Dover Street To Open ‘Little Market’ In Paris

The Comme des Garçons-owned concept store is expanding its footprint in the city with a small shop stocking seven designers that are a part of the company’s brand development division, Dover Street Market Paris, which operates out of an atelier on Place Vendôme.

Dubbed “Little Market,” the new store will open on February 27 at 54 Rue du Faubourg St. Honoré, which previously housed Comme des Garçons’ Trading Museum Paris, a kind of museum-retail hybrid.

The brands set to be featured in the Little Market space include Berlin’s Honey Fuckin Dijon, New York’s Vaquera, Moscow’s Rassvet (Paccbet) and Singapore’s Youths in Balaclava, which are not owned by Comme des Garçons but benefit from shared marketing, sales and operational resources.

Dover Street Market first made its Paris retail debut in 2019 with a beauty and fragrance store located on a quiet street in the Marais. While the retailer has been interested in expanding presence in Paris since the closure of famed concept store Colette in 2017, finding a suitable space has proven challenging.

But as more of the city’s specialty retailers, including Montaigne Market, which is set to close this month, fade away, new opportunities may emerge. Finding the right real estate has been integral to the success of Dover Street Market’s outposts, from its original London location to its Los Angeles store, which opened in the city’s industrial Arts District in 2018.