Ginette Moulin, the owner of the French department store group, Galeries Lafayette, died on Sunday at the age of 98, the company told AFP on Tuesday.
Moulin was the granddaughter of Théophile Bader, who co-founded the first Galeries Lafayette store in Paris with Alphonse Kahn in 1894. In 2024, Challenges magazine ranked Moulin and her family the 34th wealthiest in France, with an estimated business fortune of €4.05 billion.
In August 2024, Moulin handed over control of the family holding company, Motier, to her son-in-law Philippe Houzé, supported by her grandchildren—Nicolas Houzé, Guillaume Houzé, and Arthur Lemoine.
Moulin was a pillar of the Galeries Lafayette family legacy, witnessing five generations take charge of the Boulevard Haussmann store in Paris.
Born on February 7, 1927, Ginette Moulin was the daughter of Max Heilbronn, a French Resistance fighter who was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp during World War II. There, he met Étienne Moulin, who would later become his son-in-law and Ginette Moulin’s husband.
As of January 2025, Galeries Lafayette operated 57 stores across France, including 19 company-owned locations and 38 franchise-operated stores.