Ginette Moulin, the owner of French department store group Galeries Lafayette, died on Sunday at the age of 98, the group confirmed to the AFP agency on Tuesday.
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Moulin was the granddaughter of Théophile Bader, who founded the department store with Alphonse Kahn in Paris in 1894.
With her family, Moulin was ranked 34th in Challenges magazine’s list of French billionaires, with a business fortune worth €4.05 billion.
In August 2024, Moulin handed over the reins of the family holding company Motier to her son-in-law Philippe Houzé, assisted by her grandchildren Nicolas Houzé, Guillaume Houzé and Arthur Lemoine. The group said the handover had been planned “well in advance.”
Moulin was a key figure in the family history of Galeries Lafayette. She personally knew the members of the five generations that successively took the helm of the iconic Parisian store with its flagship on Boulevard Haussmann.
She was born on February 7 1927, the daughter of Max Heilbronn, a resistance fighter deported during World War II to Buchenwald, Germany, where he met Etienne Moulin, the man who later was to marry his daughter.
As of January 2025, the Galeries Lafayette group operated 57 branches in France, of which 19 are directly owned and 38 operated by franchised partners.
In January, the group said it is planning to close by the end of 2025 its two branches in Marseilles, which “have been posting recurring losses for several years,” and pledged to “promote the redeployment of the 145 employees concerned.”
At the end of 2023, the group sold another iconic Parisian department store, the Bazar de l’Hotel de Ville (BHV), ceding it to a small property company named Société des Grands Magasins (SGM).
Philippe Houzé, who was named Galeries Lafayette board chairman in 2005 and will succeed Moulin as president of Motier, is the husband of Christiane, one of the Moulin couple’s three daughters.
“He will be tasked with overseeing the growth of the Moulin family’s assets, which include the Galeries Lafayette group, [French e-tailer] La Redoute, and a significant stake in the Carrefour group,” said Galeries Lafayette in January.
The Galeries Lafayette owners have been major shareholders of French grocery distribution giant Carrefour since 2014, even if they are not the main shareholder from March 2024, when Carrefour bought 25 million of its shares from Galfa, a company owned by the Moulin family.
In this capacity, Philippe Houzé is vice-chairman of the board of directors at Carrefour, which also includes Patricia Moulin Lemoine, Ginette Moulin’s eldest daughter.
Three of Ginette Moulin’s grandchildren, Nicolas Houzé, Guillaume Houzé and Arthur Lemoine, were also appointed vice-presidents of Motier.
“Planned” handover
This governance change came at the end of a chaotic period for the Galeries Lafayette group, which for several years has been impacted by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on its global business.
The pandemic and related travel restrictions deprived the group of large parts of its clientèle, and business was severely undermined by the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
In mid-December, event sales website BazarChic, owned by Galeries Lafayette, began a “winding down procedure” that various media outlets said would threaten about 100 jobs, unless a buyer is found.
Last June, Galeries Lafayette indicated that in 2024 it wanted to recapture its 2019 revenue level, equivalent to €3.85 billion generated by the chain as a whole. Galeries Lafayette, which celebrated its 130th anniversary in 2024, reported €3.6 billion worth of sales by the chain in 2023, of which €1.9 billion by the Boulevard Haussmann branch alone.
DBG Group has acquired Australian beauty brand MCoBeauty, with an approximate valuation of AUD$1 billion.
MCoBeauty
DBG Group, owned by billionaire Dennis Basta, previously took a 50 percent stake of MCoBeauty in 2022. The owner of fellow beauty brands Nude by Nature and Esmi skin Minerals has taken full ownership of the dupe beauty brand, according to local media reports.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded by Shelley Sullivan in 2020, MCoBeauty describes itself as Australia’s fastest growing masstige beauty brand, amassing a cult following for its affordable beauty products, recognised by their baby pink packaging.
“When I started MCoBeauty, the market was dominated by the big global beauty icons Revlon, Maybelline and Rimmel,” said Sullivan. “We had just six MCoBeauty SKUs on the shelves and I told someone in the industry that my goal was to break into the global masstige beauty space. They told me it was not possible. This set the challenge in my mind — and I just went for it. There really is nothing like being told you can’t do something to give you drive, and for that I’m grateful.”
Prior to MCoBeauty, Sullivan launched her higher-priced ModelCo beauty brand, which logged successful collaborations with a range of celebrities including the likes of Hailey Bieber, Celeste Barber, Elle Macpherson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Karl Lagerfeld.
