This is the last post in a series about 3 Parisian retail establishments. The first post is on La Samaritaine, a reborn “grand magasin”, and the second on Merci, a concept store.
La Grande Épicerie (LGE) is one of the finest food halls or delicatessens in the world, the flagship operating at Rue de Sèvres, Paris 7e on the Left Bank. There is a branch at 80 rue de Passy, Paris 16e, opened in 2017.
LGE is part of the larger Le Bon Marché department store. The épicerie itself spans four levels, and a covered walkway connecting the two stores are located on the first floors of both buildings. Le Bon Marché is considered the world’s first modern department store, with its creation by Aristide Boucicaut in 1852, while LGE was established in 1923. In 1984, Le Bon Maché and by extension LGE was acquired by LVMH, the global luxury group. In 2013, after 18 months of renovation, the current LGE on Rue de Sèvres reopened.
LGE claims to offer over 30,000 items in 17 different departments. Visitors to the main store can enjoy a variety of dining experiences, with on-site restaurants and cafes offering a taste of the store’s exquisite offerings. We went there to shop for our Christmas and New Year dinners. It was only a short walk for us since our rental apartment was on Rue du Dragon.
Chris’s first encounter with a food hall was at Harrods many many years ago in London. Macys at Herald Square had a small one in the basement back when we were living in New York. While traveling, we have been enjoying the prepared foods at many food halls in the lower floors of big department stores in Japan and South Korea, and at the top floors of KaDeWe in Berlin (see our earlier post here).
LGE’s layout is designed to provide a comprehensive and immersive shopping experience, with each floor offering a distinct range of products and services. There are 7 eateries in LGE where one can have a meal (La Table), a snack, or a coffee. (Click on the image to enlarge the plan).
Le Cave (The Cellar) on the lower floor (-1) houses the wine and spirit department with 8500 selections and 200,000 bottles, from rare items, prestigious labels to everyday products.
The store has an in-house “laboratoires” with chefs and apprentices specializing in baking, gastronomy, and pastry, working daily to produce 30,000 gastronomic offerings.
The store has sections dedicated to savoury foods (L’Épicerie Salée), sweets (L’Épicerie Sucrée), world flavors and cuisines (L’Épicerie du Monde, Traiteur Tafa), as well as meats, fishes, cheeses, dairies, chocolates, teas & coffees and non-alcoholic beverages.
In this luxury department store, it has a fishmonger (La Poissonnerie). How do they keep the odor away from other parts of the store?
There is also a section dedicated to Italian foods, such as preserved meats and cheeses.
Les Fruits !
You can visit LGE’s store virtually here using this embedded Google map.
One of the most interesting part of their online shop is the list of brands which tells the story behind many products, and allows one to order some items (e.g., wine) through the internet. Unfortunately, delivery is limited to France and to Europe only.
There are several reasons for us to want to live in Paris (not just a visit). This unique food department store is one of them.