Merci was opened in an old 19th century wallpaper factory in March 2009 by Bernard and Marie-France Cohen, founders of BONPOINT the children’s fashion label. Since then this concept store has become one of the biggest shopping sensations in Paris.
Located on Boulevard Beaumarchais right in the heart of the trendy Marais area of Paris, it’s three floors of wonderfully curated household items, homewares, interior design, perfume, fashion, stationary, jewellery and lighting. There is also a stylish bookstore, two cafes (the Cinema Café and the Used Book Café) and a canteen. Oh… and the most amazing juice bar!
I’d heard a lot about merci mainly because it is famous for showcasing new young interior designers and giving all its profits to charity – so far over 300,000 euros have been donated to pay for educational projects and developments in south-west Madagascar.
I visited on a cold Saturday afternoon in January whilst in Paris for Maison et Object, keen to see what all the fuss is about…
The shop itself is hidden down a little alley leading into a paved courtyard where the famous red merci Fiat is parked outside. Once inside the shop, itsindustrial heritage is still very obvious – the brick walls are exposed or painted dark grey and the original pipes are all still in place. The store was very busy but the high ceilings and natural light streaming through the spectacular glass roof meant it still felt spacious and airy.
The front of the store is given up to exhibiting new interior designers and Danish brand Hay had a big presence when I visited. The tills are at the front of the store and the queue snaked around most of the huge entrance hall so I grabbed a little wire basket and started in the basement homeware department. I found some wonderful light-fittings,flex wiressheathed in a multitude of gorgeous coloured cottons and lots of bakelite and porcelain switches. I was very tempted by a clip-on cage light for just 20 euros. It would have needed an adaptor plug but it was still a real statement piece.
A huge pile of grey metal French café chairs stretched from the basement right up through the open floors to the top floor. At 190 euros I suspect it wouldn’t take much searching to find them a lot cheaper but they are a design classic which fit in with so many different styles of interior design from contempory to classic to industrial chic. The homewares were all displayed on big tables or in floor-to-ceiling bookcases and it was easy to browse. I loved the coloured glassware, the range of clip-on accessories including clip-on bottle openers and mini place settings, the pretty Falcon Enamel cookware in white and duck egg blue and the Japanese paper pop-up storage boxes – great for keeping toiletries and make-up out of sight.
On the first floor is an eclectic mix of clothes, shoes and jewellery, divided into men’s, women’s and children’s wear. Merci stock a mixture of vintage clothes, new up and coming designers and bigger well-known brands like Isabel Marant and Alexander Wang. The whole women’s wear look is very Boho hippy chic with a Parisian twist and its definitely not cheap – even during the January sales. I did treat myself to one of their famous bracelets though.
There is also an exhibition space on the first floor which, when I visited, was given over to Daniel Rozensztroch, artistic director at merci, who has written a book about his love of herring “Herring a love story” and curated an exhibition of his personal collection of herring ceramic containers from 1860 to the 1950s. I’d never seen them before but they were rather lovely.
The furniture on the top floor was all vintage café chairs, big rustic wooden tables and huge unstructured squashy sofas covered in softly coloured grey and taupe linens. It’s a look that sits well in the factory setting of merci, but most of the pieces were very big and I couldn’t help thinking you’d have to be a rich Parisian to have a house to accommodate them.
Upstairs, I particularly loved merci’s own collection of crumpled natural linen bedding in 18 mouth-wateringly gorgeous colours and the stationary collection – the little travel notebooks are irresistible and a bit of merci magic for 10 euros. Other great buys were their magazine racks for 65 euros and the chic little cardboard suitcases in bright reds and blues would have made great storage solutions for a child’s bedroom.
I loved the layout and design of merci but I was less excited by the product range. I’ve seen most of it before but I suspect we are spoiled for choice in the UK. This doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go back next time I am in Paris – if only to browse the books in the café whilst enjoying a coffee and watching the beautiful Parisian people shop!
merci
111 boulevard Beaumarchais, Paris
http://www.merci-merci.com
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