Galeries Lafayette opens its doors in Istanbul

The long-awaited Istanbul opening has finally taken place. The first Turkish franchise of the Galeries Lafayette has just opened its doors, via its local partner, the Demsa group. The 9500-square-metre store welcomed its first visitors at the end of May, at the Emaar Square mall.

The opening was announced in 2012 after the partnership was agreed, but delayed until now. "A few weeks after the BHV Marais opening in Dubai, the opening of this new flagship in Istanbul is strengthening our position is the Near and Middle East, regions where there is strong demand for our brand," said CEO Nicolas Houzé of the inauguration.

Over the 9500 square metres of fashion, home interiors and beauty products, Istanbul shoppers are bestowed with a wide selection of 400 brands. The area itself is characterised by strong architecture: a stylised dome gives a nod to the famous Parisian flagship on the boulevard Haussman.

After the Turkey opening, the Galeries Lafayette group has just one international franchise project left underway, in Doha. The department store is slated to open at the beginning of 2018. It will be the sixth international location for Galeries Lafayette, which has a presence in Berlin, Dubai, Beijing and Jakarta. A possible new antenna in Iran is currently undergoing consideration, according to information retrieved by FashionNetwork.com, while the group is also rolling out its BHV concept internationally, following the first opening in Dubai several weeks ago.

Galeries Lafayette opens its doors in Istanbul

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