Galeries Lafayette, Paris

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the epitome of coming to France by many, high capital of fashion if for me a bit pricey. knowing Paris well. It is here since 1912 th its cupola or dome and the store since 1894.

HOwever, there is no denying this is tops, and a visit at least to the gourmet area and the top floor restaurant is a must.

a bit of history
The store open in 1894 at the corner of streets or rue La Fayette and rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin. The store is close to the Opera, grands boulevards, gare Saint-Lazare.

In 1896, the company purchase the building at 1, rue La Fayette ,and 1903, purchase the building 38, 40 ,and 42, boulevard Haussmann , and ,15, rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin. In 1908, the first store is boulevard Haussmannt.

In October 1912, a new store is open compose of 96 ailes, one salon de thé, and one library, and a beauty salon. It has five floors, balcons and a great dome of 33 meter high, In
1969,a new store for men's clothing was opened at the other side of rue de Mogador.

In the story continues in a symbol of Paris and France in fashion to the world.

What to buy: clothing and more, wait for promotions or summer and winter sales

What to pay: prices for quality top brands

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After seeing photo's and reading about this huge Department store, it was put on my 'see' list in Paris. I wasn't going there to shop, I was going to see a fantastic Department Store.
As I entered the building, I was gobsmacked, wow! what a beautiful shopping centre this was. A look around, and I realized this is an upmarket centre, I thought it would be. Open balconies on each floor, and a stunning Dome ceiling. It really was worth coming here for a look.

Opening hours
Monday through Saturday from 09:30 am to 08:00 pm
Late night opening every Thursday until 09:00 pm
Closed on Sundays

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I love, love, love the Galeries Lafayette...its such a wonderful place to shop, especially during the Christmas holiday season.

Galeries Lafayette is a department store that sells everything you could possibly want. From jewelry and accesories, handbags, shoes, women and men's designer clothing, children's clothing, home and house goods, furnishings and anything else you could imagine.

If you happen to be in Paris right before Christmas you'll get to enjoy all the wonderful holiday lights that decorate the store inside and out.

During my last visit I was able to snatch up some excellent children's clothing for my grandchildren. They have adorable stuff and the prices were excellent.

What to buy: Anything, I have purchased some scarves, a hat and some socks (lol). My recent trip had me purchasing children's clothing. I got an excellent sweather and turtle neck for my grandson and an adorable dress for my grand daughter along with matching stockings and sweather. Sweet.

I got 70% off the original price :)

What to pay: Anywhere from inexpensive to expensive

Galeries Lafayette is a department store with old building and nice architecture of the ceiling. All the branded thing are here, from perfumes, bags, cloths, ect. And the best season to buy goods here is when winter sale or summer sale...:)
I like to come here just to admired the architecture of this building.

A man gets a map from Printemps; Gets another one from Galeries La Fayette, and becomes ready to be dragged from one place to the other with 2763 stops in between by his shopaholic wife.

He tries to remember the places, their differences, but... no way. The building is wonderful and it seems to sell everything, but in such a bustle even breeding is hard. And in a couple of weeks I will be back.

With the same stores, and thousands more, because this time we will stay a week. I promise that the 6 visits planned to these galleries will allow me to see, at last, the Invalides and Sainte Chapelle. Well, let's not be optimist: at least one of them!

Hurrah! I DID see both, in my return to Paris. And the galleries once more. Of course!

you can email for info and reservation or phone when in Paris. Its a popular venue so I am told.
the correct email for a response to all question is the customer service at
contact_internet@galerieslafayette.com

tel/fax numbers +33
Tél :(0) 1.42.82.34.56
Fax : (0) 1.42.82.30.51
this is for the Haussmann where I shop and cardholder, you have the name on the site of the director Mme Agnès VIGNERON

hope it helps

What to buy: the works, the above is for the Fashion shows on Fridays, reservation required;

What to pay: best brand at good prices if wait for specials days

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Quite a few people ask about being in fashion in Paris. Paris, like any large city, covers all possibilities of fashion from baggy jeans on teen boys to Chanel suits on women "of a certain age" and everything between.

