France's Citadium eyes female, international shoppers with Champs Elysées store

By

Olivier Guyot

Translated by
Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Jul 6, 2017

This Saturday at midday, Citadium Champs Elysées will open its doors at the famous avenue's number 65 address, in Paris, on July 8. This is the sixth store for the youth streetwear retailer, which targets millennials, as it takes over a 1,664 square metre space, right next to Nike where Tommy Hilfiger used to trade its Paris flagship. 

With this straregic Paris location, the Printemps group-owned retailer has three levels of space, mixing established brands and young emerging designers, a recipe that has contributed to its success after opening its first store in 2010. The new retail location, which is helmed by Raphaël Grillat -- with previous links to luxury fashion and hospitality, plans to strengthen its young women's offering.

"Last year, our womenswear sales increased 11% while menswear remained steady at 5%. Womenswear represents today around 15% of total sales and we have strong hopes of achieving parity," explained Sophie Bocquet, the retailer's head.

To do so, Citadium has ventured into new arenas. The retailer has set up its first cosmetics counter with Nyx.

"This brand corresponds perfectly with our customers," explained Bocquet. "It's an American brand that is part of the L'Oreal group, and it has built a big name with millennials thanks to its strong social media presence."

The new beauty bar looks out directly over the Champs Elysées avenue with a space made up of four mirrors allowing clients to test and try out make-up products.

Citadium is also pushing its young French brands and opened a Grace et Mila ready-to-wear space, as well as one for the jewellery brand Emma & Chloé, both emerging French designers. This feminine touch extends to the sneakers floor too with a section set apart for female kicks, featuring brands such Puma with its Fenty model, as well as New Balance and Reebok.

Focalising on hundreds of brands, the retailer's global offering also hopes to capture the attention of international customers and those with a taste for streetwear, which has the potential to make up 50% of total shoppers.

On the ground floor, the Funky Town area stocks a number of accessories and gadgets. The streetwear ensemble includes Thrasher, Obey -- with an exclusive stocking of the "Liberté Egalité Fraternité" t-shirt, Santa Cruz and Fila, as well as Human With Attitude and t-shirts by Atelier Amelot. A 30 square-metre area is also dedicated to Carharrt, which is one of the pillar brands of the retail chain.

On the basement level, the shoe offering covers 350 square metres and stocks exclusives from Vans, Converse, Puma, Asics Tiger and, from autumn this year, Nike. Finally, on the first floor in prime position with the beauty space, there's the Boys Lab and Girls Town selections, with an edit of products from various labels, sitting right next to the Levi's and Superdry counters.