In Au Bonheur Des Dames, émile Zola’s 1883 novel, an entrepreneur who plans to create the grandest department store in Paris is asked a pertinent question. “Was this gigantic shop not a rash and fantastic undertaking?.?.?.?Where would you find the customers to fill this commercial cathedral?”
Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH, faces the same question about La Samaritaine, the grand magasin he is to reopen in April in the heart of Paris after a €750m restoration of its ornate buildings. La Samaritaine was an emblem of the consumer age when it opened in 1870, but operating a department store in the era of ecommerce and fast fashion is perilous.
One answer is by selling fancy jewels. LVMH’s $16.6bn acquisition of Tiffany, the US jewellery chain, adds another maison to Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and many others that will occupy La Samaritaine. Like Octave Mouret, the hero of Zola’s novel, Mr Arnault has faith in the intoxicating effects on shoppers of entering an art nouveau arcade filled with luxuries.