Store Visits

Le Bon Marché is the first department store that opened in history. The practice of haute couture and the business of ready-to-wear were born in Paris. So if there's any place to be inspired by innovative concepts in retail ... it's right here.

I do store visits to catch up on merchandising ideas, see creative solutions on interiors and display, look at the players in the industry. My first stop today was at Merci in the Marais. It's a three-story concept store with a used-book shop and café, fashion, beauty and home products that are edited with a Parisian spirit ... that talent of putting together unusual combinations and colors. Most of the merchandise are really just everyday objects rethought in an unusual way. It's owned by a couple that already made their fortune and decided to spend their time giving back. All proceeds go to charity.

I thought it tacky to take photographs so here's a video instead. If you have time to see only three shops while in Paris, this is one of them.



Note: My father didn't like it ... he thought it to be too bohemian.

I however, ordered four-minute boiled eggs in the café, and they had to be redone because they remained raw and runny. After the second failed attempt, I was reimbursed for this dish.

In 2010, I blogged about my first visit to Merci here where I had the audacity to photography their inner courtyard display.