French department store group Galeries Lafayette is to double its presence in China with a 25,000sqm flagship store in Shanghai’s Pudong Mall.

Galeries Lafayette China launched in Beijing in 2013.

To be run by the group’s local partner IT Limited, the Shanghai flagship will cover four floors with interior design by London-based architectural studio HMKM. Opening by the end of this year, it will offer local, French and international brands, as well as multibrand sections ranging from mid-market to luxury labels.

It describes its target clientele as young “with significant purchasing power and highly responsive to the latest trends”.

Above all, the department store says it has the “ambitious target” of opening about 10 stores in China’s six largest cities by 2025, as well as accelerating its presence on e-tail websites in China.

Elsewhere, Galeries Lafayette will open a franchised branch in Doha, Qatar, this year and a second store in Istanbul, as well as enter Kuwait next year.

Back home, the group is acquiring mail order/e-tail company La Redoute, and is looking to franchise out about 20 of its branches outside Paris. It has also set up an international development office.