Printemps is a French luxury
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 founded in 1865, which focuses on beauty, lifestyle, fashion and accessories. The flagship store "le
Printemps Haussmann" is located on
Boulevard Haussmann in the
9th arrondissement of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. The holding company Printemps Group has been owned by the Luxembourg-based,
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
i-backed investment fund Divine Investments SA since 2013
As of 2025, Printemps operates nineteen stores in France (including two in Paris, and two outlet stores), as well as two international locations in
Doha
Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
, Qatar and
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, United States. The company was a founder 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 ...
as well as one of its members from 1928 until 1997.
Early history
The first Printemps store (now commonly known as "
Printemps Haussmann"), was opened on 3 November 1865.
Founded by Jules Jaluzot and Jean-Alfred Duclos,
Jaluzot was previously head of the silk department at
Au Bon Marché. Jaluzots wife Augustine Jaluzot (née Figeac) an actress and member of the
Comédie Française, financed the stores opening.
The store had a large expansion in 1874 which included the addition of
hydraulic elevators.
The policies of Printemps revolutionised
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...
business practices. The store marked items with set prices and eschewed the haggling based on customer appearance that had previously been standard in retail shopping. Like other (,
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 ...
s), Printemps used the economies of scale to provide high quality goods at prices that the expanding
middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
could afford. They also pioneered the idea of discount sales to clear outdated stock, and later the use of window models to display the latest fashions. Printemps was noted for its branding innovations as well, handing out bouquets of violets on the first day of spring and championing the new
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
style, with its nature inspired motifs.
In 1881 the store caught on fire causing the entire building to be destroyed, but after the fire the store was rebuilt with the new building designed by architects Jules and
Paul Sédille.
The figures of the ''Four Seasons'' on the ''façade'' were sculpted by French sculptor
Henri Chapu. The store also became the first to use electric lighting with the rebuild and customers were even able to observe the
power station
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
behind a glass wall.
"Comptoirs d'exportation" (export counters) were opened in Yokohama (1887 - Japan), Avricourt (1872 - Alsace-Lorraine) and Tangiers (1891 - Morocco).
20th century history
First half
The store became one of the first department stores with direct
metro access when the
Métro was connected in 1904.
In 1905 Jules Jaluzot resigned from his position after causing the near collapse of the business, being accused of embezzling funds and his involvement in a sugar market manipulation scandal.
He was succeeded by Gustave Laguionie, who announced the construction of a second store in 1905. Designed by architect René Binet, the store opened five years later and was dominated by a glass domed hall 42 meters in height and an
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
staircase which was later removed in 1955. The first store outside of Paris was opened in 1912 in
Deauville
Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...
.
Pierre Laguionie, the son of Gustave, took the helm of the store in 1920, rebuilding it after another large fire in 1921. In 1923 with the reconstruction of the Haussmann store an elaborate
cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout.
The word derives, via Ital ...
was installed above the main restaurant. Pierre Laguionie was the first president 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 ...
in from 1928 to 1930, a position he held again in from 1937 to 1938 and 1952 to 1953. Jean Vignéras held the position from 1962 to 1963 and Jean-Jacques Delort was president from 1981 to 1982.
In 1931, Printemps created the discount chain
Prisunic. In 1939 to avoid the risk of the cupola being destroyed in bombing attacks it was dismantled and stored at
Clichy. It was restored in 1973 by the grandson of its original designer, using plans that had been kept in the archives of the family business. In 1975, the ''façade'' and cupola of the building were registered as historical monuments.
In 1946, Printemps alongside
Åhlén & Holm, Au Grand Passage (
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
), Bon Marché (
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 ...
), Grands Magasins
Jelmoli, L'Innovation (
Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
),
Rinascente, S.A.P.A.C. (Printemps purchasing association) and
Selfridges
Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...
founded the Intercontinental Group of Department Stores.
Second half
By 1970 there were 23 Printemps locations and 13 Prisunic discount outlets. The oil-price driven French economic crisis of the early 1970s significantly threatened Printemps business model, in response the firm was transformed into a limited corporation with a controlling interest acquired by
Maus Fréres, a Swiss
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
. During the 1970s Jean-Jacques Delort led the company on a turnaround strategy creating specialty stores and brands (such as Armand Thierry clothing) and branching out into different areas such as food and mail. The Lefroid department store in
Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
was rebranded to Printemps in 1984.
