Apparently the famous La Samaritaine department store is now closed, and is slated to re-open in the near future as a mixed-use condo/hotel concept with a small amount of retail:
It very much encapsulates the structural transformation of the urban economy. The big city department store is in many ways a thing of beauty, but it’s also very much a thing of a particular time and place. Then came the era of the suburban big box store. But as Internet shopping increasingly subverts the logic of both the traditional department store and the traditional big box outlet (sorry, Borders) the urban/suburban retail playing field is once again leveled and the kind of choice central city locations that used to house department stores become logical places for residence. The main function of urban retailing becomes food/nightlife/entertainment and certain sets of personal services. Jobs come to the city because people like to live there for the amenities, rather than amenities following people who need to commute to work.
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