Rituals makes French debut

Dutch brand Rituals has fixed on the Forum des Halles in Paris for the site of its first store in France. The flagship store will measure 143sqm – rather larger than the firm at first planned – and will be in its City Spa format. It will be followed by three other openings throughout the course of the year.

Rituals announced in March that it was looking to set up own-name outlets in France in addition to its current policy of selling via Douglas perfumeries and online. At that point it was considering 60-100sqm boutiques in shopping centres in the Marais and St Germain-des-Près districts, which are becoming increasingly known for beauty brand stores. Specialist estate agency Cushman and Wakefield has been tasked with finding the relevant sites, which are believed to be the first of 100 French outlets the firm plans to open over the next ten years.

Rituals’ City Spas focus on massage treatments inspired by Asian and Indian traditions and include Japanese hot shell massage, hammams from Morocco and Indian scalp massage. The firm currently has five City Spa outlets, in Almere, Amstelveen, Heemstede and Zwolle in the Netherlands and in Knokke in Belgium. It also operates hand spas at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and Den Bosch airport in Utrecht, offering hand massage and other treatments.