MAC Opens New Paris Flagship

MAC Cosmetics is making a big push overseas with the opening of their new Paris flagship store on the Champs-Elysées.

WWD reported that another five flagships could be coming soon including units in Beijing, Shanghai, London, Rome and possibly Tokyo and Seoul, according to Karen Buglisi, global brand president of MAC Cosmetics.

"It has to be the right place, it has to have the right opportunity for business and the right opportunity for exposure," Buglisi said.

James Gager, senior vice president and creative director of MAC, added, "And they will be very carefully designed, so it feels relevant to the market we are entering into - but still feels MAC."

The the 4,022-square-foot Paris location (with 1,800 square feet of selling space) Paris store features soaring ceilings in an elliptical arch, a gleaming white floor and of course makeup as far as the eye can see.

"This will be a truly global store," Fabrizio Freda, chief executive officer of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., told WWD Thursday in one of the VIP areas on its second story. "My ambition is that this [location] will represent the concept of 'global' the way the Estée Lauder company sees it, which means just the opposite of standardization. It means inclusion, it means local relevance, which means making everyone feel that they can find the answer to their own fashion ambitions or simply trends, inspirations or products and services in that store.

"The essence of prestige [for us] is not only about selling products but selling an overall experience that adds value to the product," he added.

"We've been in search of a location here for many years, but it had to be the right location, and the Champs-Elysées is an iconic street in the world, is a fashion street [with] 170 million visitors," said Buglisi.