Merci shop

A store with its finger on the pulse, Merci observes the way we behave, almost like an anthropologist, constantly questioning how we want to live in today’s modern cities. What do changes in our behaviour tell us? What habits shape our lives? Are they different in London and Tokyo? Which objects and customs from elsewhere might inspire the way we live here?

Merci is a place for reflecting on everyday life. Visitors wander, browse and linger, taking in the spirit of the times. In a constant exchange of ideas, the store refines its selections and follows directions that reflect its convictions. The fleeting sometimes sits alongside the essential, to the delight of Parisians and visitors from further afield. Like a home open to new ideas, this place captures the mood of the moment, welcoming bold thinking and unexpected solutions.

More than a curator of objects, Merci asks what things mean. Beauty alone is not enough: purpose gives an object its reason to exist. In both words and actions, Merci seeks to anticipate and draw inspiration from profound changes in society rather than follow the seasonal rhythm of collections. With an attentive eye on daily life, Merci tries, in its own way, to make each day a little less ordinary.

Welcome to a store that reads like a magazine, with a distinctly editorial point of view. What unfolds here is an engaged perspective on society, almost a manifesto. Questions of meaning, a return to essentials, respect for craftsmanship and references to folk art challenge a prescribed, uniform kind of luxury that is often ostentatious and devoid of feeling. Farewell to total looks, decoration for decoration’s sake, and beauty without purpose, emotion, desire or memory. At Merci, luxury is personal: something for oneself, found in the small details that elevate everyday life. It cannot be assembled with a few mood boards. It takes shape over a lifetime, with all its imperfections and moments of wonder.

Designed to feel welcoming rather than intimidating, and built around conviviality and pleasure, Merci is more than a store: it is a place to spend time. People come for its singular atmosphere and the simple pleasure of being there. Merci occupies a 19th-century building once home to a company specialising in upholstery fabrics and wallpaper. Unlike any other store, it fills the entire building and feels like a large house. Even its shop windows are different: they are occupied by cafés.

The purpose of the store at 111 Boulevard Beaumarchais is to offer a thoughtful, engaged way of living that belongs to our times.

Six matching chairs and a table? Not necessarily! Across fashion, homeware and food, Merci brings objects together in unexpected combinations, questioning how we see them. A Duralex glass sits beside a Jars Céramistes plate designed by Pierre Casenove, while a plastic crate strikes up a conversation with a vintage trolley by Mathieu Matégot. Pairings and contrasts—vintage and contemporary, handmade and industrial, expensive and affordable—reveal another way of looking at things. This belief in eclecticism runs through all three floors of Merci. Furniture, household linen, womenswear and menswear, dining, useful objects and the art of living come together in considered combinations. Prices mingle too: the everyday sits comfortably beside the exceptional.

Who would have imagined that a grand boulevard lined with motorcycle and camera shops would become a neighbourhood synonymous with creativity? Merci did. And it was right. By making Boulevard Beaumarchais a destination, Merci helped awaken the Upper Marais, a once-overlooked crossroads between the Marais, République and Bastille. People used to pass through without noticing its architecture, balconies and carriage entrances, reminders of the Second Empire before Haussmann. Today, inspiring addresses have sprung up everywhere. People come to eat, wander, discover designers and objects, shop or visit the market—in short, to live, in a spirit close to Merci’s heart.

Created to feel welcoming rather than intimidating, and centred on conviviality and pleasure, Merci is more than a store: it is a place to spend time. People make a special trip for its unique atmosphere and the pleasure of the experience. They come to discover something new, of course, but also to have lunch, drink tea, browse the books at the Used Book Café, wander and find inspiration. An unexpected concept deserves an unexpected setting. Merci occupies a 19th-century building that once housed an upholstery fabric and wallpaper business. The store fills the entire building—1,500 square metres, with ceilings reaching ten metres in places—and feels like a very large house. Even the windows are given over to cafés: the Used Book Café and Café Noir x Merci. From the garden level to the first floor, home to furniture, lighting, stationery, bath and household linen, via the ground floor with womenswear, menswear and accessories, it almost feels like home. Some spaces have become landmarks, such as the entrance dome, the main exhibition area, flooded with light from its glass roof. And, of course, there is the cobbled courtyard and its now-famous red Fiat 500. Avanti Merci!

About ten times a year, events take over the dome, a true atrium where visitors encounter Merci’s point of view. One such exhibition was “Imparfait, Nobody’s Perfect”, celebrating the quirks that make each of us unique, too often erased by the smooth standardisation of mass retail. Among the works on show were the iconic Le Parfait jar reshaped by visual artist Nadia Gallardo and the twisted pitchers of glassblower Bernard Heesen.

Fashion, too, becomes a way to explore ideas and commitments. The So Wax event celebrated the emblematic African fabric and, through a new generation of designers such as Maison Château Rouge, introduced visitors to a contemporary Africa beyond the clichés often attached to it. “Merci en Rose” explored every shade of pink, a colour that has signified innocence and eroticism, but also masculinity in the Middle Ages and wisdom in India. True to form, Merci examined its many identities—from shocking pink to baby pink, Barbie pink to candy pink—for a joyful, optimistic take on Fashion Week and the Autumn/Winter 2018–2019 ready-to-wear season.