Keep in mind that in Paris people are usually going to work or are tourists and those are two different wardrobes. Another thing to consider is the time of year. Paris definitely has four seasons and plenty of rain. You will be taking public transportation and doing a lot of walking so my first suggestion is comfortable shoes, even if you don't think they are truly stylish. When you are in pain from pointy-toe high heels, you won't care about style. If you have to be stylish, get cute little ballet flats for spring and summer and flat-heeled boots for fall and winter.

I have no department store photos so will substitute a clothing boutique in Nice and a restaurant in Paris for photos. You will have to eat lunch . . .

BTW, one of my favorite places to shop when I've forgotten something is the Marché St. Germain, a covered shopping market with everything from food to clothes to pharmacies. We often stay near there and it's very convenient . . . and has clothing boutiques if you're looking for clothes.

What to buy: Clothing: Best suggestion is don't worry about it. Take something to get you through a couple days and plan to buy your clothing in Paris. If you buy it there, it is in style there. Not only that but you have some marvelous souvenirs and wonderful conversation pieces when you get home.

Here are two really fun department stores where you can see what everyone is wearing and hopefully find something in your budget. The Galleries Lafayette is worth a visit just to see the inside of the store. It is soooooo French and just beautiful.

http://www2.galerieslafayette.com
http://departmentstoreparis.printemps.com/

For the truly budget minded there is Monoprix or Tati but that's another Tip.

What to pay: You can find choices in nearly any price range. If you are buying in Paris, I'd recommend buying something very classic and paying as much as you can. You will be able to wear it forever . . . and will see some Paris matrons wearing their 1960 Chanel suits that look as though they were purchased yesterday. Classic is classic.

One of the two major luxury malls in Paris, the other being Printemps. The scarves sold at the shops at the metro station level are cheaper than those right outside the dept store. The place to get cheap nice scarves are at the shops at opera metro station.

What to buy: For one stop luxury brand shopping, so that it is easy to process your tax refund. You can do the administrative work at the detaxe counter at basement (-1 floor) as long as you spend a total of over 175 in a day.

Be warned though, the tax refund will not be in full as Lafayette uses a service by Global Blue which eats up half of the tax refund. If you're buying big-ticket branded stuff that easily amount to over 175euro, suggest you buy it elsewhere and get a better detaxe rate, unless they are using global blue as well.

Get the customs stamp on the forms at the customs detax counter in the departure hall before checking in your luggage. Once past into the transit area, head for the travelex/money exchange/detaxe counter. they will refund you in cash (if indicated on the form that you want refund in cash)

What to pay: Some stuff like cognac eiffel tower souvenir or pop champagne are decidedly a few euros more expensive than what you can get elsewhere. Ditto for the miniature houses by Gault. At 30+euro, it was more expensive than the 20+ euro at other street stores.

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Alone the architecture of the building is worth the visit. The goods and the salesmanship of the staff will entice you to buy some stuffs. In the past, I had lunch in one of the restaurants on the 6th floor (I think). Atmosphere was nice.

What to buy: Fashionable clothes, jewelries, accessories, perfumes, shoes, bags, anything you can think of as wedding gift, office supplies. Please check their Website.

What to pay: If you're looking for t-shirts to bring back home as souvenirs, they cost more but the quality is far better than those you can find outside.

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I think this is the most expensive department store in Paris.

I liked it because it’s so expensive you don’t even think to buy anything here so there’s no stress :) We actually visited this huge store just because it was near the theatre we would go later.

Ok, what we really liked here was the beautiful building, most of the customers try to take pictures of the building instead of shopping, check pic 1 :) There is also view for free at 7th floor.

If you have Paris Visite card you’ll get 10% discount, of course the final price will still be expensive but just in case you are interested about it.