As Time Goes By

 

The knife rack in my kitchen here displays the usual suspects: a couple of Opinel foldable knives, a bread knife, two new ones just bought at E. Dehellerin, the great cooking store on the rue du Louvre, etc. The one second in from the right, though, holds a special place in the collection.

A bit of the blade is missing near the top, the handle is somewhat worn, but the edge is as sharp today as it was when I bought it in 1972 at the big Paris department store, La Samaritaine, that stood between the Pont Neuf and rue de Rivoli. For 50 years, it's been my go-to knife, travelling with me wherever we go! 

The La Samaritaine of 1972, however, was very different to the newly reopened version of this historic department store. Back then, there were four separate buildings, selling everything from lawn mowers to fine jewellry. In the pedestrian passages between the buildings, temporary stalls promoted special items at special prices.  On that sunny, summer day in 1972, one of these stalls offered kitchen knives. We bought two small ones and this larger one. 

Long before 1972, though, what became this gigantic department store had its humble origins in a small room behind a cafe on the corner of the rue du Monnaie and the rue du Pont-Neuf. In March, 1870, Ernest Cognacq and his wife Louise Jay opened a "grand magazin de nouveautés", offering new fashions in this 48 square meter space. They named their tiny store La Samaritaine, after La Pompe de la Samaritaine, a large water pump that stood on the site from the 17th to the early 19th century. 

The imposing building was decorated with the figures of Christ and the Good Samaritan. Its function was to pump water from the Seine to the royal residences and gardens in the Louvre and le Palais des Tuileries.

As time went by, the successful partnership of Ernest Cognacq and Louise Jay led to the acquisition of neighboring buildings, which they filled with goods that Parisians flocked to buy. They focused on narrow profit margins, price-labeled items and daily promotions. "Deal of the day" became a rallying cry, along with a belief in the slogan, "sell more to sell cheap, sell cheap to sell more."

Posters and advertisements lured the newly empowered, eager, middle-class shoppers to La Samaritaine, which also counted on its easy access between the Louvre and Nôtre Dame to attract customers. 

In 1905, with profits soaring, Cognacq and his wife hired the Belgian architect, Frantz Jourdain, to design the second La Samaritaine building at the corner of rue du Pont Neuf and rue de la Monnaie. The result was an extravagant homage to Art Nouveau decorative ironwork, both inside and outside. The centerpiece was this atrium that rose up five floors to the vast glass roof. A grand tier of staircases linked the open galleries on each floor. 

 

The staircases also served as vantage points for members of the public to stand and enjoy concerts that were frequently given in the atrium. (I remember climbing them to the women's department in the mid-1970s, where I bought the classic "little black suit"!)

Completed in 1910, the store became a symbol of modern success, attracting more and more shoppers. At its peak, it boasted 80,000 square meters of commercial space, with 90 different departments!

As more time went by, La Samaritaine continued to dominate the world of department stores. Ernest Cognacq and Louise Jay both died in the late 1920s. Their nephew successfully took over management until after WWII. This photo from the early 1950s shows buildings 1, 2 and 3, with flags flying and bustling activity all around. You can also catch a glimpse of St. Eustache on the skyline!

By the late 1970s, though, tastes and styles had changed. La Samaritaine was no longer the premier store to visit. With sales dwindling and losses mounting, the store struggled to stay in business. It was listed as a historic site in 1990, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. In 2001, the store was bought by a consortium of luxury goods companies, Louis-Vuitton-Moet-Hennessy (LVMH). But even their wealth and prestige could not save La Samaritaine. The store had become a white elephant, and was shut down by the Préfecture de Paris in 2005, due to safety regulations. There were still some 1500 employees at the time.

A good deal more time had to go by -- 16 years in all -- before all the legal wrangles and immense restoration work could be completed. Closely monitored all the way through by the Department of Historical Buildings, the new La Samaritaine finally opened last year with great fanfare. 

The result is truly breathtaking.  Master craftsmen and craftswomen, with enormous skill and patience, have painstakingly restored the detail and beauty of the original building. 

The stack of stairs leading up to the glass roof dominates the atrium space...

...open galleries run around each floor, just as they did in Frantz Jourdain's original layout...

 ...and this beautiful peacock frieze, which had been painted over in the 1990s, has been lovingly brought back to life.

So, what actually is going on in these buildings today, what is sold and who are the customers of this new La Samaritaine? The brochure tells us that there are 70,000 square meters in the two buildings. This includes retail space, a 5-star hotel (l'hôtel Cheval Blanc), 96 social housing units, and a nursery (une crèche) with 80 spaces. 

As far as retail shopping is concerned, this is definitely not the same La Samaritaine that Ernest Cognacq and Louise Jay cherished. Geared to affluent rather than middle-class customers, the boutiques on the ground floor post familiar, super-elite labels:  Prada, Fendi, Cartier, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton ...

...Gucci, which on the day we visited, had only two staff and one security guard actually in the shop...

...Dior had two customers, "looking", but we never saw anyone carrying a La Samaritaine bag, indicating that they had purchased something!

 

The Gianvito Rossi shoe boutique had several of those crazy boots!

 

Some items, like this colorful armchair and footstool by Gaetano Pesce, sit out on the floor, but don't expect to find a price tag anywhere on it!

And as for this weird sheep "family", who knows what their label is, or even if they're for sale. A tiny sign on the backs of the two larger sheep says "do not touch", which needless to say, did not stop a small boy from happily climbing all over them!

On one of the upper levels, there's a focus on champagne, with walls of stored bottles, and elegant displays on the landing -- clever temptation as you have to walk by it to get to the next flight of stairs! There are two fancy dining rooms under the glass roof (one named "Ernest", presumably in honor of Monsieur Cognacq), and several less formal cafes, tea salons, and bakeries. On the ground floor, a Concierge desk will steer you to wherever you want to go, including an appointment at the Spa, or -- if you are in La Samaritaine's little black book of personal shoppers -- you can be escorted to a private, beautifully decorated apartment, from where you can shop in comfort!  You could describe the whole milieu as an homage to wealth and capitalism!

As we wandered through the store on a busy Saturday afternoon, we were struck by the fact that most of the people around us were like us -- the "just looking" folks, definitely not the eager to buy customers of yore. Ernest Cognacq and Louise Jay's narrow profit margins, price-labeled items and daily promotions are nowhere to be seen. "Deal of the day" is a non-starter, along with a belief in the slogan, "sell more to sell cheap, sell cheap to sell more."  Time does, indeed, go by.  Perhaps, when the tourists return to Paris, this new La Samaritaine will flourish as the old one did. Meanwhile, though, we can certainly appreciate this beautifully restored Art Nouveau marvel.

À bientôt!

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