Nouvelles Galeries

Nouvelles Galeries is a French department store chain owned and operated by Galeries Lafayette. Founded in 1897 the chain previously was one of the largest department store chains in France however now only has two locations.

Fronton of the Nouvelles Galeries de Mont-de-Marsan store.

Nouvelles Galeries in Menton in 2014.

Nouvelles Galeries

Industry	retail
Founded	1897; 128 years ago (1897)
Headquarters	France
Number of locations	2 (2024)
Area served	France

History

In 1897 Nouvelles Galeries was created.

In 1928 Nouvelles Galeries created the Uniprix [fr] variety store brand. In 1997 it was sold to Monoprix.

The Cofinoga [fr] consumer credit card was launched by the brand in 1971, they also began offering insurance in 1979.

The companies Parisian headquarters were sold in 1983. The headquarters had its own testing laboratory, integrated printing press, high-tech computer platform. They also hosted presentations of all products sold in the stores and the central purchasing office.

At the beginning of the 1980s SFNGR (Société française des Nouvelles Galeries réunies) was made up of over 160 stores which employed 25,000 people and around 30 stores of Centre Maison Jardin.

In 1991 the company was purchased by Groupe Galeries Lafayette, at the time Nouvelles Galeries had nearly 90 stores.^[1]

In later 2005, Paul Delaoutre (general manager of Groupe Galeries Lafayette) said that by the end of 2007 the 10 remaining Nouvelles Galeries stores would be rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.^[2]

However as of 2024 stores still operate (now co-branded as Nouvelles Galeries and Galeries Lafayette) in Annecy, Belfort and Langon.

Locations

If the closing date is N/A then the store was rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.

