The First Ever Department Store
365 days of fashion: the e-ncyclopedia of fashion
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
When you think of a department store, names like Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Galeries Lafayette, Le Printemps, La Rinascente, or Selfridges come to mind. But have you ever wondered what was the first ever department store?
Today, we are going to share the history of Le Bon Marché: The world’s first “Grand Magasin” aka department store.
Le Bon Marché was founded in Paris in 1852 by Aristide and Marguerite Boucicaut. It was a time of great progress as everything was changing in 19th-century France, from dining and retail to architecture and medicine. And so, the couple quickly realized that there was a market for “a new kind of store that would thrill all the senses”.
Le Bon Marché started as a simple novelty shop on the corner of Rue de Sèvres and Rue du Bac but soon expanded into a "cathedral of modern shopping". Understanding the importance of architecture and design in retail, Aristide Boucicaut called in several architects to transform the building between 1869 and 1872. He ordered