Galeries Lafayette enters joint venture in China with Hopson Group
The French group Galeries Lafayette, which already operates two shops in Beijing and Shanghai, has acquired a new local partner to continue its expansion in China. The French department stores' group is entering a joint venture with Hopson Group, a listed real estate company specialising in the South East of the country. The aim is to have ten Chinese locations by 2025, a target set before the Covid-19 crisis.
The joint venture, in which both parties are 50% shareholders, will come into effect in the coming weeks. The next Galeries Lafayette stores to open in China this year will be in Shenzhen - part of the outlet is already open - but also in Chongqing and Macau.
The previous partnership between Galeries Lafayette and IT Limited, is being replaced by this joint venture. In addition, a store opening in Guiyang announced three years ago is no longer relevant.
"Ten years after entering Beijing, and as the country gradually reopens its borders to the world after three years of trying, we are pleased to enter a new stage of our development in China with this strategic alliance with the Hopson Group. This partnership illustrates our shared ambition to accelerate the deployment of our brand and to create a major retail player capable of responding to generational changes and to the high potential growth of domestic consumption between now and 2030", comments Nicolas Houzé, CEO of Galeries Lafayette.
The stores involved in this joint venture will be very upmarket, with the intention of selling mainly luxury brands and conveying "a certain vision of the French art of living in the heart of unique and selective multi-brand environments."
Galeries Lafayette has 57 stores in France, 19 of which are owned by the group and 38 are franchises. It also operates eight international locations. The next country on the group's list is India, with the intention of opening two sales outlets in Bombay and New Delhi in 2024 and 2025, thanks to a partnership with the Indian group Aditya Birla.
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