Century-old family business Galeries Lafayette has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. Stores remain shut, tourists are not likely to return to the French capital anytime soon, consumption forecasts look dicey, and sales are expected to drop by 50% this year.

"It's important to recognize that we are going through something entirely unprecedented, unheard of — extreme — and for a company like ours that has a long history and has gone through difficult times, I think we can officially say that the worst crisis Galeries Lafayette has ever experienced is to have our stores closed for two months," said CEO Nicolas Houzé. "This has never happened to us in history, even in the worst moments that we've ever known — the Second World War, or other crises, we have always managed to keep business going, which hasn't been the case today," he added.

The French government has announced the gradual reopening up of nonessential business, easing lockdown measures in place since mid-March, in a bid to get the country's economic engines fired back up. The process kicks off May 11. "After spending two months thinking about business scenarios for the company, we are now focused on our objective of opening on May 11," Houzé said. "We quickly activated a plan for the return to business [...]" he said, citing discussions with employees and unions, and the need to reassure everyone, including clients, by sharing details of planned measures to ensure health and security. Such measures are becoming standard for retailers across the globe. "Making hand sanitizer available, requiring masks for employees as well as clients, installing Plexiglass in front of cash registers," he noted, ticking off the list of efforts.

The group is working to open nearly all of its Galeries Lafayette and BHV Marais stores, with the exception of flagships in shopping centers — French officials have said large shopping centers will remain closed for the first phase of easing restrictions, which will be revisited on June 2. With local and national authorities revisiting the issue every three weeks, Houzé is hoping that shopping centers will be allowed to reopen soon.

full interview: CEO Nicolas Houzé prepares the Galeries Lafayette for reopening