Profile, History, and Status Quo
In 1893, Théophile Bader founded Galeries Lafayette; in 1912, the famous flagship department store (“grand magasin”) on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris was opened which is the largest of Paris’ 12 major department stores. Today, the Galeries Lafayette group operates the following business segments:
Figure 10.1
Galeries Lafayette group In 2005, group turnover totalled 4,493 million EUR, up 0.7 % from the previous year. Around 35,000 employees work in one of the group’s 422 stores or 56 affiliates. Galeries Lafayette's total surface area of nearly 500,000 m2 includes a number of outstanding features, like the famous neo-Byzantine dome built in the 19th century atop the building on Boulevard Haussmann. The stores outside Paris are centrally located in major cities across the country. The repartition of the group’s turnover by business segment is as follows: Galeries Lafayette: 31,8 %, Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville: 10,2 %, Monoprix: 31,4 %, LaSer: 22,6 % and other: 4 %.
In accordance to its former advertising slogan “Il se passe toujours quelque chose aux Galeries Lafayette!” (“Something is always happening at Galeries Lafayette!”), a number of sub-brands to the Galeries Lafayette have been created in Paris, which harness the transfer of the brand Galeries Lafayette: n Lafayette Homme (2001) – men’s apparel n Lafayette Gourmet (2002) – food n Lafayette Maison (2004) – decoration and home improvement n Lafayette V.O. (2004) – kids and teenagers.
In Paris, the so-called Haussmann, Homme, Gourmet, and Maison stores cover a combined total of 68,000 m2—the Western world's largest retail outlet and Europe's biggest store in terms of sales.
After the withdrawal from operations in Tokyo, Moscow, Singapore, Bangkok and New York, the currently only international activity is the Galeries Lafayette department store in Berlin with its famous glass front architecture on Berlin Friedrichstraße which was opened