Retail

Bernard and Marie-France Cohen, the husband-and-wife team who founded Bonpoint, opened Merci about a decade ago as a space that gathers quality clothing, design furniture and home essentials. The ground floor is also regularly given over to exhibitions that are built around themes that could be anything from the work of a particular designer to the output of a whole country. “It’s like a magazine: the exhibitions translate an editorial dimension to the brand,” says Merci’s Laurence Leclerc. “Recent themes have included ‘slow life’ – on diverse objects that make life easier – as well as Danish design, fashion and food.”

The former wallpaper factory also houses a restaurant that faces a pretty garden on the lower level. “At Merci there is always something to see, to discover, to taste,” says Leclerc.

When Armand Hadida opened L’Eclaireur in 1980 it was just one small shop buried in the basement of an art gallery. Since then the brand has grown to encompass six distinct boutiques, each with its own vision and aesthetic. It carries off-the-radar fashion for men and women that comes courtesy of designers including Paul Harnden, Boris Bidjan Saberi and Lamberto Losani; you can also buy jewellery, accessories and Fornasetti candles. 

Of the six locations, we’ve picked out the tucked-away L’Eclaireur Hérold, which is located on a quiet street inside the former stables of an 18th-century hôtel particulier (townhouse). “This shop goes against every marketing code that applies to luxury boutiques: it’s a place you can’t see from the street,” says Hadida.

Since it opened its doors across from Le Bon Marché in 1978, La Grande Épicerie has been a point of pilgrimage for Parisians in search of good food. Its seemingly never-ending shelves are piled high with surprising produce that draw people to the Rue de Sèvres in search of fine jams or Wagyu beef.

The ultimate Jean Royère specialist, Jacques Lacoste is passionate about furniture and objects dating from 1930 to 1950; his space features rare pieces from designers such as Charlotte Perriand and Alexandre Noll. The secret to his collection lies in the fact that he sources first editions by tracking them to their current owners. Design enthusiasts know that they can come here for that Royère chair they have been dreaming of – unless Lacoste has decided to keep it for himself.

Every item in Sarah Lavoine’s homeware collection reflects the Parisian interior designer’s passion for careful craftsmanship. As such, it’s little wonder that she fell in love with a former locksmith’s workshop in Passy while looking for a place to open her fourth shop. The 19th-century building is nestled beyond a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it archway but Passy’s savvy shoppers clearly know their way around. They are drawn in by the smell of fresh coffee and an inviting cobbled interior courtyard.