BHV Marais sold to management team: partnership with Shein ends

Retail

Shein display at BHV Marais to celebrate its opening Credits: F. Julienne

Automated translation

Read the original fr

SGM, co-founded by Frédéric Merlin, announced on Tuesday that it is selling the business of BHV Marais to the Parisian department store's “management team”. The team has decided to “end” the controversial partnership with Shein, calling it a “strategic mistake”.

Société des grands magasins (SGM), which has operated BHV Marais since 2023, has accepted the proposal led by Karl-Stéphane Cottendin. Cottendin is the former general manager of BHV and the SGM group. He has left his position for this opportunity and aims to reposition the department store to focus on homeware, including decoration and DIY, both parties announced to journalists, including AFP.

This announcement also affects the BHV Parly 2 store in Yvelines. However, it does not include the seven provincial BHV stores (formerly Galeries Lafayette), which are still managed by SGM. Five of these stores have hosted the ultra-fast fashion Asian brand Shein this year.

An outcry and an exodus of luxury brands

The opening of the first permanent physical store for Shein in November at the Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville, in the heart of Paris, caused an outcry. The platform is accused of destroying French retail. This move accelerated the departure of brands such as Dior, Sandro, and Guerlain, who were either put off by unpaid bills or unhappy with the arrival of the Asian giant.

This “experiment” was a “strategic mistake”, Cottendin acknowledged seven months later. He added that Shein will “ideally” have left BHV Marais by Christmas.

A massive refocus on the home sector

Accompanied by BHV Marais' marketing director, Valérie Chaleyssin; artistic director, Medy Ty; and HR director, Élodie Nho, Cottendin, Frédéric Merlin's former right-hand man and the driving force behind this buyout, intends to refocus BHV Marais “on its historic core business: home; DIY; decoration; furniture; lighting; culinary; tableware; household linen; creative hobbies; home appliances; bedding; books; etc.”, according to a statement.

“A significant share of the new structure's capital” created for this purpose “will be open to all BHV employees”, of which there are approximately 700 in Paris.

“The operation went off track”

Acknowledging that he had made “mistakes”, Merlin praised “a genuine and effective takeover project by serious people” to the press.

“This store was supposed to close” before its purchase from Galeries Lafayette. “I fought to try to keep it alive”, but “the operation went off track” with the failure of SGM's bid to acquire the BHV Marais building, which has been owned by Canadian fund Brookfield since January, he explained.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

BHV

BHV Marais

Shein