INNOvative Retail BV, (commonly referred to as Inno, and formerly known as Galeria Inno) is an upmarket Belgian

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

chain that operations sixteen branches around Belgium.

History

In May 1897, ''A l'Innovation'' opened in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. The department store was founded by Julien Bernheim. The chain is a founding member of the

International Association of Department Stores The International Association of Department Stores (IADS) is a retail trade association founded in 1928 by a group of department stores with the goal of introducing modern management methods derived from the scientific management movement to the ...

, but membership ended in 2001.

Emile Bernheim Emile Bernheim (1886–1985) was a Belgian industrialist. For more than half a century he was the president of the store '' A l'innovation'' in Brussels, which he founded in 1897 in Brussels. Soon other stores followed in Liège (1899), Verviers ...

(son of Julien and president of Inno from the 1920's) was president of the association in 1931, 1935, 1950 and 1960. In 1925, following the death of Julien Bernheim, his son Émile Bernheim became head of the company. The ''Rue Neuve'' flagship (constructed between 1901 and 1903 and designed by

Victor Horta Victor Pierre Horta (; Victor, Baron Horta after 1932; 6 January 1861 – 8 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. He was a fervent admirer of the French architectural theoris ...

) was destroyed in a fire in 1967 which killed either 251 or 325 people depending on the source. The incident is however the deadliest fire in Belgian history. It was after this incident that the department store rebranded from ''Innovation'' to ''Inno''. ''Inno'' expanded into France in March 1962 with a

hypermarket A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In ...

format, however in 1964 due to poor sales a majority stake in ''Inno-France'' was sold to

Galeries Lafayette Galeries Lafayette () is an upmarket French department store chain, the biggest in Europe. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates a number of locations in France and other countries ...

. The management of the stores was taken over by ''Galeries Lafayette'' in 1965, in 1971 the stake was upped to 88% and Inno no longer held shares in the company. The management of Inno France was taken over by

Monoprix Monoprix S.A. () is a major French retail chain with its headquarters in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, near Paris. The company's stores combine food retailing with fashion, beauty and home products. History The company was founded in 19 ...

and in 2013 the final ''Inno-France'' stores were closed. In 1969, the company merged with ''Bon Marché'' (unrelated to the French ''Le Bon Marché'') to create ''Inno-BM''. Then in 1974 Inno-BM merges with GB to create ''GB-Inno-BM'' (later renamed to

GIB Group GIB Group (''G''rand Bazar ''I''nnovation ''B''on Marché) was a Belgian conglomerate, consisting of various retail and restaurant chains that existed until 2002. GIB Group owned GB (Grand Bazar) super/hypermarkets, Brico (home improvement/DI ...

Galeria Kaufhof Galeria Kaufhof GmbH was a German department store chain, headquartered in Cologne. It was a member of the International Association of Department Stores from 1930 to 2010, with various CEOs acting as presidents of the Association over time. Un ...

purchased the chain in April 2001, with this ''Galeria'' was added to the chain's name to become ''Galeria Inno''. In 2015,

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

purchased a majority of Galeria Kaufhof from

Metro AG Metro AG is a German multinational company based in Düsseldorf which operates business membership-only cash and carry stores primarily under the Metro brand. , Metro is operating 626 wholesale stores in 21 countries, including Europe and P ...

. In 2018, Galeria Kaufhof merged with

Karstadt Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH was a German department store chain whose headquarters were in Essen. Until 30 September 2010 the company was a subsidiary of Arcandor, Arcandor AG (which was known until 30 June 2007 as KarstadtQuelle AG) and was respo ...

to form

Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof GmbH (), based in Essen, Germany, is the second largest department store group in Europe, with 92 locations and 18,000 employees. The company was formed in 2018 with the merger of two of Germany's most historic department ...

. In 2019, HBC divested it's shares in the company and

Signa Holding Signa Holding GmbH (stylized SIGNA) is Austria's largest privately owned real estate company. Signa Holding GmbH announced insolvency proceedings at the end of November 2023. The company will apply for self-administration restructuring proceed ...

took full control. The chain rebranded from ''Galeria Inno'' to ''Inno'' in 2021 and for the first time the brand opened a

web shop Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the ...

. A new store format also began to be rolled out across the brand beginning with the Schoten branch in 2020. Plans to sell ''Galeria Inno'' were announced in late 2023. In July 2024, ''Axcent'' (Swedish retail group, majority shareholder of

Åhléns Åhléns () is a chain of Swedish department stores. With locations in almost every city in the country, including 18 in Stockholm alone , it is the fourth largest group of fashion stores in Sweden. History Åhléns began as a mail order bu ...

) and ''Skel'' (Icelandic investment group) announced they would purchase the company for an undisclosed amount.

Locations

INNO operates 16 department stores throughout

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, of which four are located in

: ''Inno''

Bascule A bascule is a counterbalanced structure (i.e. a lever) having one end that rises as the other lowers. It may also refer to: * Bascule bridge, a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span in providing clearance for b ...

, ''Inno'' Louise, ''Inno'' Rue Neuve, and ''Inno''

Woluwe The Woluwe (; ) is a stream that flows through several municipalities in the south-east and east of Brussels, Belgium, and is a right tributary of the Senne in Vilvoorde. The Kleine (little) Maalbeek is a tributary of the Woluwe in Kraainem. M ...

References

External links

* Retail companies of Belgium Companies based in Brussels {{retail-company-stub de:A l'innovation