Printemps

Printemps is a French chain of department stores with a focus on beauty, lifestyle, fashion, accessories, and men's wear. Its flagship store, known in French as "le Printemps Haussmann", is located on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, along with other well-known department stores like the Galeries Lafayette. Since 2013, the company has been the property of a Luxembourg-based Qatari-backed investment fund. As of 2023, Printemps operates twenty stores in France (including three in Paris), as well as one international location in Doha, Qatar. The company was a founder of the International Association of Department Stores as well as one of its members from 1928 until 1997.
Early history (1865–1940)
The first Printemps store, now commonly known as "le Printemps Haussmann", was opened on 3 November 1865 under the name "les Grands Magasins du Printemps" (abbreviated as "le Printemps") by Jules Jaluzot his wife Augustine Jaluzot and Jean-Alfred Duclos. The store was located on the corner of Rue du Havre and Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, France. In 1874 the store had a large expansion and elevators (some of the first) from the 1867 Universal Exposition were installed.
The policies of Printemps revolutionised retail business practices. The store marked items with set prices and eschewed the haggling based on customer appearance that had previously been standard in retail shopping. Like other (department stores), Printemps used the economies of scale to provide high quality goods at prices that the expanding middle class could afford. They also pioneered the idea of discount sales to clear outdated stock, and later the use of window models to display the latest fashions. Printemps was noted for its branding innovations as well, handing out bouquets of violets on the first day of spring and championing the new Art Nouveau style, with its nature inspired motifs.
In 1881 the store caught on fire causing the entire building to be destroyed, but after the fire the store was rebuilt with the new building designed by architects Jules and Paul Sédille. The store also became the first to use electric lighting with the rebuild and customers were even able to observe the power station behind a glass wall.
The store became one of the first department stores with direct metro access when the Métro was connected in 1904. Also in 1904 a near collapse of the business led to the resignation of Jules Jaluzot with this he was succeeded by Gustave Laguionie, who announced the construction of a second store in 1905. The second store designed by architect René Binet, the store was opened five years later and dominated by a glass domed hall 42 meters in height and an Art Nouveau staircase which was later removed in 1955.
The first store outside of Paris was opened in 1912 in Deauville.
Pierre Laguionie, the son of Gustave, took the helm of the store in 1920, rebuilding it after another large fire in 1921.
In 1923 with the reconstruction of the Haussmann store an elaborate cupola was installed above the main restaurant.
Pierre Lagionie was the first president of the International Association of Department Stores in 1928, a position he held again in 1937 and 1952. Jean-Jacques Delort was president in 1981.
In the 1930 a store opened in Antananarivo, Madagascar, the store was later converted into a Prisunic.
In 1931, Printemps created the discount chain Prisunic.
In 1939 to avoid the risk of the cupola being destroyed in bombing attacks it was dismantled and stored at Clichy It was restored in 1973 by the grandson of its original designer, using plans that had been kept in the archives of the family business. In 1975, the façade and cupola of the building were registered as historical monuments.
The figures of the Four Seasons on the façade were sculpted by French sculptor Henri Chapu.
Expansion (1970–1989)
By 1970 there were 23 Printemps locations and 13 Prisunic discount outlets. The oil-price driven French economic crisis of the early 1970s significantly threatened Printemps business model, in response the firm was transformed into a limited corporation with a controlling interest acquired by Maus Fréres, a Swiss holding company. During the 1970s Jean-Jacques Delort led the company on a turnaround strategy creating specialty stores and brands (such as Armand Thierry clothing) and branching out into different areas such as food and mail.
In 1981 the company started an international expansion by franchising stores it started with the opening of a location in Kobe, Japan, they continued the expansion a year later opening a store in Sapporo.
In September 1983 a store opened in Singapore on the ground floor of the newly built Le Meridien Hotel on Orchard Road.
In 1984 two new locations opened in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia a second store opened in Malaysia in 1985 in Kuala Lumpur. Two more stores opened in Japan in Ginza and Osaka.
A store opened in Denver on November 6, 1987, the first and only ever location in the Americas, the store was located at Broadway Plaza and was just over 88,000 square metres, the store had a French bistro. Business slowed after the first few months and a shuttle bus started operating from Downtown Denver to get shoppers to the store but in April 1989 the location closed.
In 1988 two new locations opened in Istanbul, Turkey and Seoul, South Korea.
The Singapore store closed in December 1989 after six years of operation.
Recent years (1990–present)
In 1991 Printemps and its subsidiaries were acquired by François Pinault and merged with other holdings into Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR, was renamed Kering in 2013). That year a store also opened in Cascais, Portugal.
In 1994 a store opened in Bangkok, Thailand at Seri Center.
In 1995 a location opened in Taipei, the store opened under a franchise agreement and was operated by the Taiwan-based Jieh Enterprises. Printemps also expanded to China with a six floor store opening on Huaihai Road in Shanghai. Plans were announced for two more Chinese stores to open in 1996 and then a Beijing store in 1997.
Printemps spent $40 million to renovate the flagship Haussmann store in 1997 the renovation redesigned the entire store and also added TV screens and music listening stations around the store whilst also refreshing the brands that the store stocked.
A franchise in Ratu Plaza, Jakarta which was supposed to open in 1998 was under construction but due to the Asian financial crisis and the May 1998 riots the store did not open.In 2006 Printemps was sold to the Italian Borletti Group (with equity partner Deutsche Bank), they then made major investments to revamp stores.
On 16 December 2008, the Paris department store Printemps Haussmann was evacuated following a bomb threat from the terrorist group FRA (Afghan Revolutionary Front). The demining services found five sticks of dynamite in the toilet of the store. The FRA claimed this assassination attempt and demanded the withdrawal of 3,000 French soldiers deployed in Afghanistan.
On 31 July 2013, Divine Investments SA (DiSA) a Luxembourg-based Qatari-backed investment fund bought Printemps On the 4 August 2013 labor organisations in France asked the Paris prosecutor's office to open a preliminary inquiry into the sale, in response to a complaint from labour representatives. On 8 August the French court rejected the request to stop the sale.
Also in 2013 the Beijing-based Wangfujing Department Store which was a rival of Printemps in China acquired Printemps China (PCD Stores).
On January 15, 2014, Printemps opened its first new store in 32 years at the Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall in Paris.
In 2017 the last international store closed in Ginza, Tokyo and was converted into an extension of the nearby Marronnier Gate department store, the closing of the store ended a period of international expansion around the world.
In May 2019 plans were announced to open a store in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan. It would be 2,500 square metres and would open in 2021, but due to the COVID-19 Pandemic plans were scrapped.
In 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic it was announced that four Printemps stores would close (Le Havre, Strasbourg, Metz & Place d'Italie).
In September 2022, Printemps announced that they would open a two-level at One Wall Street in New York City, the store is expected to open in mid 2024.
Printemps Doha opened in November of 2022 at Doha Oasis in Doha, Qatar. The store is the largest department store in the Middle East at over and the brands second largest store it includes 14 restaurants and over 200 brands exclusive to the store.
The company is currently looking to open a store in Asia and is aiming to have 5-10 new stores by 2030 all of which will be located outside of France.
See also
List of works by Henri Chapu
References
External links
Official site focusing on the flagship Paris store.
Groupe Printemps includes information on other stores.
Shops in Paris
Department stores of France
Retail companies of France
Buildings and structures in the 9th arrondissement of Paris
Art Nouveau architecture in Paris
Art Nouveau retail buildings
Commercial buildings completed in 1865