Printemps
Encyclopedia
Printemps is a French department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
.
The flagship Printemps store is located on Boulevard Haussmann
Boulevard Haussmann
Boulevard Haussmann, running from the 8th to the 9th arrondissement,is one of the wide tree-lined boulevards created in Paris during the Second French Empire by Baron Haussmann, with enthusiastic support from Napoleon III....
in the IXe arrondissement
IXe arrondissement
The 9th arrondissement , located on the Right Bank, is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, France. It contains many places of cultural, historical, and architectural interest, including the Palais Garnier, home to the Paris Opera, Boulevard Haussmann and its large department stores of Galeries...
of Paris along with other well-known department stores like Galeries Lafayette
Galeries Lafayette
- History :In 1893 Théophile Bader and his cousin Alphonse Kahn opened a fashion store in a small haberdasher's shop at the corner of rue La Fayette and the Chaussée d'Antin, Paris. In 1896, the company purchased the entire building at n°1 rue La Fayette and in 1905 the buildings at n°38, 40 et...
. There are other Printemps stores in Paris and throughout France. In addition, the store has opened branches outside France, in locations including Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
, the Ginza
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 known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...
shopping district in Tokyo and Jeddah
Jeddah
Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
. The store in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
which opened in 1980s, and the one in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
which opened in 1993 are closed.
The only North American branch was a franchised location in Denver, Colorado, at the Broadway Plaza Shopping Center
Broadway Plaza (Denver)
Broadway Plaza, also known as Broadway InterPlaza, located near Broadway and Alameda in Denver, Colorado, was a retail complex most notable as the only North American location of the French department store Printemps. The store was open for approximately 16 months before failing, and the building...
, which opened in 1987. It is now closed.
Printemps was previously owned by the PPR group
PPR (company)
PPR is a French multinational holding company specializing in retail shops and luxury brands. The company was founded in 1963 by the businessman François Pinault and is now run by his son François-Henri Pinault. It is quoted on Euronext Paris and is a constituent of the CAC 40 index...
, the parent company of Gucci
Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...
and FNAC
FNAC
FNAC may refer to:* the fine needle aspiration cytology, a medical diagnosis technique;* the Fnac, a French cultural and consumer retailer...
.
The figures of the Four Seasons on the façade were sculpted by French sculptor Henri Chapu
Henri Chapu
Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu was a French sculptor in a modified Neoclassical tradition who was known for his use of allegory in his works.-Life and career:...
.
Jaluzot was replaced as owner in 1900 by Gustave Laguionie, after the business came close to collapse. In the early 20th century, the building was then extended along the Boulevard Haussmann by architect René Binet in an art nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
style. The building burned down, and its interior was rebuilt in the 1920s.
A remarkable feature of the Haussmann store is an elaborate cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
above the main restaurant in the store, installed during the 1923 reconstruction. In 1939, to avoid the risk that it would be destroyed in bombing attacks, the cupola was dismantled and stored at Clichy
Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine
-Administration:The canton covers a part of the commune; the other is in the northern part of Levallois-Perret-Twinnings: Heidenheim, Germany, since 1959 Sankt Pölten, Austria, since 1968 Santo Tirso, Portugal, since 1991 Rubí, Spain, since 2005 Southwark, United Kingdom, since 2005Clichy has also...
. 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.
Their slogan, invented in 1996, is "Au Printemps, nous avons des vêtements!", which is sung as a catchy jingle on advertisements.
History
Printemps (French for “Spring,” as in the season) was founded in 1865, by Jules Jaluzot and Jean-Alfred Duclos. The store was designed by noted architects Jules and Paul Sédille and opened at the corner of Le Havre and Boulevard HaussmannBoulevard Haussmann
Boulevard Haussmann, running from the 8th to the 9th arrondissement,is one of the wide tree-lined boulevards created in Paris during the Second French Empire by Baron Haussmann, with enthusiastic support from Napoleon III....
, in Paris France on 3 November 1865. The building was greatly expanded in 1874, and elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s (then a great novelty) from the 1867 Universal Exposition were installed. Rebuilt after a fire in 1881, the store became the first to use electric lighting, in 1888. (Customers could observe the workings of the power plant behind a glass wall.) It was also one of the first department stores with direct subway
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
access, the Metro being connected in 1904.
The policies of Printemps revolutionized retail 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 grand magasins (literally “big store,” department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
) Printemps used the economies of scale to provide high quality goods at prices that the expanding middle-classes could afford. They also pioneered the idea discount sales to clear out dated stocks, 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 each Spring and championing the new Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
style, with its nature inspired motifs.
In 1904, a near collapse of the business led to the resignation of Jaluzot. He was succeeded by Gustave Languionie who the following year announced the construction of a second store. This location, designed by architect Rene Binet, opened five years later and is famously dominated by a glass domed hall 42 meters in height, and a noted Art Nouveau staircase. (Removed in 1955.) The first store outside of Paris was opened in 1912 in Deauville. Peter Laguionie, son of Gustave took the helm of the store in 1920, rebuilding it after another large fire in 1921. In 1931, Printemps created the discount chain Prisunic. 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 is transformed into a limited corporation, with controlling interest acquired by the Maus Frères Group. Led by Jean-Jacques Delort the firm embarks on a turnaround strategy, creating specialty stores and brands (such as Armand Thierry clothing) and branching out into retail areas such as food (Disco), and mail ( La Redoute ). In the 1980s, the brand went global, opening stores in Japan, Istanbul, Jeddah, Dubai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
Printemps and its subsidiaries were acquired in 1991 by François Pinault and merged with other holding into Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (and now PPR). The Printemps stores focus on beauty, lifestyle, fashion, accessories, and men’s wear. In 1997 a complete renovation of the flagship store was completed. In 2006, PPR sold Printemps to the Borletti group.
On 16 December 2008, the Paris department store Printemps Haussmann was evacuated following a bomb threat from the terrorist group FRA (Afghan Revolutionary Front). The demining services found five sticks of dynamite in the toilet of the store. The FRA claims this assassination attempt and demanded the withdrawal of 3000 French soldiers currently deployed in Afghanistan.