Translated by
Benjamin Fitzgerald
Published
Aug 22, 2017
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Galeries Lafayette plans for second China location in Shanghai

Translated by
Benjamin Fitzgerald
Published
Aug 22, 2017

Galeries Lafayette China has signed a letter of intention to open a second Chinese store in Shanghai. The project looks to be completed by the end of 2018, with the debut of a 23,000-square-metre store in the Pudong district, according to the Shanghai Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone Development Co Ltd, the group in charge of development. 

Galeries Lafayette in Peking - AFP


The Galeries Lafayette Group could simply confirm to FashionNetwork.com the signing of the document, stating that the project will be the subject of a press statement to be released in the coming weeks or month. The store opening, if it occurs at the forecast time, will take place exactly five years after Galeries Lafayette opened its first China store in Peking, back in November 2013. 

The department store will set up inside a new mall, which is under construction, in the Lujiazui financial district, an area made up of 44 skyscrapers that have become the most famous panorama in Shanghai. Most recently, the area has welcomed the 632 metres-high Shanghai Tower, the tallest tower in China.

As well as the 160,000 inhabitants living in the area, it also attracts a clientele made up some 460,000 senior executives in the area, according to the district development agency.

Galeries Lafayette is in the midst of its international development plans. In May, the department store chain opened its debut store in Turkey, with a 9,500 square-metre-store in the Emaar Square mall. The inauguration took the number of global locations to five after openings in Berlin, Dubai, Peking and Jakarta. Another location is currently under construction in Doha, slated to open in 2018. Moreover, a project could be forecast for the Iran Mall in Tehran, sources have revealed to FashionNetwork.com.

The Asian customer is one of the pillars of revenue for Galeries Lafayette. Tourists, namely  the Chinese, represent more than 50% of total traffic at the retailer's Paris store on Boulevard Haussmann. This percentage is even more in terms of sales generated. Hence, the deployment on March 15 of a new space covering 2,800 square metres, which faces the department store and contains all the monikers of Chinese department stores; a store dedicated to the reception of tourist buses for optimised shopping and guided tours of the department store.

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