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Introduction

*With Covid, the search for wellness has become increasingly important for consumers. In a survey from McKinsey, the global wellness market was estimated at USD 1.5 trillion in 2021, with a predicted annual growth of 5 to 10%. In this survey, 79% percent of the respondents said they believe that wellness is important, and 42% consider it a top priority.

As a consequence, retailers started to tip toe in this relatively unknown part of the business, in the intersection of beauty, sports practice, health products and services. Selfridges first launched a wellness program in February 2022. Dubbed “Superself”, the initiative included paid sex counselling sessions, confidence coaching sessions and other services to help customers live a “brighter lifestyle”. This month, they are transforming their Corner Shop into “The Feel Good Bar”, a well-being destination focusing on sex and sleep-enhancing products and services. The cinema at Selfridges will also be part of the program, converting into a sleep session area. Health-based experiences like acupuncture sessions, IV drips, bio-hacking, and oxygen therapy will become available later this year. Also in the UK, on top of a cosmeceutical space, Flannels partnered with Barry’s Bootcamp to open a gym in their new Liverpool store. In the US, mental health initiatives developed in the past months for instance at Walmart, CVS and Rite-Aid drugstores.

In France, last year, Monoprix launched “La Santé au Quotidien”, a new department dedicated to products that are in between traditional beauty offerings and medical treatments. In March 2022, Le Printemps Haussmann store also launched a new beauty floor gathering beauty services such as manicures, pedicures, brow services, hair products and a salon, dermo-cosmetics and food supplements, as well as a spa developed with the Face 2 Une beauty tech brand, proposing no gender services through manual massages and machines. Next September, using a more confidential approach, Le Bon Marché will also open a permanent 150 sqm beauty salon.*

Obviously, initiatives are plentiful but Galeries Lafayette goes further than any other department store in the wellness business. Last week, and after a year in the making, they opened the “Wellness Galerie” in their Haussmann store. On 7 July, Alexandre Liot (Haussmann Store Director) and Arthur Lemoine (Offer and Buying Director) unveiled the new floor. The IADS attended the floor visit for you, and we are delighted to report back this exciting member news.

Check out the a collection of pictures of the Wellness Floor here

The Wellness Galerie in a nutshell: sports, beauty, health, wellbeing, and more

This recent move is part of a larger modernisation plan which already witnessed the revamp of the floors: 2 and 3 (women’s fashion), 4 (women’s shoes) and 5 (kid’s wear). The Wellness Galerie is located on the -1 floor where women’s shoes used to sit, and one of the most important floors in terms of traffic. The idea behind such a space is to make wellness accessible to a larger part of consumers as it is still quite segmented to date in France.

With this new 3,000 sqm department, Galeries Lafayette has an ambitious goal: the holistic concept is set to become the destination for well-being in Paris, where people come to think about themselves and do something good for their body and mind. In a nutshell, the Wellness Galerie splits into 3 main areas: a gym studio and a fitness product offer, beauty and health  (services, and a care-oriented beauty store. Many brands are exclusive, and some are introduced for the first time in France.

In terms of architecture, the Wellness Galerie is full of rounded spaces, even using a reverse cupola to mirror the store’s famous one. Curved walls and ball-shaped private rooms echoing the 70s are emphasizing the impression. Walls are usually tiled with earth-tone ceramics. Hardwood and concrete floors come one after another depending on the area.

Galeries Lafayette gets physical

La Source, a Parisian bootcamp studio, is opening a 200 sqm workout space which will offer group coaching, as well as other classes, such as boxing and cardio starting at EUR 30 for a 50-minute class. With its direct access from the subway station, the gym can open outside of the usual operating hours, from 6:30 am to 9:00 pm (the store is open from 10 am to 8:30 pm). A large sitting area, thirty shower cabins, supplied with bath towels, body soap and lockers make the place a true gym.

This part of the floor also includes a trendy yet technical athleisure product offer, the “Fitness Store”. Some 15 responsible brands recognized for their expertise, from big names (Adidas, Under Armour, The North Face, Eres and Wolford) to emerging brands are gathered on a 200 sqm surface: Born Living Yoga and Alo Yoga (exclusive brands), Luz Collections and Girlfriend Collective for fitness and Pilates, Circle for running and Chlore for swimming are completed by Colorful Standard for loungewear and the latest yoga accessories from Bala and Athlé. Finally, Champion Spirit, sports accessories and equipment that connect digitally, are available to shoppers. The “Fitness Store” doesn’t sell sports shoes.

