Just before opening its doors to America on Thursday — appropriately, the first day of spring — Printemps had one last Francophile moment.
Jean-Marc Bellaiche, chief executive officer, showed members of the French American Chamber of Commerce around the retailer’s chic new flagship at 1 Wall Street, in New York’s Financial District.
With 40,000 square feet of selling space and five places to eat or have a drink over two floors, Printemps is bringing something new, to Manhattan and certainly to the still-developing Financial District. A quarter of the offering is exclusive to Printemps in New York retail, more in parts of the beauty offering.
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But it’s also the diverse culinary offerings that stand as a differentiator.
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Maison Passerelle, the flagship’s fine dining restaurant, translates into “bridge” in French and has a deeper meaning for the retailer.
“We’re in the bridge from Paris to New York,” Bellaiche told WWD while pointing out how the painting on the restaurant’s walls resembles as sunset, a meeting of two worlds. “The idea was: What if we take the best of both. The French are very strong when it comes to sophistication, bringing beautiful product, bringing beautiful architecture. Americans are the best when it comes to hospitality.”
Bellaiche pointed specifically to an unusual source of high-fashion inspiration — the energy of Disneyland.
“Anyone at Disneyland, when you go out, you have sparkle in your eyes because of the human touch and the storytelling,” he said. “What if we bring both together, the storytelling, the American welcome on one hand and French curation. I think we really succeeded in that.”
Certainly, Bellaiche was in storyteller mode as guests sipped drinks and poured over high fashion, which included designer gowns to a $5,350 vintage Saint Laurent feather jacket.
While giving a tour of the landmarked Red Room, with its 33-foot tall Art Deco mosaic-covered ceilings, the CEO, an engineer by training, estimated that the room included some 200 million tiles.
And there seems to be a story with each one.
Each section of the store has a distinct feel. Bellaiche knows every detail and is now working to make sure the sales staff knows just as much so they can tell the story as well and help the store carve out its place in Manhattan luxury retail.
“Structurally we know it’s a crowded market, but we also know it’s a market with potential,” he said. “And we also know it’s a market where there is room for something different. I was a New Yorker when Barneys closed and I think there is a void that has not been completely filled.”
Bellaiche also sat for a fireside chat with investment banker Elsa Berry, who is managing director and founder of Vendôme Global Partners and chair of the chamber’s Luxury, Fashion and Beauty Committee.
Berry, a long-time friend of Bellaiche’s, joked with him about his days as a consultant and quizzed him on the competition, AI, President Donald Trump’s threat on 200 percent tariffs on Champagne and more.
All around, the CEO is looking at the long term, thinking about the next 50 years and not the next quarter.
“Whether the U.S. economy is strong or less strong…we’ll make it happen,” he said.
Likewise for the Chinese luxury consumer, who is in the midst of a crisis.
“I’m confident 10 years from now the Chinese will buy more luxury than today,” Bellaiche said. “But it’s difficult, the politics in the world. It’s complicated.”
In the short term, the CEO is focusing on the opening on Thursday and getting the word out about the new store.
Asked about the biggest challenges facing the flagship, he pointed to customer traffic downtown. “This is the neighborhood of tomorrow. This is becoming the neighborhood of today, but not yet.”
The Printemps brand is also “not very well known” in the U.S., and difficult for many Americans to pronounce.
In part, Bellaiche is looking to overcome those realities with excellence.
“The story is the best, the curation is the best, the food is the best. The service needs to be the best in terms of generosity, storytelling, welcoming smile. I mentioned Disney with the sparkle, the sparkle has to come also from the human touch.”