the beginning of 2019, is attracting less.
The Société des Grands Magasins (SGM), which is taking over the BHV, is not entirely unknown since it has already regained, in May 2022, the management of the seven Galeries Lafayette in the provinces: Angers, Dijon, Grenoble, Le Mans , Limoges, Orléans and Reims.
In the Marais, the new owner has amassed a nice war chest: shops on rue de la Verrerie and rue des Archives, the walls of the Eataly premises and apartments located behind the department store. Galeries Lafayette, however, retains the building which houses its foundation
▼ BHV Swamp
52 Rue de Rivoli, Paris 75004
Monday to Saturday 10 am to 20 pm
Sunday from 11 p.m. to 19 p.m.
Tel: +09 77 40 14 00
Text: Katia Barillot
13.03.23
