Cathedral of modern commerce

That's how Émile Zola called this place in his book "Au Bonheur des Dames", published in 1883. It is about "Le Bon Marché", the well known department store in Paris.

A few weeks ago, we saw a tv report about its fascinating history. The owner Aristide Boucicaut realised after the world fair of 1855, how to innovate his business and starting one of the first department stores in the world. It transformed shopping from a household duty to an experience for the upcoming middle class (women), introduced new concepts as great advertisement campaigns, sales periods, catalogue shopping and even an own delivery service within Paris.