sport

The Champs-Élysées: a playground for sport and lifestyle

19 June 2026 by Flora

As part of our retail tours, the Lemens & Partners team observed two retail activations on the Champs-Élysées: PSG Café and the Wilson Tennis Garden pop-up, two sports brands that are building much more than just a product. The Champs-Élysées has always been a showcase. Sport is establishing itself there as a brand culture, a way of life and an experience in its own right.

PSG Café: when a football club becomes a home

Part of the PSG boutique on the Champs-Élysées, the PSG Café offers much more than just a coffee break. Cups emblazoned with the logo, branded glasses, madeleines in the club’s colours, drinks with evocative names (PSG Spritz, PSG Spirit) and a carefully selected Rwanda Women Coffee. To take away or enjoy on the premises, in a sleek, minimalist white space.

It is a branded café, designed for an international audience, catering to tourists as well as supporters. The MyParis loyalty programme extends the experience beyond a one-off visit: discounts, access to PSG TV, a gaming zone and family offers. In this way, the club is building a community, not just a customer base.

PSG no longer just sells shirts. It sells a Parisian lifestyle.

Wilson Tennis Garden: Roland-Garros comes to Galeries Lafayette on the Champs-Élysées

At the entrance to Galeries Lafayette on the Champs-Élysées, Wilson has set up its Tennis Garden. As soon as you enter, the floor transforms into a red clay court. A corridor lined with large black-and-white photographs of legendary tennis players leads to a green dome covered in ivy, at the heart of which the Wilson tennis clothing collection is on display.

This pop-up has been set up to coincide with the French Open, which took place from 24 May to 7 June. Wilson, the tournament’s official equipment supplier since 2020, is capitalising on the tournament’s momentum to establish itself in a new light: no longer simply as an equipment supplier, but as a style brand.

Wilson no longer sells just equipment. It sells the elegance of tennis.

wilson-tennis-garden-galeries-lafayette-photos-joueurs

What this tells us about the future of retail

PSG and Wilson are using sport as a starting point to build a brand universe that extends far beyond the original product.

Whether it’s coffee, fashion, lifestyle or community, sport has become one of the most powerful drivers of experiential retail. And the Champs-Élysées, with its constant flow of international visitors, is the ideal setting to demonstrate this.

Designing these spaces requires creative professionals capable of simultaneously considering brand identity, spatial design and the visitor’s emotional experience. These are the talents that Lemens & Partners helps to find every day.

Retail tours have become essential for tracking trends, innovating and drawing inspiration. Lemens & Partners analyses global retail movements through the lens of your strategic challenges, observing what works elsewhere to help shape the retail of tomorrow.

We design and lead bespoke retail tours with our international experts. The field is an endless source of ideas.

Get in touch to organise your next retail tour.

CIRCLE SPORTSWEAR OPENS ITS FIRST STORE IN PARIS

17 December 2024 by Flora

Founded in 2020 by Frenchmen Alex Auroux and Romain Trebuil, Circle Sportswear is the perfect combination of sports and eco-responsibility.

Circle Sportswear was created to give real meaning to circular economy. Some of their garments are made from plastic bottles first collected on the Italian coast, processed in Turin and then woven in Bourgoin-Jailleu before being assembled in Porto.

«  Our aim is to be as close as possible to our community. We want the soul of the boutique to mingle here with the energy of the Circle teams to create an environment conducive to creativity, listening to runners’ expectations and innovation, to have a stronger impact on the future of running. »
Romain Trébuil, co-founder and CEO of Circle Sportswear

Circle Sportswear is based on 5 pillars of circular economy: eco-design, local production, business model (based on pre-orders for launches), logistics and packaging (no cargo or air delivery, bike delivery in Paris…) as well as recycling and upcycling. Through this circular business model, Circle is committed to offering technical and sustainable innovations to runners. The aim is to bring about a profound transformation in the sports industry.

“The new HQ for committed runners”, Circle Sportswear has opened its first permanent boutique in Paris République. This hybrid of retail outlet and team workspace already perfectly represents the brand. A simple, minimalist boutique with upcycled furnishings, materials. This boutique targets perfectly its consumers with ethical values.

Rue de Marseille, 75010 Paris
Open daily from 11am to 7pm
Sundays from 2pm to 7pm

RESPIRE, THE POP-UP THAT GIVES YOU SOME FRESH AIR

5 November 2024 by Flora

The French cosmetics brand Respire invites us to discover its own world in their new pop-up, in the Marais district of Paris until Christmas. If you need any gift ideas…

Founded in 2018 by Justine Hutteau and Thomas Méheut, Respire first made a name for itself with its natural deodorants, in pots of yellow, blue, green and red colors. Building on its success, the brand has expanded to offer new ranges of skin care products. Until Christmas, Respire invites you to rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie to discover its entire skincare universe, including their Hydratation Intense range.

