Corporate Commitments

A Group committed to ethical consumption, social responsibility and fair trade

Groupe Galeries Lafayette recognizes the important environmental and social challenges that must be addressed and is firmly committed to the principles of sustainable development and ethical consumption.

Monoprix has promoted ethical consumption since the 1990s, encouraging business partners and customers to adopt practices that respect the environment and fair trade. Among its earliest initiatives was the development of environmentally friendly products and services. Monoprix Vert is a complete range of plant-based household cleaning products, and the Monoprix Bio brand counts over 150 products with the “AB” organic farming label. The Group actively supports fair trade initiatives, including a range of Max Havelaar certified foods and bioRe® label clothes made of 100% organic, fair trade cotton. Monoprix helps its customers do simple things that count for the environment too, with reusable bags, convenient shopping caddies and used battery bins.

The Group’s commitment extends far beyond these major product and service initiatives. Sustainable development issues are taken into consideration in every aspect of the operations—from management and organization to architecture and equipment.

Thanks to a major project that came to fruition in 2007, all non-alcoholic beverages, textiles and home, leisure and beauty goods for the 60 stores in Paris are now transported by rail. Merchandise arrives by train at the Bercy rail yards near the heart of the city and is carried the short remaining distance by natural gas-powered vehicles. This initiative reduces the number of trucks entering Paris each year by 12,000 and cuts carbon emissions by an estimated 337 tonnes.

BHV is actively developing “solution products” aimed at raising awareness of sustainable development issues and encouraging ethical consumption.

Support for social cohesion

The Group and all its brands support a variety of initiatives to promote job creation and social cohesion. It is active in the Job Crossroads scheme launched by the City of Paris, helping train young people through partnerships with schools to create apprenticeship and work/study opportunities. LaSer is the first non-banking financial establishment to obtain loan guarantees from France’s Social Cohesion Fund (FCS). It has forged long-term partnerships with a variety of organisations (France Active, Secours Catholique, Cresus, ADIE and others), applying its expertise to help them promote social cohesion and aid the disadvantaged. LaSer is also actively involved in developing micro-credits for professional and social purposes. The goal is to enable people excluded from the usual economic and financial channels to obtain loans, thereby demonstrating confidence in the person’s ability to reintegrate society through his or her project.

Human rights and labour standards

This commitment to ethical business conduct and sustainable development extends beyond France to disadvantaged regions and people in other parts of the world. The Group requires social traceability for imported products and conducts periodic social audits to verify compliance with established working hours, workers’ right to organize and freedom of speech, and health and safety conditions. Since 2001 Monoprix has conducted over 300 audits of major import suppliers.

The S'Miles Alliance enables customers to use their loyalty points to make donations to a number of approved humanitarian organisations, including France's Ligue Contre le Cancer and Enfants de la Terre.

The Group’s brands support worthy causes with long-term objectives, partnering associations and organisations that share its values. In 2007, for example, Galeries Lafayette aided the Action Innocence association, which is active in children’s Internet protection.

Corporate philanthropy and sponsorship

Fully attuned to emerging trends in fashion and modern lifestyles, Groupe Galeries Lafayette naturally has a strong interest in the contemporary creative process.

The Paris Haussmann department store has a long tradition of hosting prestigious events that introduce the public to artists and movements that have marked the history of our times. In 1946, Galeries Lafayette was the venue for the second Salon de Mai exhibition, presenting still little-known artists like Giacometti, Gruber, de Staël, Pignon and Tal Coat. In the 1960’s, an exhibition on abstract art brought together works by Dubuffet, Manessier and Poliakoff. And in 1984, an exhibit entitled “France has Talent” provided a tribute to iconic French artists, including César, Dubuffet and Niki de Saint Phalle.

The Group recognizes the positive impact its resources and visibility can have for artists and has established ongoing initiatives to support contemporary creativity. Opened in 2001, the Galerie des Galeries is an exhibition space in the centre of the flagship Paris Haussmann store that hosts a year-round series of art, fashion and design shows. Since 2005, an exhibition has been held once a year to display the works of a dozen new and established French artists. Entitled Antidote, the show is organized to coincide with the FIAC International Contemporary Art Fair, which the Group has sponsored for the past two years.

The goal is also to partner within institutions that can reach a broad public. In 2007 the Group sponsored two major retrospectives: one organized by Christian Lacroix, called Histoires de Mode, at the Fashion and Textiles Museum; and the other devoted to a young artist—Mathieu Mercier, Untitled, 1993-2007—at the Paris Museum of Modern Art.