Printemps men’s prepares for its Haussmann debut

By

Jean-Paul Leroy

Published
Feb 12, 2016

Crisis or no crisis, disaffected tourists following terrorism or not… Either way, the big stores that make up Haussmann Boulevard are not going out without a fight - even if they are on the offensive. If les Galeries Lafayette isn’t missing a modernisation project, the Printemps is not resting either. 

And what is starting to emerge is a revolution resembling the transformation of that of the women’s store.
 
It concerns the 2017 arrival of the Printemps men’s section on boulevard Haussmann. What is currently housed by the beauty, home and kids sections will be taken over by men’s, in the store located at the corner of de Provence and de Caumartin.

You know the tables have turned when the men’s section wins 4000 square meters, going from 7000 square meters to 11 000 square meters. A necessary expansion given the jump in the men’s market according to the store.

But that’s not all. The store wants to make its location a benchmark for architectural concepts, clarity and pleasure. Therefore, Printemps has called upon the Canadian-American architecture firm, Yabu Pushelberg, who has involved two former young collaborators from Toronto, from the firm, Uufie.
 
Yabu Pusherlberg is no stranger to Printemps. He previously created the 3 floors of accessories in the women’s section of the Haussman location.
 
The architectural objective was to open the atrium on all 10 floors to allow shoppers to see the whole and each floors departments. 
 
In order to do this, it was decided that a vertical dome, also called a veil, by Ion Metulesco, Printemps architecture director and engineer, would be installed. They had to open up the heart of the store to install the 30-meter-high dome, which runs from the second floor to the top. The bottom floors were covered. The veil weights 24 tonnes and is composed of 17 200 eye-catching pedals.
 
About twenty new stainless steel escalators are also being installed, at the same time. “It was important to have an interior point of sales that was compliant with the quality of our renovations,” says Printemps architecture director.
 
The men’s section should be ready by the beginning of 2017. The whole switch necessitated an investment of 100 million euros. This is a must see!