PARIS — LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has created a brand new governance construction reuniting its two Paris department shops, Le Bon Marché and la Samaritaine, after buying the latter from its journey retail division DFS, the posh group stated Friday.
Patrice Wagner, chairman and chief govt officer of Le Bon Marché Group since 2010, has been named head of the brand new unit, in keeping with an inner memo seen by WWD. The reorganization is designed to show round la Samaritaine, which is struggling amid a worldwide slowdown in luxurious spending.
Catherine Newey stays CEO of los angeles Samaritaine and turns into deputy CEO of Le Bon Marché Group. Newey was initially named head of DFS Europe final June after seven years at Le Bon Marché, the place she rose to the position of managing director.
Catherine Newey
Courtesy of LVMH
“This new group illustrates the significance that LVMH attaches to its Paris department shops, for which the group harbors sturdy ambitions,” the posh conglomerate stated.
“La Samaritaine boasts an distinctive location and historic roots within the coronary heart of Paris. Le Bon Marché has solid a robust Parisian identification, mixing creativity, exacting professionalism and a novel buyer expertise. Collectively, they’ll be capable of leverage their complementary property to additional bolster their sturdy positions with distinctive shopper segments,” it added.
In his final press convention as chief monetary officer of LVMH, Jean-Jacques Guiony revealed in January that the group had purchased la Samaritaine from the duty-free retail division, although he didn’t specify when the transaction occurred.
“The enterprise, which was largely aimed toward Chinese language tour teams, is certainly struggling at Samaritaine, and that’s the reason we’re taking it out of the orbit of DFS, which focuses on any such clientele, to be able to reposition it in a extra normal route,” he stated.
Samaritaine
Jared Chulski/Courtesy of Samaritaine
Guiony stated DFS registered losses of “a number of hundred million” euros final yr resulting from unfavorable forex fluctuations. The division introduced in November it was shuttering its Fondaco dei Tedeschi retailer in Venice.
The most recent shakeup comes amid a slew of administration modifications on the luxurious large, which noticed Guiony turn into president of the wines and spirits division. LVMH additionally named a new head of its watch unit Friday.
A retail trade veteran, Wagner joined LVMH from German division retailer chain Karstadt, which has since merged into Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. Underneath his stewardship, Le Bon Marché underwent a major renovation, increasing its ground space by 43,000 sq. ft.
His résumé additionally consists of stints at Berlin division retailer KaDeWe and Galeries Lafayette in Germany. Since January 2021, he additionally oversees LVMH’s elite luggage-maker Rimowa.
