Paris Shopping: Between the Louvre and Notre-Dame, La Samaritaine has become an architectural monument where Art Nouveau and Art Deco meet to form a harmonious whole.
Established in 1870 by Ernest Cognacq and his wife Louise Jay - a former head saleswoman in ready-to-wear clothing at Le Bon Marché - La Samaritaine evokes the Paris of the Second Empire, as modernized by Baron Haussmann, when the first department stores appeared. Individually displayed prices, the opportunity to stroll through departments and try on clothes...La Samaritaine applied operational principles that would transform traditional distribution.
