DFS Group “will not stop with Paris and Venice” as it eyes a retail blueprint to roll out to other locations in Europe, CEO and Chairman Philippe Schaus has told TRBusiness.

“We have invented a new format and this will have its ramifications in other places – and airports,” he revealed during a recent interview to mark the luxury travel retailer’s unveiling of its latest European project in the French capital.

“Some of what we are doing in La Samaritaine and Venice can also find its place in a great airport environment.”

As reported, the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) owned company will open a 20,000sq m shop at Paris’s historic La Samaritaine department store in Q4 2019.

The ‘reimagined’ space will boast an ‘exceptional selection’ of Parisian, French and international brands spanning beauty, fashion & accessories, watches & jewellery, wines & spirits and F&B spread over seven floors.

DIFFERENTIATED RETAIL MODEL

LVMH’s renovation of the building’s Art Nouveau and Art Deco influenced architecture, which is currently under construction, forms part of a wider plan to restore the raison d’être of the 19th Century Parisian landmark as a site of retail and social interaction.

When it completes in 2019 – at the same time as DFS opens its door to visitors – the mixed use facility will span 70,000sq m and include a 71-room Cheval Blanc luxury hotel, 96 social housing units, mixed office space and a children’s creche.

“What we are doing in Paris does not exist today in Paris,” Schaus added. “What we try to do is create a portfolio of incredible stores in great destinations and each one is well ingrained in its local environment and the experience provided locally.

“You could say it is a very large concept store and a small department store compared to some of the others in the city, so we believe that we have a model here that is very differentiated to the other models you find in a city like Paris and it will be very complementary to what exists already.”

The opening of DFS’s second European downtown store follows its debut in Venice at the resplendent T Fondaco dei Tedeschi, which officially opened last year.

For detailed insight on the latest La Samaritaine project watch out for the September print issue of TRBusiness, available soon.