Merci Mille Fois

In the trendy world of concept stores, Merci is decidedly new and different. Marie-France and Bernard Cohen, the couple who founded the chic and highly successful childrenswear company Bonpoint, last month opened the vast 16,000 square-foot boutique complex in a skylit former 19th-century textile factory in the upper Marais district. The four-story emporium includes a florist shop, a used bookstore and a literary café, designer and vintage clothing for men, women and children, accessories in all price ranges, tableware and cookware, cutting-edge design furniture and flea market finds, colorful hardware, wicker baskets and bicycle bells—among other things—and a restaurant called Cantina overlooking a courtyard garden. And the profits will go to a charity foundation that aids disadvantaged children in Madagascar and India.

Designers including Stella McCartney, Paul Smith and Jerôme Dreyfuss have collaborated to offer customized versions of items from their collections at more accessible prices. Design furnishings include pieces by François Azambourg, Jasper Morrison and Philippe Starck. Well-known authors and literary critics have contributed books stamped with their names, and celebrities have provided vintage clothing that will be similarly tagged, as in “Merci Catherine” (Deneuve) and “Merci, Jane” (Birkin). The flower shop is run by star Parisian florist Christian Tortu. There will also be a range of moderately priced goods made for the shop’s own label, and a fragrance corner with six floral scents by the late perfumer Annick Goutal—Marie-France Cohen’s sister—presented in simple bottles and sold at reduced prices.

111 blvd Beaumarchais, 3rd, Métro: Saint Sébastien Froissart. 01.42.77.00.33. www.merci-merci.com