Location	Opening date	Closing date	Address	Notes
Agen	72, boulevard de la République	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Alençon	11 September 1965[3]	31 December 1985[3]	rue du Pont-Neuf	Originally Gagne-petit from 1844 to 1965.
Amiens	1900[4]	—	rue des Trois-Cailloux	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette in 2005.[5]
Angers	6 April 1901[6]	—	rue d'Alsace/place du Ralliement	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette in 1993.[6]
Angoulême		—	10, rue René-Goscinny	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Annecy	25 February 1969[7]	—	25 Avenue du Parmelan
Arras		1997	35 Rue Ernestale, 62000 Arras	Previously Galeries Modernes.[8]
Auch			place Jean David/rue Gambetta
Avignon	15 September 1904[9]	1984[9]	rue de la République
Bédarieux				Created by the father of Roger Peyrefitte.[10]
Belfort		Open	24, faubourg de France
Biarritz			17-19 Place Georges-Clemenceau	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Bourges			6-8 rue Moyenne
Bordeaux	1984	2000[11]	rue Sainte-Catherine
Boulogne-sur-Mer		2003	57 rue Thiers
Beauvais			Place Jeanne Hachette	Passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand
Bergerac		December 31, 1999	3 stores : Rue de la Résistance, Place Gambetta and Rue Mounet-Sully	The store located on rue Mounet-Sully closed on December 31, 1999 (the reconversion of the building has been going on ever since.)
Brive-la-Gaillarde	1967[12]	December, 31 2000[12]		Operated by the Casino group.[12]
Bron	September 18, 1964		Boulevard Pinel	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Caen	1954		108-114, boulevard Maréchal-Leclerc Before 1944 : 86-92, rue Saint-Jean / 13-15, rue de Bernières	The store existed before the Second World War (former Grand Bazaar). It was located on rue Saint-Jean and rue de Bernières. Destroyed during the landing, it was rebuilt on the site of Galeries Lafayette, boulevard Maréchal-Leclerc. It was then taken over under the Galeries Lafayette brand.
Chalon-sur-Saône	Before 1906		Boulevard de la république	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Châteauroux	1899[13]	2005[14]	41, rue Victor-Hugo	Former Grand Bazar store, art nouveau building designed by architect Camille Létang. In 1964, Gérard Depardieu got his first role there at the age of 16, that of Santa Claus. In 2008, the building underwent major redevelopments (the ground floor accommodated various local businesses, the upper floors housed homes) and adopted the name Cour du Capitole.
Clermont-Ferrand			Place de Jaude	Ex Galeries de la Jaude Passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand
Coutances		Early 2000s	Place du Parvis Notre-Dame	The Galeries de Coutances existed before the war and will be built to become the Nouvelles Galleries. At the time of its closure, it was the group's smallest non-franchise store.
Dax			Rue Saint Vincent	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Dijon	1924 (Magasins Modernes)		41-49, rue de la Liberté	Initially Magasins Modernes, which became Nouvelles Galeries in 1955, then passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand
Dunkirk		late 1980s	Boulevard Alexandre III
Douai	1952	1988	Place d'Armes
Douai	the 50's	late 1980s	Place du Dauphin
Évreux	1871 (Art Deco building)	December 25, 1996	18 rue de la Harpe
Évry	1975		Évry 2 [fr]	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Fontainebleau	1913		Nouvelles Galeries Building [fr]
Grenoble	1939	1993	12, place Grenette	Resumption of Galeries Modernes' in 1939. Change to Galeries Lafayette brand on September 10, 1993.[15]
Grenoble			13, boulevard Maréchal Foch	Replaced by an Intermarché.
Grenoble	1975	1990	Grand'Place	The brand closed its doors in the 1980s, only the food section was taken over by the Genty-Cathiard [fr] brand, absorbed by the Rallye [fr] in 1990, (a subsidiary of the Groupe Casino since 1992), the Grand'Place store closed definitively in 1990.
Guéret	1990	2009	2 Grande Rue	Trade in various articles,[16] then clothing, leather goods and fashion accessories
La Flèche		1993	rue Carnot
La Roche-sur-Yon			Rue Georges-Clemenceau	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Langon	1966 (?)	Open	1 Place du Général-de-Gaulle
Laval	1920	2002	Rue du Général-de-Gaulle	BNP Paribas will open a 400 m2 agency there less than a year later, while the Douglas perfumery will take over the 1st floor and the annex on the right. It was not until June 2008 that the Player store, which recently became Player One, moved into the last part, at the rear, rue des Maréchaux.
Le Havre	1954	1999	rue de Paris	In 2003, the Nouvelles Galeries were divided into several stores, some of which are closed to this day. Today, there is the La Galerne bookstore, Roche Bobois. The floors are allocated to offices.
Le Mans	1905		Rue des Minimes	Closed
Lens	1963	late 1980s	Boulevard Basly
Les Sables-d'Olonne
Lille	October 1965	1985	Rue Nationale
Limoges			boulevard Carnot and rue Porte-Tourny	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Lisieux	August 2, 1972	January 31, 2008	Rue des Mathurins
Lorient	1905	1997	10 place Alsace-Lorraine	Installation of the Nouvelles Galeries store (rue des Fontaines) in 1905.[17] Passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand in 1997.[18]
Marseille				Nouvelles Galleries burned in 1938 then rebuilt within the Center Bourse. Passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand
Metz	1967		4 rue Winston-Churchill	Passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand, FNAC opening in the basement in 2012
Millau			Place du Mandarous
Montceau-les-Mines
Montauban		May 21, 1999[19]	Rue Bessières	Passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand
Moulins	exists since 1900 (postcards) renovation by Lamaizière father and son; architects in Saint-Étienne in 1914.		Rue d'Allier
Mulhouse			54, rue du Sauvage, near the Grands Magasins du Globe	Formerly Schwab, which became Nouvelles Galeries at the end of the 1970s. Closed at the end of the 1980s, and transformed into La Galerie shopping center, with McDonald's and Fnac (and Mango, Faller, etc.) as the main brands.
Montargis	During the 1970s	2005[14]	Rue Dorée	Three-story store: Ground floor Makeup, beauty; 1st floor: KITCHEN; 2nd, 3rd floor: CHILDREN accessible via escalators. But has since disappeared. Formerly Nouvelles Galeries then Galeries Lafayettes. Currently store closed.
Nantes	? (Formerly Decré)		Quartier Bouffay	Changed brand (Galeries Lafayette) following the merger with the Galeries Lafayette store on rue du Calvaire
Nevers				Closed. Replaced by various brands (Plus, Mango, Etam)
Niort			Rue Victor-Hugo	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Orléans			6 rue Thiers	Rebranded to Galeries Lafayette.
Pau			Place Georges-Clemenceau	Initially Galeries Modernes, then Nouvelles Galeries. Passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand. In the current building since 1910, previously at 2, rue du Maréchal-Joffre.
Périgueux		2009	7 rue de la République	Renamed Les Galeries in the early 2000s Today, Benetton brand
Quimper	1911 (1900 building)		4, Place Saint-Corentin
Rouen			25 rue Grand-Pont	Destroyed in the fire of June 1940, rebuilt in 1953
Saint-Claude	1988	2009	29 rue du Pré
Saint-Étienne	1985	2005	15 rue Gambetta[14]
Saint-Laurent-du-Var	October 21, 1969		Cap 3000	? (Passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand)
Saint-Nazaire	February 26, 1960	1990	36 avenue de la République	Replaced by Intersport then 5e avenue
Saint-Quentin	1904	1988
Sarreguemines	1969	1992	Chaussée de Louvain
Tarbes			Rue Maréchal-Foch	4,500 m2. Passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand
Thionville	March 5, 1964	July 9, 2005[14]	50 rue de Paris
Toulouse	1962		Rue Lapeyrouse [fr]	Passage under the Galeries Lafayette brand in September 2005
Valence		2001[20]	Boulevard du Général-De-Gaulle

Centre Maison Jardin

In the early 1980s the company created CMJ (Centre Maison Jardin, or in English Home Garden Centre). When Groupe Galeries Lafayette purchased Nouvelles Galeries in 1991 it was now a division of the group. However in 1997 the remaining 16 stores were sold and rebranded.^[21]

In 1985 the Angoulême store was converted to BHV.^[22]

Incidents

On October 4, 1972, an individual shot at customers of the Nouvelles Galeries in Angoulême with a Winchester .44 rifle, killing four people (three children and a woman) and injuring six others.^[23][24]