Opened in 1870 and closed in 2005, La Samaritaine was once one of the grandest department stores in Paris with an Art Nouveau facade and soaring glass atrium.
LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods group, bought a majority stake in the landmark store in 2001, assuming full ownership in 2010. Located between the Louvre and Notre Dame, the store has been re-named La Samaritaine Paris Pont-Neuf by DFS. After a $1.2 billion (US$894 million) renovation and the addition of a wavy facade extension, courtesy of Sanaa, the Pritzer Prize-winning Japanese architects, the result exceeds its former glory days.
La Samaritaine is the DFS Group’s second branded store in Europe after T Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice. With 420 locations worldwide, the travel retail multinational attracted more than 160 million travellers a year worldwide before the Covid-19 pandemic and is majority-owned by LVMH.
At 3,400 square metres, the basement floor of La Samaritaine is the largest beauty hall in continental Europe. Over 200 luxury beauty brands are on show, including Chanel, Dior, Guerlain and Dolce & Gabbana. The Pure Beauty (Beaute Pure) section is the home of fashion-forward and gender-neutral brands such as Aesop, The Ordinary, Le Labo, Westman Atelier and Dermalogica.
The Helena Rubinstein skincare brand, owned by L’Oréal, returns to La Samaritaine, alongside Asian favourites such as Shiseido’s Cle de Peau, SK-II and AmorePacific’s Sulwhasoo and La Prairie.
Master classes will be held at the Makeup Bar, where customers can also “play” with a select group of brands, including Charlotte Tilbury, Christian Louboutin, Hermes and Tom Ford.
The House of Perfume is for big spenders only with luxury fragrances priced from 3000 euros ( AUD$4,715) to 30,000 euros (AUD$47,155), including limited edition juices from Bulgari, Tiffany and La Haute Parfumerie de Guerlain. Nearby are more wallet-friendly perfumes from Jo Malone, Diptyque, Frederic Malle and Maison Francis Kurkdjian.
Beauty services are a major attraction for those in need of pampering, including the Cinque Mondes Spa and Studio de Beaute – a 165 square metre sanctuary devoted to natural beauty, hair, hand and foot treatments.
Unique to department stores in France, the beauty advisors work for La Samaritaine and are brand-agnostic to help customers across all their choices.
In September, a luxury 5 star hotel, the Cheval Blanc Paris, will open adjacent to La Samaritaine. Both are must-sees when tourists return en masse to Paris.