In 1991 Printemps and its subsidiaries were acquired by
François Pinault and merged with other holdings into Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR, was renamed
Kering in 2013). Printemps spent $40 million to renovate the flagship Haussmann store in 1997 the renovation redesigned the entire store and also added TV screens and music listening stations around the store whilst also refreshing the brands that the store stocked.
21st century history
2000s
In 2006 Printemps was sold to the Italian Borletti Group (with equity partner
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
...
), they then made major investments to revamp stores.
On 16 December 2008, the Paris department store
Printemps Haussmann was evacuated following a
bomb threat
A bomb threat or bomb scare is a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, injuries, and/or incite fear, whether or not such a device actually exists.
History
Bomb threats ...
from the terrorist group FRA (Afghan Revolutionary Front). The demining services found five sticks of dynamite in the toilet of the store. The FRA claimed this assassination attempt and demanded the withdrawal of 3,000 French soldiers deployed in Afghanistan.
2010s
On 31 July 2013, Divine Investments SA (DiSA) a Luxembourg-based Qatari-backed investment fund bought Printemps On 4 August 2013 labor organisations in France asked the Paris prosecutor's office to open a preliminary inquiry into the sale, in response to a complaint from labour representatives.
On 8 August the French court rejected the request to stop the sale.
On 15 January 2014, Printemps opened its first new store in 32 years at the
Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall in Paris.
The store closed in 2023.
The next year a new store opened at Polygone Riviera in
Cagnes-sur-Mer
Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; ) is a French Riviera town near Nice that is in the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France.
Geography
Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in southeaste ...
.
2020s
In 2020 due to the
COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
it was announced that four Printemps stores would close (
Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
,
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
,
Metz
Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...
&
Place d'Italie). An outlet opened at the
McArthurGlen Paris-Giverny mall in mid-2024. In November 2024 it was revealed that Printemps would be forced to close the Polygone Riviera store with the centres new owners planning on converting it into entertainment park
Store locations
As of 2025, Printemps operates nineteen stores in France (including two outlet locations), along with two international locations in
Doha
Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
, Qatar and
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, United States.
International expansion
Africa and the Middle East
In the 1930s a store opened in
Antananarivo
Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...
,
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
, the store was later converted into a Prisunic. A Printemps store opened in
Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...
, Saudi Arabia in 1984.
Printemps Doha opened in November 2022 at
Doha Oasis in
Doha, Qatar
Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It is also Qatar's ...
.
The store is the largest department store in the Middle East at over and the brands second largest store it includes 14 restaurants and over 200 brands exclusive to the store.
The store is a franchise ran by a company related to Printemps owner Disa.
Asia
In 1981 the company started an international expansion by franchising stores it started with the opening of a location in
Kobe
Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...
, Japan, they continued the expansion a year later opening a store in
Sapporo
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...
. Magasins Réunis in
Nancy was rebranded to Printemps in 1983. Printemps expanded to Singapore with its first store located at the ground floor of the newly built
Le Méridien Hotel on
Orchard Road
Orchard Road, often known colloquially as simply Orchard, is a major -long road in the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area of Singapore. A famous tourist attraction, it is an upscale shopping area, with numerous internationally renowned de ...
.
Owned by Town & City Properties Ltd,
the store opened on 8 September 1983
and closed on 24 December 1989 with 65 of its staff being retrenched.
Printemps expanded to Malaysia under an exclusive 25-year franchise agreement
with Larut Tin Fields Berhad
through its subsidiary City Chemist Holdings.
Its first store at
Damansara Jaya,
Petaling Jaya
Petaling Jaya (), colloquially referred to as "PJ", is a city in Petaling District, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Originally developed as a Satellite city, satellite township for Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, it is part of the G ...
opened on 26 July 1984,
with a second store at
Kuala Lumpur Plaza set to open in late 1984.
Two more stores opened in Japan in Ginza and Osaka.
In 1988 two new locations opened in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, Turkey and
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
, South Korea.
In 1994 a store opened in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
, Thailand at
Seri Center.
In 1995 a location opened in
Taipei
, nickname = The City of Azaleas
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country ...
, the store opened under a franchise agreement and was operated by the Taiwan-based Jieh Enterprises.
