PARIS — BHV Marais is changing hands once again as its management team is set to take control of the retailer and will end its controversial partnership with ultra-fast-fashion giant Shein in an attempt to win back brands and customers.
The Société des Grands Magasins, which acquired BHV Marais from Galeries Lafayette in 2023, said in a statement to WWD on Tuesday that it had accepted a takeover offer led by the store’s current management team, headed by chief executive officer Karl-Stéphane Cottendin, “with the commitment and participation of a large portion of its employees.”
Financial terms were not disclosed.
“When BHV Marais’ management team presented us with their takeover project, we were immediately convinced by their vision and their knowledge of the store. They have built a solid and ambitious project,” said SGM CEO Frédéric Merlin.
The new ownership group includes marketing director Valérie Chaleyssin, artistic director Medy Ty and human resources director Elodie Nho. Together they plan to refocus the 170-year-old Paris institution on its historic strengths in homeware, DIY, decoration, furniture and lifestyle categories.
“The commercial rebuilding remains ahead: the offer must be reconstructed, the model reaffirmed, and everything remains to be done to restore BHV Marais to the place it deserves in the hearts of Parisians,” SGM said in a statement.
SGM itself will “refocus on operating the department stores and city center shopping centers that it owns,” Merlin added.
The sale is a dramatic reversal of fortune for Merlin, who stepped in to rescue the retailer three years ago, and pushed forward on an ambitious plan to open Shein’s first physical stores despite strong public and government opposition in November.
Several premium labels very publicly exited the store amid concerns over unpaid invoices and discontent with sharing floorspace alongside Shein, due to how its ultra-fast-fashion business model has impacted clothing retail in France, as well as concerns about its labor practices.
Shein defended its role in the partnership with BHV.
“This collaboration was designed from the outset as a limited-duration initiative,” said a spokesperson for the company in a statement to WWD. “Shein engaged in this collaboration in good faith and made a substantial contribution, generating a significant influx of visitors and strong customer engagement at a crucial moment for BHV Paris.”
The company added that it remained “open to constructive dialogue with a view to an orderly conclusion of the current partnership.”
“This experimentation was a strategic error,” Cottendin told AFP, adding that Shein would “ideally” leave the store by Christmas. That would be just a little over a year after its splashy launch resulted in lines down the block and scores of protestors on the other side of the street.
Frederic Merlin, CEO of Société des Grands Magasins, and Donald Tang, CEO of Shein, on a poster on the day the Shein store opened on the sixth floor of BHV in Paris, Nov. 5, 2025.
Stéphane Ouzounoff/Hans Lucas via AFP and Getty Images
The decision has been welcomed by French political leaders. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire described the end of the partnership as “excellent” news, while Trade Minister Serge Papin told AFP he welcomed “the end” of the collaboration, arguing that the platform “does not respect our rules.”
Merlin said restoring BHV no longer fit SGM’s strategy.
When SGM acquired BHV in 2023, the group had also planned to acquire the building itself. However, those plans collapsed after the property was sold by owner Galeries Lafayette in January 2026 to Canadian investment firm Brookfield.
“Following the sale of the property walls to Brookfield, the project no longer had a real estate dimension for SGM and moved away from our core business,” the company said.
Merlin said SGM had helped stabilize the retailer, which he said had faced closure before the acquisition.
“While it was supposed to close in 2023, SGM took over this emblematic department store and invested tens of millions of euros to transform it and make it fully autonomous,” the statement said.
The new owners will face a complex rebuilding effort. Alongside negotiating Shein’s exit, they must also work with Brookfield, which is expected to use a portion of the building for redevelopment projects with private luxury apartments rumored to be in the works.
