In the constantly evolving world of retailing there’s aways a new business model coming along but one retail format has stood the test of time and can trace its origins back nearly two centuries: the department store.
So, a new exhibition in Paris, “The Saga of the Department Stores,” which opened last month and runs through April, celebrates what it calls 175 years of the “cathedrals of consumption. The show is at the Cité de l'Architecture museum.
Four years in development, it follows last year’s “The Birth of Department Stores” and looks into how department stores were at the forefront of social change and how they are continuing to adapt to stay relevant. “The birth of department stores is also the birth of shopping,” said curator Isabelle Marquette. “People come to buy, but they come to have fun, they come for a walk, and it’s a commercial revolution.”
“The department store, from about 1880, began to become extremely decorated with monumental architecture and a very, very shimmering decor,” said curator Elvira Férault. “To attract customers, you had to mark the city, dominate it and be symbols of modernity.”
Paris is considered by many as the birthplace of the department store, with credit given to Le Bon Marché as the first one, though Printemps and two other no-closed retailers -- Les Grands Magasins du Louvre and Les Grands Magasins Dufayel -- were equally upscale contemporaries.
The exhibit includes archival architectural and site plan drawings, and actual pieces from stores such as parts of original staircases. Stores from around the world are included and the program is complete with special screenings of films, including 1984’s “The Store” and the Marx Brothers’ 1941 classic “The Big Store,.” shown in the museum’s theater.
The exhibit runs until April 6. More information, including how to purchase tickets in advance, is available at https://www.citedelarchitecture.fr/en/agenda/exhibition/history-department-stores.