Galeries Lafayette will open two stores in India

Galeries Lafayette announced on Thursday the confirmation of a partnership with the Indian group Aditya Birla to develop its presence in India, where the French group plans to open two stores in 2024 and 2025.

In order to "pursue [its] international deployment strategy", the Galeries Lafayette have entered into an "exclusive partnership" with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL), the first Indian fashion group to reach one billion dollars in revenue and operate a network of 3,500 stores.

The partnership includes "the launch of a dedicated e-commerce platform" but also "the opening of two stores in Bombay and New Delhi, both main capitals of the country", as detailed in a press release by the group, which has a history dating back to 1894.

The first store of 8,000 m2, located in the "commercial heart and cultural centre of Bombay", will open its doors in 2024 to "a very young clientele sensitive to new luxury trends".

"This opening will be followed closely by that of New Delhi, with a large 5,500 m2 store located in the heart of DLF Emporio, the city’s most famous premium shopping centre,” indicated the group, which employs 11,000 people. It is scheduled for 2025, said a spokesperson for Galeries Lafayette to AFP.

"We are proud to expand our international footprint in the heart of a market as prestigious and refined as India, where we believe that Galeries Lafayette can benefit from strong growth potential," declared the general manager of Galeries Lafayette Nicolas Houzé, who was quoted in the press release.

Managing Director of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Ashish Dixit, has hailed the partnership "a symbolic moment in the transition to maturity of the luxury market in India", "a country which is now home to a generation of young consumers in strong purchasing power and open to the world".

This partnership, according to Mr. Houzé, illustrates the desire of Galeries Lafayette "to accelerate [its] international deployment to include twenty stores by 2025, particularly located in Asia and Middle East".

The group, which has 57 stores in France, 38 of which are franchised, is already present in Berlin, Beijing, Jakarta, Dubai, Doha, Shanghai and Luxembourg.

It is expected to open three more stores in China in 2023, bringing the total of overseas stores at ten, pending Indian openings.(AFP)

This article originally appeared in French. Translation and edit by: Rachel Douglass.