PARIS: THE ARCHITECTURE OF DEPARTMENT STORES

Justin N. Froyd - Jan 24, 2011
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Not only discounts but also unique architecture attracts customers to department stores in Paris. Glass and steel dome is without doubt worth seeing.

 

Some department stores in Paris offer not only New Year’s sales but also beautiful Art nouveau architecture. Such marvels may have bigger effect on a person than huge discounts, and Galeries Lafayette and Printemps belong among them. It is said that a customer is the most satisfied if they leave a shop empty handed with no worries about possible reclaims or quality of the product.

Nevertheless, commercials are a powerful tool and combined with a woman’s suggestion just to have a look, few people can resist visiting shops. In case of the already mentioned department stores, even those who dislike shopping can enjoy the visit. According to Novinky.cz, the building of Galeries Lafayette was inspired by Byzantine architecture. A glass and steel dome of the store contributes to its look of a theatre. Approximately 25 million people visit the department store every year. Many of them come there mainly to admire the thirty-three-meter-high hall with the glassed-in dome. Customers can also enjoy a unique view of Paris from the roof terrace.

Printemps is a flag ship of more than hundred-year-old department stores of Paris. Since French printemps means spring, each customer receives a bouquet of violets on the first spring day there. A visitor who is not interested in new year’s discounts can admire the Art nouveau architecture. In 1881, the building was already equipped with electric lights and elevators. After several fires and reconstructions a forty-two-meter-high hall in Art nouveau style has been preserved till present days. The glass and steel dome color is violet and flowers of the same name decorate the windows of the dome.

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