La Halle

founded by

André Group (today known as Vivarte Group)

belongs to

Vivarte Group

about

La Halle is the leading discount clothing chain in France, offering women, men and children apparel and accessories.

After a successful business in the footwear operations, the André Group also made the leap into a new retail category, that of clothing. The company's first step in this new market came in 1984, when it launched La Halle aux Vêtements, bringing to clothing what it had brought to the shoe sector. Initially, the company's move into clothing came in partnership with Nouvelles Galeries. When that company entered the discount clothing sector with its own retail format, however, André took over the purchasing operations of La Halle aux Vêtements. By the beginning of the 1990s, La Halle aux Vêtements had succeeded in capturing the lead in the discount clothing sector--and André bought out the Nouvelles Galeries struggling discount chain. The success of the La Halle format in France led the company to expand its discount operations internationally. In 1987 the company opened its first La Halle stores in Switzerland and Merkalzados stores in Spain.

Today La Hlle is a part of the French group Vivarte and is distributed through a network of stores in France, Overseas, Switzerland and Spain.