A wide array of services focusing on well-being, care, beauty, and fun

What makes the ‘Wellness Galerie’ special also lies in the plentiful service offers. First, through the “Lobby Wellness”, the “Wellness Team” welcomes customers and guides them in choosing the program that best suits their current objectives. The Wellness Team can also carry out a broader assessment of one’s physical, mental and emotional condition to guide clients toward the right treatment. A dedicated platform on Galeries Lafayette’s website is available to book any service.

When it comes to brands and partners, the space proposes unexpected pure health-related or well-being services such as Aantomik. Created by 2 osteopaths, services combining prevention and treatment such as cryotherapy, hyperbaric chamber, osteopathy, meditation, muscle strengthening, yoga and Pilates in group sessions are available. Many other services oriented towards well-being and beauty are also proposed: Belleyme offers sessions in their infrared saunas for detoxing, disconnecting, and regenerating your body. The famous Martine de Richeville combines Chinese medicine and psychology to remold the body through her special and renowned massage technique that targets fatty deposits, circulation issues, deep skin tissue, and internal organs. L’Institut Nathalie Duarte is a physiotherapist, masseuse, and official trainer of the Renata Franca method. Les Bains du Marais brings ancestral rituals for beauty and well-being thanks to a hammam and a collection of bathing products. And Alexandre de Paris will open a hair salon in the  Wellness Galerie in September.

To improve body figures, Skinneo delivers anti-ageing and silhouette-enhancing treatments by using exclusive technology to care for the face and body. Chronodiète offers nutritional coaching for diet and well-being using a methodology based on chronobiology and the glycemic index to adapt to the rhythm of each person for an efficient weight loss journey.

More oriented towards beauty, the Galeries Lafayette buying team recruited Chillhouse in New York to differentiate their manicure offer. The brand offers fun and accessible body, face, and nail services. Le Boudoir du Regard develops innovative bespoke eyebrow waxing, eyelash and eyebrow dyes, long-lasting eyelash extensions and permanent make-up services to provide structure and harmony to the face. Finally, Djula proposes piercing services with a trendy line of body jewelry made from 18 Carat gold, diamonds and other precious metals and gemstones.

Two “bubble spaces” are available for private bookings. In these two cocoons, customers can celebrate a birthday, a bachelorette or bachelor party, or any other occasion. Some treatments can be organized in the intimacy of the “bubbles” as they can be entirely personalized. Nutrition being a key aspect of wellness, a restaurant, the DS café, has been designed to offer healthy meals and juices, to stay or to go.

The Beauty Store is focusing on care

Central to the floor, the 600 sqm Beauty Store is divided into shop-in-shops and a multi-brand area. New names mix with famous ones that were previously available on the ground floor. The idea here was to leave the tri-axis brands such as Chanel or Dior, the perfume and makeup brands on the ground floor and to move the more care-oriented ones to the Wellness Galerie: for instance Augustinus Bader, Origins, The Ordinary, Clinique, Aesop, Shiseido, Kiehl’s, Aveda, Clarins, Dermalogica, LA:Bruket, Rituals. New brands are introduced such as Seasonly, the 100% clean and vegan French line of beauty products, benefiting from a large area. Sunday Riley provides innovative and exclusive formulas to see rapid results and rebalance skin for the long term. And 111SKIN which reproduces surgical and clinical treatments through innovative formulas.

Brands developing alternative products have also been onboarded. L’Officine Immortelle combines phyto-aromatherapy and grimoires to bring ancestral formulas up to date through its herbal teas, oils, treatments and elixirs all 100% organic and made in France. Aromatherapy Associates has been a leader in the wellness industry for over 35 years by producing handcrafted natural formulas using essential oils designed for physical and emotional health. Finally, a food supplement section with Sensiness and Maison Louno, and a book store gathering 500 books are also available for a 360° product offer.

Conclusion

Department stores recently entered a relatively new business: wellness. Being about beauty, well-being, ageing, nutrition, health and sport makes this holistic trend and the market coming with it difficult to be clearly defined. While the wellness trend remains unframed, retailers are experimenting with various options from traditional beauty treatments to healthcare-related services. Some department stores are even going further by offering injectable services like Saks Fifth Avenue in the US. In France, Galeries Lafayette certainly takes the lead in this area by devoting an entire floor to its Wellness Galerie. It also marks an additional venture into experience and service offerings.

Credits: IADS (Christine Montard)