Concept Store Merci

Merci is a concept store and a shopping stop that most visitors to Paris make a point of seeing. It sells a huge range of goods, from clothes, shoes, bags and accessories by well-known fashion brands to homewares, stationery, kitchenware and furniture.

"Merci" is French for "thank you." The store reportedly took the name to thank the artists and designers who joined its projects. And what's the project? Merci was launched on a model of donating all its profits, mostly to help women and children in Madagascar. If you're going to buy the same product you'd find in a department store or boutique, why not buy it at Merci? You shop and give at the same time. Through fashion, design, objects and food, Merci shows the world a model it dreams of and puts the value of sharing into practice. It's clever, trendy, creative and even humanitarian.

Opened in 2009, Merci has also influenced architects, interior designers and space designers around the world with its trendy interiors and architecture. Its arrival also stretched the Marais out to Boulevard Beaumarchais. The store sits on that wide boulevard, a far cry from the charming little lanes of the Marais. The street carried more cars than people and the neighborhood had little life, so everyone assumed any shop here would fail.

Yet when Merci opened on that lifeless site, the whole neighborhood changed. Parisians visiting the Marais were happy to go a bit farther to reach Merci, with its great interiors and trendy products. As the area filled with people, other good shops, cafés and restaurants gradually appeared. Merci's debut sent ripples through Paris and the Marais, and the area now called the Marais extends to Boulevard Beaumarchais.

Merci's café is also known for its brunch, so it's worth a visit for a meal rather than shopping. Its interiors, restyled with new concepts by designers from time to time, make just wandering through the space a different kind of experience.