Inside Gucci’s New Paris Palazzo: The Store Meant to Reset the Brand

3 min read

Part of today’s What You Missed: Saturday, Oct 31.

The hook

What does a brand do when it has had a rapid churn of creative directors and its value is sliding? It builds a store that is meant to outlast all of them. Gucci has opened its new store concept at 56 Avenue Montaigne in Paris, the design that served as the backdrop for Demna’s spring 2027 show, WWD reported on Oct. 30.

What happened

• The show set became a real store. Barely a month after the concept debuted as the set for Demna’s show in a Milan convention center, Gucci brought it to Avenue Montaigne, per WWD. The boutique replaces Gucci’s previous unit two doors down.
• A global rollout starts here. Redesigned locations are set to open in London, Shanghai and Chengdu by year-end, WWD reports, and every future opening or relocation will use the new concept.
• It is big. Four floors span almost 16,000 square feet, with a second-floor salon for private appointments called the Gucci Appartamento.
• No price tags. WWD says the layout is intentionally curated and devoid of price tags, with uniformed staff pulling more pieces from stock rooms on each floor.
• The Italian brief. “We are Italian so the concept had to scream Italy in its references,” CEO Francesca Bellettini told BoF, which calls the store a blueprint for Gucci’s retail revamp.

Why people care

The context is rough. Interbrand’s 2026 ranking shows Gucci’s brand value fell 30.7 percent, the steepest decline in luxury, Worthbury reported. Kering CEO Luca de Meo has ordered the closure of hundreds of underperforming stores worldwide, WWD notes, and Kering has shut 105 units in the first nine months of the year, including 25 Gucci locations.

So this store has a job. Bellettini told WWD: “What matters most is that this store is designed to endure, as it embodies the brand’s DNA.” She also admitted the risk: “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 design pulls from an Italian Renaissance palazzo and Milanese homes from the ’50s to the ’70s, with Ceppo di Gré stone, marble, walnut and a 20-foot curved wooden display unit nicknamed the Library, per WWD. Bellettini’s rule: “Product is the hero, so the architecture should not overshadow the product.”

What it means for you

• Shopping. The new Gucci model is fewer, bigger, more personal stores. WWD reports Gucci plans to trim its store network by 30 percent by 2030. If you shop Gucci in LA, expect more appointment-style service and, eventually, fewer doors.
• Styling. The store showcases the Bamboo bag and the new Horsebit Duomo, per WWD. Archive-inspired leather is the clearest signal of where Demna’s Gucci is heading.
• Money. No price tags means you will ask. Get comfortable asking, and ask about the full range before you commit.
• Career. WWD says Bellettini has encouraged store teams to host dinners and personalized visits. Clienteling, the skill of building one-on-one relationships with top clients, is the most valuable job in luxury retail right now.
• Nightlife. Paris is getting even more Gucci: WWD reports a mega-flagship near Place Vendôme is planned for the end of next year.

Our take (opinion)

Gucci is right that the store has to outlast the designer. Too many luxury boutiques look dated two seasons after they open. But a beautiful palazzo cannot fix desirability on its own. The clothes and bags inside still have to make people want to walk in, and the next year of sales will tell us if Demna’s collections can do that.

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Sources

• WWD, Oct. 30, 2026: Gucci Debuts New Store Concept on Avenue Montaigne
• BoF: Inside Gucci’s Paris Palazzo, a Blueprint for Its Retail Revamp
• Worthbury, Oct. 30, 2026: Hermès overtakes Louis Vuitton (Interbrand ranking, Gucci figures)
• Back to today’s roundup: What You Missed: Saturday, Oct 31

Photo: Headline screenshot of BoF’s report on the Avenue Montaigne store, linked above.

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