Galeries Lafayette abandons Guiyang, opens in Chongqing’s tallest building

What: Galeries Lafayette plans to enter the burgeoning southwest Chinese market with its first boutique concept store in Chongqing this December.

Why it is important: The company signed a lease with Chongqing 100 Mall, located in International Land-Sea Center, which is set to become the city’s tallest building. The French department store operator’s Chongqing store will total 48,438 sq ft.

They had originally set their eyes on Guiyang, a third-tier city to the south of Chongqing, where they planned on opening a much larger store in a dolphin-shaped shopping mall called D. Place. The store was supposed to open in spring 2021.

Galeries Lafayette entered the China market in 2013, and it currently operates two stores in Shanghai, one in Beijing in partnership with Hong Kong fashion retailer I.T.

Apart from Chongqing and Shenzhen, Galeries Lafayette is also set to launch in Macau later this year at Treasure Island Hotel Macau, a new development anchored to a five-star hotel. The store will take up about 45,000 sq ft and Hong Kong-listed Forward Fashion Holdings will be its retail operator in the city.