Call it what you want, but do not call Printemps’s new outpost in New York a “department store,” CEO Jean-Marc Bellaiche said, as the iconic French retail store’s US flagship opened its doors last week.
A week before its actual launch, curious onlookers had already set foot in the store, strolling and even grabbing a coffee at Café Jalu, an all-day French café situated on the ground floor of the Art Deco building. The Printemps team told us it’s part of the brand’s “soft opening” that wasn’t necessarily advertised as we walked the two grand floors of the store.
The retailer has piqued consumers’ interest as it aims to differentiate itself both from other established department stores in the city and its own counterparts in France and the Middle East. A key factor in being able to achieve that is the unique design touches courtesy of architect Laura Gonzalez, who decorated the space with bold patterns and unexpected materials. It also comes with about five different food and beverage offerings including said café, champagne and wine bars, and Maison Passerelle, a fine dining restaurant by culinary director Gregory Gourdet. Another significant attraction is the “The Red Room,” which once served as the famed entrance to the Bank of New York, with original details such as red ombré and gold mosaic walls intact, but some updated touches.
Gieves Anderson for Printemps New York
“New York didn’t need just another store; we needed to bring French sophistication to New York,” Bellaiche told Retail Brew. “We didn’t want to have a very plain design…so [we] kept this idea of a French apartment with different rooms, with different touches and feel.”
A store is born: But will that be enough to bring the luxury-wary, price-conscious consumers of today into the store, in the FiDi district no less? Bellaiche believes so, recalling the tagline of the retailer’s initial advertising.
“Printemps is the best gift to New York after the Statue of Liberty,” he said. Of course, that statement comes with a touch of levity as one French politician recently asked the US to return the Statue of Liberty. Yet, it retains its intentional spirit.
“We hope that New Yorkers will embrace the gift,” Bellaiche said. “We hope that brands and partners will also contribute to this experience and play with it. We are a connector between clients, space, and brands.”
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The brands available to shop at the store will seemingly play a role in helping the retailer stand out, or so Printemps hopes, as it comes in with a mix of American and European brands with many niche labels exclusive to the retailer. There will also be routine pop-ups at the store—starting with one by French luxury label Jacquemus—alongside fun collaborations such as the one between Parisian ready-to-wear brand Coperni and Disney.
One step at a time: Ultimately, Bellaiche said, Printemps hopes to fill the void left by Barneys New York among others. “I was a New Yorker, and so I can clearly testify that those players have not been replaced fully,” he said. “So in a way, we believe that we can fulfill that need, not exactly with the same concept…It’s very, very different from Barneys.”
Although it comes to the city with some glamour and flash, the retailer will be up against many of the same economic challenges that have impacted established luxury brands and department stores in the country such as rising prices, dwindling consumer interest, and more recently, Trump-imposed tariffs.
“I think the crisis is more recent,” Bellaiche said. “It started in China with the crisis of the economy over there. But, after Covid, the luxury market has been going super fast.”
He added that while the stock market has been worrying, he isn’t too bothered, believing in Printemps’s “long-term potential.”
He pointed out the biggest hurdle for the retailer will be brand awareness as “the brand is not very well known in the US and among New Yorkers,” he said.
Bellaiche aims to tackle that with the same confidence and a big emphasis on storytelling. “Every one of our salespeople will be able to tell the story, because this store is full of stories about new brands,” he said, citing the example of French leather goods company Joseph Duclos that Printemps will be stocking and that Taylor Swift seems to be a fan of. “If you know the story, that’s a plus, and if you buy it, then of course you tell your friend, ‘Oh, by the way, I bought this new bag at Printemps, and do you know that Taylor Swift bought it?’”