Background on the Parisian Bon Marché

          In 1869, while the Washington Territorial Legislature was busy chartering the incorporation of the Seattle, another sort of chartering was being performed in Paris. In September, Aristide Boucicaut, his wife, and several other principal investors and associates broke ground for France's first department store – the newly revised Bon Marché.[i] While an entire book could be written about the store's innovative style, marketing strategies, and cultural impact (which Michael Miller has already done), this section will focus on the notable highlights that were incorporated twenty years later by the Seattle facsimile. In France (and in most other places) there was no such thing as a super center shopping complex or a store that specialized in multiple fields. If one wanted a new dress and a pair shoes, one had to go to both a dressmaker and a shoemaker to have everything made from scratch or one could simply make everything by one's own self. This meant that poorer individuals had to make due on their own, while more affluent individuals could have everything custom made. Boucicaut, using the concept of dry goods stores, which sold an array of different items, thought of a way to bring multiple goods together under one roof.[ii] This sort of store would be departmentalized, where each section would specialize in pre-made goods that were readily accessible to people from across many different socio-economic classes. The Bon Marché was this new sort of specialty shop where, as Boucicaut stated, "everything useful, convenient, and comfortable that experience has been able to produce" could be found – a department store.[iii]

          While department stores seem like a perfectly fine idea to current society, it was practically unheard of at the time of The Bon Marché. In order to make the store successful, Boucicaut would have to heavily market the advantages of shopping in a store like his rather than a small boutique. By advertising low prices and introducing new departments, The Bon Marché was able to convince many people that this new method of shopping was the wave of the future, driving the development of a consumer culture.[iv] The store was able to keep costs down by minimizing turn around times on inventory and relying on a cash only policy.[v] This not only kept inventory costs low, but also maximized the amount of capital each department had on hand to basically subsidize and stockpile itself. The Bon Marché went even further, however, by "selling not only merchandise, but consumption itself."[vi] Through low prices and mass marketing, The Bon Marché made mass production of goods both affordable and practical. The low prices also attracted people of all classes, who could now afford both the things they really needed and the things they really did not need but could afford so they would buy it anyway. This sort of overkill from mass production directly led to the integration of a consumption-oriented consumer culture into mainstream society.[vii] And if the low prices or a fancy image were not enough, the store was guaranteed to sell it self by practically captivating shoppers the way a good television show captures it audience. In the most literal since, The Bon Marché did this by having a very elaborately designed store that made people feel like they were special people in a special atmosphere. In terms of image building, however, The Bon Marché attempted to convince shoppers that the store cured social ills. As Miller bluntly states, "[The store] placed greater emphasis on the new system's benefits than the old system's failings."[viii] It had made prices affordable so that everyone could live somewhat lavishly, it represented hard working people, it helped manufacturing industries grow, and it was ultimately good for the country.[ix] This business strategy, including everything from low prices to image sales, made The Bon Marché the incredible success that it is.