The Lemens & Partners team went to explore this new ephemeral boutique, just for you! Right from the front, you’re immersed in the serene blue of Respire. The boutique window also features a bubble displaying their moisturizing gel cream, the flagship product of their new Hydration Intense range.

With the blue on every wall of the pop-up, the colorful, uncluttered packaging, the layout of the products making it easy for customers to get in and out… Once inside, it’s easy to understand the brand’s message: simplicity and efficiency are the order of the day. On the right-hand wall, you’ll find all the brand’s iconic deodorants, and on the left, all the products in their new range. The products are placed in such a way as to make it easy to understand the steps to follow for a good moisturizing routine.

The sales assistants take great care of visitors. They listen to their customers’ needs and take the time to respond and advise, adapting to each person’s individual requirements.

It’s our community that makes all the difference. It’s what has helped us develop our products from the start.
Justine Hutteau, co-fondatrice et CEO de Respire

Respire is a proud and ambitious brand, which is growing with its community (created in 2018 thanks to crowdfunding and today has created a “Respire Running Club”) and which wants to be collective, with loyal customers who participate in its constant evolution.

38 rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, 75004 Paris
Open from 10:30 am to 7:30 pm (Saturday 8pm)

@lemensandpartners

DISCOVER H&M’S FUTURISTIC POP UP IN PARIS

29 October 2024 by Flora

Until 31 December 2024, H&M is opening the doors of its new Parisian pop-up in the heart of the Marais district.

The Swedish brand is coming to France to present its fashion laboratory. It’s a surprising short-term boutique that breaks away from the brand’s usual codes.
On the menu: the Fall/Winter collection, beauty products, chic and sporty capsules collections, second-hand goods and a futuristic decor.

Designed by the American studio Perron-Roettinger, this immersive 850m2 pop-up makes its mark with an omnipresent red theme, the signature colour of the H&M brand. As soon as you enter, you are quickly captured by minimalist atmosphere of the set design, with mannequins in the centre of the corridor. A Paris 2024 fashion week effect!

The exclusive capsules are then delicately displayed on a glass case.

Upstairs, you’ll find a second-hand ‘H&M Pre Loved’ collection, a make-up and beauty range, a sports capsule collection, a children’s capsule and an ‘H&M Studio’ collection.

The ephemeral boutique is a great success. The location is unusual, and respects a laboratory theme with its white floors and walls. The red colour works perfectly well to highlight the brand’s products.

Galerie Joseph
116 Rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris
Open until 31 December

@lemensandpartners

NIKE, THE HOUSE OF INNOVATION STRIKES AGAIN

20 August 2024 by Flora

‘Balling out’, Nike’s innovative new façade on the Champs-Elysées.

Nike has surprised us once again with a new spherical façade overlooking the Champs-Elysées. Bold and innovative, Nike lives up to its name as the House of Innovation.

With its striking, original and intriguing design, the Nike facade is like a work of art. More than a product brand, Nike is selling a way of life. It is clear that the brand wishes to target a more luxurious and upmarket clientele. They don’t just want to sell a product, they want to sell the whole experience.

Nike House of Innovations
79 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, 75008 Paris
Open 7 days a week from 10am to 9pm – 8pm on Sundays

BAR & BOUTIQUE, BREITLING AWAITS YOU

6 August 2024 by Flora

Breitling intends to maximise its visibility by opening a 400 m2 pop-up store on the popular Champs-Elysées avenue during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

While awaiting the completion of work on their next address on the Champs-Elysées, Breitling is decorating the walls of the former Levi’s boutique. Divided into 3 floors, this shop for the Swiss brand invites us to take our time and immerse ourselves in its iconic universe. Greeted by an agent, we face a staircase that invites us to discover the basement.

Once downstairs, you feel right at home. Like a club that welcomes its members, Breitling offers a variety of areas for entertainment and relaxation. On one side, we have a lounge with armchairs, a library, a sofa and a screen. On the other, we have an area dedicated to lifestyle collaboration with Deus Ex Machina. In between, we have a bar-lounge area with a cosy, subdued atmosphere, offering customers refined refreshments.

“The opening of our temporary pop-up on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is an exceptional opportunity for Breitling to share our passion for watchmaking with the community of watch lovers in Paris.”
Edouard D’Arbaumont , Directeur Général de Breitling Europe du Sud

From the ground floor to the first floor, the luxury brand offers a selection of watches and services such as strap changes. The “Care bar” on the first floor offers Breitling customers a watch repair and/or maintenance service. This initiative once again demonstrates the special attention the brand pays to its customers.

Two motorbikes have also been installed on 2 floors of the boutique in collaboration with Triumph Motorcycles Limited.