Printemps also expanded into China in June 1995 with a six floor store opening on
Huaihai Road in
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
.
Plans were announced for two more Chinese stores to open in 1996 (
Dalian
Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...
,
Chengdu
Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
) and then a Beijing store in 1997.
In 2013, the Beijing-based
Wangfujing Department Store which was a rival of Printemps in China acquired Printemps China (PCD Stores). In 2017 the last international store closed in
Ginza, Tokyo
Ginza ( ; ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous international ...
and was converted into an extension of the nearby Marronnier Gate department store, the closing of the store ended a period of international expansion around the world.
The company is currently looking to open a store in
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
and is aiming to have 5-10 new stores by 2030 all of which will be located outside of France.
Europe
In 1991 a store opened in
Cascais
Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera, Estoril Coast. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Port ...
, Portugal.
United States

Printemps opened its first store in the United States on 6 November 1987, at the
Broadway Plaza in
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
,
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
. The store was approximately , and included a French bistro. Business slowed after the first few months, and a shuttle bus operated to transport customers from Downtown Denver. The store closed in April 1989.
In September 2022, Printemps announced that they would open a two-level at
One Wall Street in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
The store held a grand opening attended by ''
Vogue'' editor-in-chief
Anna Wintour
Dame Anna Wintour ( ; born 3 November 1949) is a British-American media executive, who has been serving as editor-in-chief of '' Vogue'' since 1988. Wintour has also served as global chief content officer of Condé Nast since 2020, where she o ...
and Printemps Group president Jean-Marc Bellaiche on 21 March 2025.
It was designed by Laura Gonzalez and
Gregory Gourdet is its culinary director.
The location is designed to be the
pied-à-terre to the Paris Haussmann store,
it also contains the landmarked Red Room with mosaics designed by
Hildreth Meière.
The
Deauville
Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...
branch acted as a testing space for Printemps New York following its 2023 renovation as like the New York store it now contains no leased
store-within-a-store
A store-within-a-store, also referred to as store-in-store (North America) or shop-in-shop (U.K. et al.), refers to a space within a larger retail store, designated for use by a specific brand to feature its products, clearly branded with signs ...
spaces. At opening, the boudoir department (vintage clothing, evening-wear, couture, fine jewellery) featured an exhibition of
Jean Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 June 1952) is a French haute couture and Ready-to-wear, prêt-à-porter fashion designer.
He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs in ...
pieces.
The American online store will launch in late 2025.
In May 2025 Laura Lendrum stepped down as CEO of Printemps America, joining the Printemps America advisory board as chairman.
Lendrum had been in the role since 2021, she was replaced Thierry Prevost.
Prevost was previously the managing director of Printemps New York and general manager of Printemps Doha.
Cancelled plans
In the early-mid 1980s there were plans to open in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
however these plans never eventuated.
A franchise in
Ratu Plaza,
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
which was supposed to open in 1998 was under construction but due to the
Asian financial crisis
The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide economic meltd ...
and the
May 1998 riots the store did not open.
In May 2019 plans were announced to open a store in
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan. It would be 2,500 square metres and would open in 2021,
but due to the COVID-19 Pandemic plans were scrapped.
Gallery
File:Léon & Lévy, Grands magasins du Printemps, c. 1889.jpg, The Printemps Haussmann with its new façade,
File:Au Printemps, Paris December 2011.jpg, One of the Printemps Haussmann's frontage mosaics, reading '' ('At the Printemps')
File:Part of cupola Printemps.jpg, Detail of the cupola above the tearoom of the Printemps Haussmann
File:Printemps Ginza (2007.9.17).jpg, Printemps Ginza in 2007
File:Magasin Printemps Strasbourg liquidation 6 septembre 2021.jpg, Liquidation sale at the Strasbourg store
See also
*
List of works by Henri Chapu
*
Printemps Haussmann
*
List of Printemps store locations
Notes
References
External links
''Printemps France'' official website''Groupe Printemps'' official website*
{{Department stores in the United States
Shops in Paris
Department stores of France
Retail companies of France
Buildings and structures in the 9th arrondissement of Paris
Art Nouveau architecture in Paris
Art Nouveau retail buildings
Commercial buildings completed in 1865
French companies established in 1865
Printemps