Galeries Lafayette to Shutter 2 Stores

PARIS — Facing fierce online competition, and the withering spending power of French consumers, Galeries Lafayette said it plans to shutter its money-losing stores in Béziers and Thiais. A question mark also hangs over the Lille location, unprofitable since it opened in 2007 and slated to shutter unless the French retailer succeeds in renegotiating its lease at its current locations. The outcome of talks is to be revealed in the coming weeks. The department store operator unveiled the reorganization project to its employees this week, characterizing it as part of its transformation plan titled “Ambitions 2020.” Sources peg the total number of affected employees in Béziers and Thiais at less than 300. About 130 jobs hang in the balance in Lille. The retailer said it must also reduce heavy fixed costs at its head office, in consultation with works councils as is required in France. Nicolas Houzé, chief executive officer of Groupe Galeries Lafayette’s department-store division, blamed a morose economic context for the closures, saying the retailer must “accelerate its reinvention” to become France omnichannel reference for fashion, and a banner of style in international capitals, with Milan among the next key openings. Galeries Lafayette continues to invest in France, and has taken over the lease

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