Galeries Lafayette opened in Macau with a replica Eiffel Tower — it closed 2 years later

Galeries Lafayette opened its first store in Hong Kong and Macau in January 2024, a 35,000 square foot flagship at the Resorts World Shopping Centre on Macau's Cotai Strip. The store featured a 7-metre replica of the Eiffel Tower and carried over 100 international luxury brands across fashion, beauty, jewelry and accessories. It was introduced by Forward Fashion Holdings, a Macau-based fashion retailer.

The store struggled from the start. Social media reviews from late 2024 described low foot traffic throughout the mall — beauty and fragrance kiosks were understaffed, with multiple brands reportedly sharing a single salesperson. Macau's post-pandemic recovery in luxury retail was weaker than expected, and fewer high-spending tourists returned to the city's shopping malls.

By February 2026, the store had closed quietly. Staff confirmed it had been empty for about a week. The Galeries Lafayette signage was removed and the space was cleared. An announcement on the Resorts World floor dated February 2, 2026 said the level was 'under renovation.' The store had lasted barely two years — a fraction of the typical department store lease.

The space will be part of a broader repositioning by YOHO Group, which plans to rename the mall and pivot from high-end retail to mid-to-high-end specialty dining and expanded hotel capacity. Forward Fashion Holdings had reported a net loss of at least HK$90 million in 2024 before returning to a small profit in 2025 through aggressive cost-cutting and store closures.

Opened a Parisian flagship with a 7-metre Eiffel Tower replica, but tourists did not return, so it closed after 2 years, costing HK$90 million in 2024.

Macau's luxury retail market did not recover as expected after the pandemic, with foot traffic to the Resorts World mall remaining chronically low

The business model depended on high-spending tourists who were not returning in sufficient numbers, leaving the 35,000 sq ft space understaffed and undersold

YOHO Group's pivot from luxury retail to family dining showed that the location itself was being repositioned for a completely different customer base

A European luxury department store cannot survive on aspiration alone in a market where the tourists did not come back. Macau's mall was a destination that nobody reached.