Breitling’s Champs-Elysées Pop-up Is a Year-long Teaser for Upcoming Flagship

PARIS – Breitling has landed on the Champs-Elysées with days to spare before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games kick off.

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For its fourth address in the French capital, the luxury watch brand took over the three-story unit at number 76, at the entrance of the Arcade des Champs-Elysées, a listed commercial passage that features René Lalique chandeliers and glass cupolas.

But this newest flagship isn’t here to stay. A year from now, the watchmaker will move — to the other side of the arcade’s entrance, at number 78.

The ground floor of the temporary store offers a taste of the watchmaker’s flagship designs, including the Superocean, Navitimer and Chronomat lines. Upstairs, there will be a dedicated craftsperson to service timepieces and there are several seating areas furnished with handsomely lived-in leather couches for appointments.

Heading toward the basement level is a monumental staircase that leads to the brand’s bar with a bright yellow neon sign declaring “We Are the Champs,” playing on the name of the famous French thoroughfare.

While there are more timepieces here, the brand’s universe is also expressed through bookshelves featuring sports memorabilia, books and tchotchkes, while a model car racetrack takes pride of place near the corner dedicated to its clothing line, a collaboration with moto and surf apparel label Deus. A couple of Triumph motorbikes are also dotted across the levels, and surfboards adorn the walls.

For Edouard D’Arbaumont, general manager South Europe of Breitling , the opening of the temporary flagship is the result of a seven-year ramping up for the Swiss brand.

“Three years ago, we felt it was time for it, that Breitling deserved to be on the Champs-Elysées,” he told WWD in an exclusive interview. “Because we had the potential — and given the rents, you need that, not just the desire to be here — but also because it is a question of strategy, visibility and brand positioning.”

While the project was inked before this year’s luxury slowdown, which recently bit watches hard, D’Arbaumont said Breitling was continuing to gain market share, with the staggered opening of its Champs-Elysées flagship a tangible sign of optimism.

“Independently of the industry at large, we believe that Breitling will continue to gain market shares,” he said, deeming the current downturn part of cycles within an overall upward trend for watchmaking.

In his opinion, the store also came to fruition thanks to the support of Breitling’s new majority owner, the Switzerland-based investment fund Partners Group, which bought out the stake previously owned by CVC a year ago.

“We have greatly opened new horizons for the brands, not just in terms of distribution but in terms of product ranges, [references], female-oriented lines, etc. — all things that will allow Breitling to grow its share,” he continued.

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Opening a fourth address on the Champs-Elysées — after Rue de la Paix, Rue Royale near Concorde and another store on the Left Bank — is part of the company’s strategy of revamping its retail network to reinforce its brand messaging, a move that saw it cut down its overall doors in France from 120 to 60 over the past five years while increasing the number of own retail stores.

“When people come in, they’re immediately transported into the Breitling universe and it’s much easier to transmit our message. A store is like advertisement,” said D’Arbaumont. “And in terms of revenue, we saw that when we open a store, we sell quickly very well. It feels obvious that a stand-alone store would do better than with a multibrand one, but we estimate that we multiply sales by five [at a flagship.]”

The watchmaker currently sees 60 to 70 percent of its sales in the country done through its own retail network.

For now, around 90 percent of its clientele in France is based in the country, where its brand equity remains strong, thanks to historical clients such as Serge Gainsbourg, Jean-Paul Belmondo and even controversial business figure Bernard Tapie.

That may be about to change. Not only has the proportion of American clients grown in the past year, but the added exposure during the Olympics is expected to play a part.

“If we could, we would have opened our permanent store before the Olympics,” the executive quipped.

Despite mounting concerns about the impact of the Games on retail in Paris , particularly given access restrictions in certain areas, the Breitling executive said that it was nonetheless a solid business move.

Overall, D’Arbaumont said the brand hoped sales at the Champs-Elysées store over 12 months would be double the turnover of the Rue de la Paix store, with a projected four times more foot traffic.

Plus, getting in under the wire of the Olympics opening ceremony was essential given restrictions on construction work around the sporting competition, which continues with the Paralympic Games in late August.

“Not opening before the Games didn’t just mean opening on Sept. 1,” he pointed out. “It could mean opening Nov. 1 and potentially missing the holiday period if there’s any delay. So it was July or [next] January.”

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