Gucci Opens Avenue Montaigne Flagship as First Stop of Global Store Rollout

Gucci has opened a nearly 16,000-square-foot flagship at 56 Avenue Montaigne in Paris, the first location to carry its new store concept and the launch point for a global rollout that will reach London, Shanghai and Chengdu by the end of the year.

The boutique replaces Gucci's previous unit two doors down. Parent company Kering acquired the building in 2023, before folding it into a joint venture with private equity firm Ardian, which holds a majority stake in a portfolio of prime real estate assets including the Montaigne site. Francesca Bellettini, named president and chief executive officer of the Italian house in September 2025, drove the relocation.

"We were very confident in what we are doing and given that we had the real estate opportunity to relocate the store, we didn't want to miss the chance to open Avenue Montaigne," she said during a walk-through. "It was a very bold move because usually, you don't introduce your new store concept for the first time in such a prominent place."

The concept debuted barely a month ago as the simulated, life-sized set for Demna's spring 2027 show, erected in a Milanese convention center. Materials, fixtures and visual merchandising from that set have now been translated into a permanent retail format developed jointly by Demna, Bellettini and the retail teams.

Why the network is shrinking even as flagships grow

The opening sits inside a broader retrenchment. Kering CEO Luca de Meo has ordered the closure of hundreds of underperforming locations worldwide as part of a turnaround plan, prioritizing bigger flagships in key cities. Gucci plans to cut its store network by 30 percent by 2030, while total square meters will fall only 25 percent, meaning surviving locations will on average be larger.

Kering has already shuttered 105 units in the first nine months of the year, including 25 Gucci buildings, placing the group ahead of target.

Bellettini framed the new design as a cost-control and flexibility instrument. "What matters most is that this store is designed to endure, as it embodies the brand's DNA," she said. Previous concepts, she noted, allowed little scope for evolution and left much of the network looking out of date after rapid churn of creative directors over three years.

What the format delivers

The four floors combine the layout of an Italian Renaissance palazzo, Milanese architectural references and a discovery-led client journey. Interiors reference 1930s monumental architecture, Renaissance opulence and Milanese homes of the 1950s to 1970s. The early 20th-century building reunites two former boutiques and a private apartment, now the second-floor Gucci Appartamento salon for private appointments.

Notable features include:

• A 20-foot curved wooden display unit, informally called the Library, splitting ready-to-wear from the recently launched Horsebit Duomo bag.
• A jewelry room — a growing Kering focus, with strategy details due at a Kering Jewelry Day in Paris on Dec. 2.
• Flexible spaces designed for product launches, capsule collections and extensions such as the Gucci Racing collection in development.
• A movable wall system dividing the penthouse-style second floor into three salons, stocked with exclusive merchandise including a tableware line with Ginori 1735.

The layout breaks with Gucci's traditional category-by-category organization in favor of lifestyle groupings. "This is a newer approach for Gucci, which traditionally organized its stores by category, but we see that it is increasingly becoming the way to organize our stores," Bellettini said. The deliberately curated floor, devoid of price tags, relies on uniformed staff pulling references from stock rooms on each floor.

What is next

Bellettini expects the Montaigne boutique to rank among Gucci's highest revenue earners worldwide, alongside its New York City, Shanghai and Milan flagships. France accounted for 6 percent of Kering's 2025 revenues, and Gucci remains the group's main growth engine. Gucci is also building a mega-flagship near Place Vendôme, targeted to open at the end of next year, while every future opening or relocation will carry the new concept. Milan and New York boutiques are slated for relocation within the next few years.

"Now we need to roll up our sleeves and move as fast as possible, balancing cost and time, to restyle most of our store network," Bellettini said.