Le Bon Marché, department store on the Rue de Sèvres since 1838

Le Bon Marché, the department store on the Rue de Sèvres, began in 1838 as Au Bon Marché, a haberdashery run by the brothers Paul and Justin Videau on the Left Bank. In 1852 Aristide Boucicaut joined them as a partner with his wife Marguerite, and in 1863 he bought out their shares.

The Boucicauts invented modern retail: fixed prices on labels, goods taken back if they did not suit, mail order and home delivery. On 9 September 1869 they laid the first stone of a new store at 24 Rue de Sèvres, opened on 2 April 1872 and enlarged over the next fifteen years. Gustave Eiffel only worked on it in 1879, for a modest extension.

In 1923 the house opened a Comptoir de l’Alimentation at number 38, renamed La Grande Épicerie in 1978. In 1984 Bernard Arnault bought the company, which later joined the LVMH group. After 151 years as Au Bon Marché, the store took the name Le Bon Marché in 1989.

On the Left Bank, in the 7th arrondissement, the store still fills its buildings on the Rue de Sèvres, and La Grande Épicerie de Paris occupies the building next door, at number 38.