What: Printemps Group appoints Rémy Baume as CEO, bringing cross-sector experience to lead the department store through strategic renewal and operational transformation.

Why it is important: Baume’s cross-sector expertise is expected to drive Printemps’ transformation, helping the group regain competitiveness and adapt to evolving market demands.

Printemps Group has named Rémy Baume as its new CEO, ending a nine-month leadership gap and signaling a new phase of strategic renewal and operational transformation for the French department store. Baume brings over two decades of experience across investment banking, consulting, mass retail, and fashion, including leadership roles at LVMH, Carrefour, Kidiliz, and Zadig & Voltaire. His appointment comes at a pivotal time for Printemps, which continues to face profitability challenges, executive turnover, and competitive pressures from more agile rivals like Galeries Lafayette and Samaritaine. The leadership transition follows the departure of Jean-Marc Bellaiche, whose tenure was marked by bold modernisation and international expansion but also persistent financial pressures. Recent appointments, including Antony Rodrigues as administrative and financial director, underscore the group’s focus on strengthening its executive team and internal talent to navigate sector disruption. Baume’s cross-sector expertise is expected to drive Printemps’ transformation, helping the group regain competitiveness and adapt to evolving market demands.

IADS Notes: Printemps Group’s appointment of Rémy Baume as CEO comes after nearly nine months of interim leadership and ongoing executive turnover, underscoring the acute need for strategic renewal and operational stability at the French department store. This leadership transition follows the departure of Jean-Marc Bellaiche in September 2025, whose tenure was marked by bold modernisation, international expansion, and a pivot toward experiential retail, but also persistent financial pressures and organisational challenges (Challenges, September 2025; Fashion Network, September 2025). The group’s recent appointment of Antony Rodrigues as administrative and financial director in April 2026 further highlights Printemps’ focus on strengthening its executive team and internal talent to navigate sector disruption and guide the company through ongoing restructuring (WWD, April 2026). Despite ambitious transformation efforts, Printemps continues to face profitability issues and competitive pressures from more agile rivals like Galeries Lafayette and Samaritaine, making Baume’s cross-sector experience in fashion, luxury, and mass retail especially relevant as the group seeks to regain momentum and adapt to a rapidly evolving retail landscape (L’Informé, April 2026).

Printemps Group names former Zadig & Voltaire chief Rémy Baume as new CEO