Printemps Opens New Paris Store

Printemps, the French department store, has opened its first new store in 32 years, according to Women’s Wear Daily.

The 27,000-square-foot store is in Paris’ Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall, next to the entrance of the Louvre Museum. The two-story space, opposite an Apple store, was previously occupied by a Virgin Megastore.

While significantly smaller than Printemps’ 463,000-square-foot flagship on Boulevard Haussmann, it is counting on drawing from the high amount of traffic that flows into the museum – 9.7 million visitors in 2012, the latest year for which figures are available.

This the first initiative for the 150-year-old retailer since it was acquired last summer by Divine Investments SA, a fund based in Luxembourg and backed Qatari investors. The group plans further openings in France in 2014 and 2015, in Marseille and on the French Riviera, and WWD reports it has set its sights beyond France, as well.