Galeries Lafayette

reckon there's a less chance of you booting a department store if you've got the strap or the cane.

Gallery Lafayette.

Did you say?

It's

reckon there's a less chance of you booting a department store if you've got the strap or the cane.

Gallery Lafayette.

Did you say?

It's all of

And tomorrow, that's it.

Tomorrow, last day, uh, we're going to Galeries Lafayette and going shopping for clothes because-

Yeah, of course

... uh, that's apparently what we do.

Uh, one is Timeless Lovers, which I thought this was such a beautiful name and an idea.

So it was originally, uh, exclusively created for the Galeries Lafayette-

Ooh

... as an ode to Paris.

So the first department store is typically thought of as the Bon Marché, which was founded in 1852 by Aristide Boussico.

And soon after, many others followed, the Galerie Lafayette, the Saint-Maritain, Printemps, and some others that no longer exist.

Yeah.

They sound like they were very cool places to hang out, no?

And they helped to really cement this myth also of the Parisian woman, La Parisienne, which becomes associated with the department stores.

And so, you know, you have these interesting references.

There's a postcard from the Galerie Lafayette tea room that says, what Parisian woman is not familiar with this tea room? Because it was so integrated into the identity of being a Parisian woman.

And I think something that actually is really interesting fascinating in the literature from this period is that the theme of what it means to be Parisian and really of someone who is not from Paris coming to the city and becoming Parisian becomes a central part of the literature, whether that's for a woman or a man.

[upbeat music] Next, we turn to the latest series of The Chiefs.

From Bain & Company to Galeries Lafayette and Central Group, Olivier Bon has spent much of his career working at the forefront of international retail.

Now, as the CEO of Bloomingdale's, he is leading a new chapter for one of America's best-known department stores, built around discovery, experience, and the power of the physical outlet.

He joined our editorial director, Tyler Brûlé, in Paris to discuss the reinvention of the department store, the importance of discovery, and why he believes the best retail experiences are increasingly being found outside of the United States.

I spent 12 years at Bain & Company working mostly on retail and, and turnaround projects, and after 12 years, um, I had the privilege to, uh, do a project for, uh, Nicolas Houzé at Galeries Lafayette.

He asked me to join his team, and then I, I spent eight years at Galeries Lafayette, where I was, uh, operating, like, all the stores in France and abroad.

And after eight years, I decided as a family to, uh, move to Thailand and to work for Central Group, and we all know that actually Central Group is a very important group in department stores because they also not only operate in, in Thailand but also own many luxury department stores in, in Europe.

And after three years, uh, we decided to take the chance of moving to New York and, um, have now this very privilege to, um, work at Bloomingdale's and, and over at the Bloomingdale's, uh, business in New York.