The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) long and 70 metres (230 ft) wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is located. It is known for its theatres, cafés, and luxury shops, as the finish of the Tour de France cycling race, as well as for its annual Bastille Day military parade. The name is French for the Elysian Fields, the place for dead heroes in Greek mythology. It has been described as the "most beautiful avenue in the whole world".
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appearance in the middle of the 19th century, and permanently reshaped shopping habits, and the definition of service and luxury. Similar developments were under way in London, in Paris and in New York (Stewart's).
Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street.
Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. is a Spanish multinational clothing company headquartered in Arteixo, Galicia, Spain. Inditex, the biggest fast fashion group in the world, operates over 7,200 stores in 93 markets worldwide. The company's flagship brand is Zara, but it also owns a number of other brands such as Zara Home, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Uterqüe and Lefties. The majority of its stores are corporate-owned, while franchises are mainly conceded in countries where corporate properties cannot be foreign-owned.
La Maison Simons, commonly known as Simons, is a fashion retailer in Canada, headquartered in Quebec City, Quebec. It is a family business currently operated by Richard and Peter Simons. The business was established in 1840 by the son of a Scottish immigrant to Quebec as a dry goods store. In the 1960s, the focus of the business changed to a department store, incorporating youth-oriented brands. Beginning in 1981, La Maison Simons began an expansion across Quebec. In 2012, the company expanded its business to the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta first, before opening several more stores across Canada. The success of the location at the West Edmonton Mall led to the company being sought out as a key anchor tenant at malls across Canada. Primarily a privately held firm, La Maison Simons received outside investment for the first time in its history in 2018 when it sought to open a distribution centre in Quebec City.
Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited is a Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. The original William Ashton & Co. store in Quebec City, Lower Canada operated as a fur shop. The company serviced the greater North American and European markets with its mail order catalog beginning in the late 1800s, and was appointed Furriers in Ordinary to several members of the British royal family from 1886 to 1921.
The 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. In 2019, Galeries Lafayette recorded earnings of over five billion euros. It is a part of the company Groupe Galeries Lafayette and has been a member of the International Association of department stores since 1960.
Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products with nearly 340 brands, along with its own private label, Sephora Collection, and includes beauty products such as cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, nail color, beauty tools, body lotions and haircare.
A big-box store is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The term "big-box" references the typical appearance of buildings occupied by such stores.
Uniqlo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.
Decathlon is a French sporting goods retailer. With over 2,080 stores in 56 countries and regions (2023), it is the largest sporting goods retailer in the world.
JD Sports Fashion plc, commonly known as JD Sports, JD or JD Group is a British sports-fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The Pentland Group owns 55% of the company.
Maille is a brand of mustards originated in Marseille, France, in 1723. As a subsidiary of multinational consumer goods company Unilever, which manufactures the mustard at plants globally, the company now also markets cornichons, stoneware, salad dressings, kitchen gifts and oils under the Maille brand—in company stores, through global distribution agreements and online, since 2007.
Colette was a French high fashion, streetwear, and accessory retailer. The three floor 8,000 square feet (740 m2) concept store was located in Paris and contained an exhibition space, bookshop, and a "water bar" serving more than 100 brands of bottled water. It closed permanently in December 2017. Colette's logo was two blue dots.
Longchamp is a French leather goods company, founded in Paris in 1948 by Jean Cassegrain. The company pioneered luxury leather-covered pipes before expanding into small leather goods. Longchamp debuted women's handbags in 1971, becoming one of France's leading leather goods makers. Today, the company designs and manufactures leather and canvas handbags, luggage, shoes, travel items, fashion accessories, and women's ready-to-wear. The house is privately owned and managed by the Cassegrain founding family and does business in 80 countries through around 1,500 retail outlets.
B. S. Nagesh is an Indian businessman and the founder of the Trust for Retailers and Retail Associates of India (TRRAIN). He is the chairman of the department store chain Shoppers Stop, having been with store since its inception in 1991. He has been the guiding force since the opening of the first store in Andheri, Mumbai, and the chain now has a national presence of 74 stores in 35 cities across India.
The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap, is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company operates four primary divisions: Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta. Gap Inc. is the largest specialty retailer in the United States, and is 3rd in total international locations, behind Inditex Group and H&M. As of early 2023, Gap employs about 95,000 people.
The hôtel de Villeroy, also the hôtel de Villeroy Bourbon or hôtel de la Poste, is a hôtel particulier, a type of large townhouse of France, at 34 rue des Bourdonnais, 9 rue des Déchargeurs, 17 rue des Halles in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. It is a designated monument historique.
The retail format influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services are exchanged. In some parts of the world, the retail sector is still dominated by small family-run stores, but large retail chains are increasingly dominating the sector, because they can exert considerable buying power and pass on the savings in the form of lower prices. Many of these large retail chains also produce their own private labels which compete alongside manufacturer brands. Considerable consolidation of retail stores has changed the retail landscape, transferring power away from wholesalers and into the hands of the large retail chains.
Department stores are an established retail format globally. The format has origins in France, the United Kingdom and United States, among many others.
