Department Store Printemps Brings A ‘Parisian Apartment' Vibe To New York City

Forbes

28-03-2025

The landmarked Red Room features a 30-plus-feet-tall mosaic masterpiece of red and gold tiles ... More created in 1931. Here a bar and lounge is pictured nextdoor.
Printemps, a storied Parisian department store, opened in New York City's Financial District last week on the premise that retail is not dead.
But it is, perhaps, sleepy. Consumer confidence has plummeted since January and there has been a months-long global slowdown in luxury. But you wouldn't know this by stopping by the 55,000 square foot store laid out like a Haussmannian Parisian apartment with its high ceilings, ornate moldings and herringbone parquet floors. During a soft-opening just ahead of its opening on Friday, March 21, there were plenty of people milling around the two-floor store and across its five eateries. Often with a glass of wine in hand, as is encouraged.
Inside the store is broken into ten distinct shopping spaces, with a snaking route on the second floor (containing the beauty department) connecting the north and south parts of the store which includes the landmarked Red Room, a 30-plus-feet-tall mosaic masterpiece of red and gold tiles created in 1931. Overall, there are multiple bars, a cafe and a fine dining restaurant and wine shop slated to open later this year.
'It was clear that New York doesn't need another store. So if [our strategy] was just to open a store in New York, we would not have done it,' said Jean-Marc Bellaiche, the global chief executive of Printemps.
Forbes caught up with Bellaiche to discuss the new store, where American and French shoppers differ, and the department store's outlook on the rocky economic climate. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The 55,000 square foot store laid out like a Haussmannian Parisian apartment with high ceilings, ... More ornate moldings and herringbone parquet floors
Emma Sandler: Are there significant differences between French and American shoppers?
Jean-Marc Bellaiche: There are some differences. For example, Americans are used to personal shopping. In France, it's newer. But this is a practice that I've decided to export from the U.S. to Paris. We already had it, but it was mostly serving international clients. In the last five years, we went from 20 to 50 [personal shoppers]
Another difference I've noticed, and I hope it will be to our advantage in New York, is that French people are a bit more assertive with their individual tastes. When American consumers like something, sometimes everybody's going to like it. And you can have a very positive snowball effect that in Paris, you usually don't get as much. There, if you start seeing the same dress or the same product, or even just a restaurant becomes too popular [they don't want it]
Sandler: I hear that time spent in-store is as important to Printemps as sales. Is this true and what's the strategy?
Bellaiche: Because of our idea of enchanting clients, we will also care a lot about Google [reviews]
and a lot about time spent in the store. Because if someone comes and spends five minutes, who cares? If someone comes and spends two hours or half a day or even a full day, it means that we really marked the day of this person, and then they will talk about it. You don't spend three hours in a store if you don't like it and if you're not going to talk about it later on.
A sneaker room on the first floor of Printemps.
Sandler: How do you plan to keep up the momentum following the store's opening?
Bellaiche: On the product side, we have a very strong buying team that looks at what sells, what doesn't sell, etc. Also, on the product side, we have planned for many ephemeral stories. For example, we opened with Jaquemus as a pop-up, and then later on, we will have Coperni arriving with an exclusive line that they have with Disney. Beyond products, we put a lot of focus on programming. Conferences, talks ... [and I have said] we should do fashion shows in the store. This could become a destination for fashion shows, and so that's another way to drive interest throughout the store. But then, at the same time, we also see the long-term rising attractiveness of this neighborhood.
Sandler: There is a broader slowdown in luxury right now. How is Printemps navigating this period?
Bellaiche: When you open a store like this, you think about the long term. In the long term, we are very confident in the prospect of luxury. We think people with money will always want to distinguish themselves from others. They will always want to treat themselves with the best, and so, in the long term, there is no question. In the short term, yes, there is a crisis in China. The U.S. consumer confidence was very good, but recently, it has significantly gone down. The fact that the market collapsed a few weeks ago doesn't help. I will comment on politics, but the fact that you know there are threats of war is a concern for consumers. You buy luxury goods when you feel good, and when you're optimistic that tomorrow will be better than today. If you think tomorrow is not better than today, you save money.
We have a nice luxury selection and designer selection, but we'll also brought accessibility to the [New York] store. We've brought our [in-house] brand Saison 1865, which is accessibly priced. And then, in beauty, we have brought pharmacy brands that are not crazy expensive. Same for the restaurants. We're not trying to make it a pure luxury.