Samaritaine

La Samaritaine was founded by merchant Ernest Cognac and his wife Marie-Louise Jay in 1870. It reached the peak of the commercial success in the 1960s but in the 1970s its fortunes began to fade. In 2001, La Samaritaine’s 4 buildings and an adjoining apartment block were sold to the luxury group LMVH which counts Louis Vuitton, Veuve Cliquot and Christian Dior among others 75 prestigious brands. Concerns over the safety of the building resulted in the closure in 2005, and the hoped-for reopening date in 2013 didn’t happen as LMVH faced numerous legal challenges over its grand plans for a lavish makeover… Only after 16 years la Samaritaine finally reopened on 23 June 2021, following renovation work costing €750 million