In April last year, MCoBeauty made its United States debut exclusively at Kroger Family of Stores, launching more than 250 beauty and skincare products in-store across the American retail chain.
Mytheresa results are always closely watched and now that it’s buying YNAP, it’s even more in the spotlight. So what did Tuesday’s report tell us about what will this year become just about the top global luxury e-tailer?
DR
For a start, its performance is improving and it’s getting closer to absolute profitability. It saw double-digit net sales growth with a 13.4% year-on-year rise in Q2 of FY25 (the 12 months to June this year). And it enjoyed continuous US expansion with 17.6% net sales growth in the quarter.
Also, there was “GMV per Top Customer” growth of 13.6 % and average order value rose 9% to €736. The company puts a lot of time and money into special top customer events and in making big-spenders feel that splashing the cash on its site is really worth it. For the latest quarter think ‘money-can’t buy’ experiences in partnership with luxury brands, including a mountain experience with Zegna and anexclusive two-day Nordic winter experience with Moncler Grenoble in Oslo!
The numbers
So, let’s get into the details. The quarter that covered October to December saw net sales rising to €223 million from €196.6 million. During the first half as a whole net sales had risen 10.6%, so the Q2 13.4% rise means growth accelerated in the second quarter in particular.
Overall general merchandise value (GMV) increased 11.9% to €244.7 million in Q2.
Profits-wise, it saw a strong gross profit margin of 50.9%, a rise of 110 bps, while adjusted EBITDA was €16.2 million, up from €7.5 million a year ago, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.3%.
Adjusted operating income for the quarter was €12.2 million, much better than €3.7 million 12 months earlier.
On an absolute basis, the company remains loss-making, but the net loss this time was only €4.7 million, narrower than €5.8 million a year ago and much lower than the €28.2 million loss made for the first half as a whole.
As mentioned, the company enjoyed progress in the US and among its highest-spending customers as it launched exclusive capsule collections and pre-launches in collaboration with Khaite, Alaia, Saint Laurent, Loewe, Gucci, Miu Miu, Moncler, Bottega Veneta and more.
It continued the expansion of its fine jewellery offer with the launch of the Bulgari brand online, “supporting ongoing top customer focus and high-value item growth”.
It all means that for the full year, the company (which is changing its name to LuxExperience to reflect its multi brand status when it acquires YNAP) expects GMV and net sales growth in the range of 7% to 13%. It also expects an adjusted EBITDA margin in the range of 3% to 5%.
CEO Michael Kliger said of all this: “We are very pleased with our results in a still-volatile macro environment. With strong, accelerating revenue growth and positive, significantly improved adjusted EBITDA margin in the second quarter, we continued our very positive business momentum from the previous quarters and have achieved a significant step up in financial performance in H1 of fiscal year 2025 compared to H1 of fiscal year 2024.
“We have reaffirmed our leadership position in terms of financial performance and reputation in digital luxury. Our clear focus on the high-spending, wardrobe-building top customers sets us apart and allows us to win market share and grow profitably. Strong Top Customer revenue growth, an outstanding average order value and excellent customer satisfaction scores demonstrate our relentless customer focus which is a key success factor for Mytheresa.”
UK fashion brand Celtic & Co is stepping up its international profile, expanding its digital presence in the US. This comes via the launch of its spring collection at major department store chains Nordstrom and Macy’s.
Celtic & Co
It said its SS25 collection, featuring 178 pieces across the season, will appear on the retailers’ websites by the end of February.
Zoe Bray, managing director at Celtic & Co, said: “The US is our biggest international market outside of the UK, and being available online with Nordstrom and Macy’s will help us reach new customers and provide learnings to be able to expand our presence in the US even further.”
The Nordstrom/Macy’s partnerships comes about following a tie-up with global e-commerce platform Refined Networks, which helps launch fashion brands in major digital markets around the world to help grow their digital sales abroad.
Ian Wallis, managing director at Refined Networks, said he was “excited to welcome Celtic & Co to its portfolio of fashion brands”, which also includes United Colors of Benetton, Sisley, Eton and Petit Bateau.
“Combining strong British heritage design with ethically sourced, natural fibres, this pioneering brand has paved the way towards a more sustainable fashion industry – and we know their story will resonate just as much with US shoppers,” he said.
Entertainment8 years ago