According to an statement by LVMH last Friday, the Conseil d’Etat has approved the building permit for renovation work of the La Samaritaine building located on rue de Rivoli in Paris where DFS Group has acted as a consultant.

 

“La Samaritaine duly notes with satisfaction the decision of the Conseil d’Etat, which definitively approves the building permit for the renovation of the building located on rue de Rivoli,” says LVMH.

 

According to the French luxury goods giant, the building permit for the side of La Samaritaine which faces the Seine was issued in December 2012 by the Mairie de Paris and approved in April 2014 by the Tribunal Administratif de Paris.

 

In May 2013, Philippe Schaus, Chairman & CEO DFS Group confirmed to TRBusiness that DFS Group was acting as a travel retail consultant to LVMH on its ‘La Samaritaine restoration project’.

 

However, in May 2014, legal action delayed the $625m redevelopment where it was believed that DFS Group was hoping to open its first Parisian off-airport store.

 

A ruling by the Administrative Court of Paris (May 13, 2014) was supported by some local historians who then declared opposition to any further site demolition, despite acknowledging the need for extensive repairs and renovation. [La Samaritaine in Rue de Rivoli was acquired by LVMH in 2001, but was forced to close back in 2005 when it failed to meet new fire regulations-Ed].

However, it appears the tide has turned for LVMH. “Ten years after the closure of La Samaritaine for safety reasons and after many years of litigation, these two permits are therefore now irrevocable,” says LVMH.

 

“La Samaritaine is preparing to resume this ambitious project for the restoration and renovation of the entire site. The three years of works should generate around 1800 jobs.”

LVMH, who does not mention anything about DFS Group (which it majority-owns) in its official statement issued today, adds that “overall once renovated, it will directly create more than 2,200 jobs”.

 

The legal action in 2014 appeared not to deter LVMH’s European ambitions for DFS. Back in September, in a landmark move for the travel retailer, it announced that it would be opening an ‘unconventional’, multifunctional, department store on Venice’s Grand Canal, operating in the second largest historical building in the city; the Fondaco dei Tedeschi.

 

This followed months of speculation and numerous reports from international press that DFS would be entering Europe through Paris, at the La Samaritaine. However, in September, the Group finally confirmed that it would, instead, be taking up residence in the Italian Fondaco dei Tedeschi – a 13th century building, owned by Edizione, a private, unlisted company which is wholly controlled by Italy’s Benetton family.