Paris beats London for new international retail openings in 2015

By

Corentin Chauvel

Published
Nov 19, 2015

Despite London's dynamism, this year Paris attracted a greater number of medium-range and premium retailers wishing to establish themselves in Europe, according to real estate consultants Savills. 

29 foreign retailers have in fact opened, or are going to open, in Paris, compared to 26 in London. A slim lead for the French capital, which was beaten 33 to 24 in 2014. 

Among the notable new entries in Paris, there is US watch brand Nixon, Chinese ready-to-wear apparel by S.Deer and its jewellery compatriot APM Monaco, whereas London saw the arrival of Italian fashion brand Dsquared2 and the renowned Alexander Wang in 2015. 

How did the French capital manage to get the better of its British rival this year? "Paris manages to hold its own because it is currently the European capital that attracts the highest number of Chinese tourists," Christian Nehmé, Director of Retail Operations for Savills France explained to French daily Le Figaro. "As leisure travellers, the Chinese are first-rate customers because they spend lavishly," he added. 

A word of caution though: "if the British government were to lower visa costs for the Chinese, within two or three years London could edge ahead of Paris again," according to Nehmé.