La Samaritaine

La Samaritaine
Pont Neuf facade, April 2022
General information
Type	Department store
Architectural style	Art Nouveau, Art Deco
Location	Paris, France
Coordinates	48°51′32″N 2°20′31.5″E / 48.85889°N 2.342083°E / 48.85889; 2.342083
Inaugurated	1870
Owner	LVMH
Technical details
Floor area	48,000 m2
Website
dfs.com/samaritaine

La Samaritaine (French pronunciation: [la samaʁitɛn]) is a large department store in the first arrondissement of Paris; the nearest metro station is Pont-Neuf.^[1] Founded in 1870 by Ernest Cognacq it is now owned by the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH.^[2]

The store was a member of the International Association of Department Stores from 1985 to 1992.^[3]

In 1870 Ernest Cognacq opened La Samaritaine, on the corner of Rue du Pont-Neuf and the Rue de la Monnaie.^[4][5] In 1872 Cognacq married Marie-Louise Jaÿ and they begun to manage the store together.^[5]

The interiors of magasin one (magasin means "store" in French) were redesigned in 1891, the project was overseen by architect Frantz Jourdain.^[5][1] He also designed magasin two which opened in 1910.^[5] Much of magasin two had been pre-fabricated allowing the construction to occur rapidly.^[1] Magasin one's facade was also updated to match magasin two.^[1]

By the time the store's remodel and expansion was finished in 1910 the style of the new buildings were outdated and when the decision was made to expand in the 1920s city officials allowed for the expansion only if specifications of the city were followed (these specifications centred around a more current architectural style). This was done with little opposition from Cognacq and Jourdain as both were aware that now magasin one and two were outdated in style.^[1]

Between 1926 and 1928, Jourdain and Henri Sauvage worked together designing the stores extension towards the river Seine.^[5] By the end of this partnership the Samaritaine was made up of four buildings and was eleven floors in height.^[6]

In 1930 and 1932 two expansions were completed designed by Jourdain.^[5]

From the 1970s the companies profits began to decline.^{[citation needed]}

Samaritaine was a founding anchor store at Le Quarte Temps in 1981, however the store was closed two years later.^[7]

Since 1990 the buildings have been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.^[8]

A majority stake in La Samaritaine was purchased by LVMH in 2001.^[9]

The store was closed on 15 June 2005, due to serious fire risk with the building needing urgent safety renovations.^[10] However labour unions believed it was because of a restructure of the store.^{[citation needed]}

LVMH purchased remaining shares in the department store from the Cognacq-Jay foundation in late 2010, with this they had full ownership of the department store.^[2] The redevelopment was planned to begin in 2011.^[11]

In January 2015 work on the store was halted again after building permission was revoked by a French Court.^[12][13] Work started again how there was still opposition to the new facades designed by Japanese architecture firm SANAA,^[14] the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo supported the plans.^[15]

After sixteen years of closure the department store was reopened to the public in June of 2021, now also co-branded as part of DFS.^[16] The store was reopened by French President Emmanuel Macron and CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault.^[17] The buildings now include a Cheval Blanc hotel, nursery, offices and social housing.^[4][18]

As of 2024 the store is struggling to attract customers.^[19]

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Jourdain's membership in multiple societies heavily influenced his personal architectural theory and design choices for the Samaritaine.^[1] Jourdain was the president of the Societe du Nouveau during the height of the Art Nouveau movement. The building's original design heavily embodies the ideals of this artistic style.^[1] While the skeletal structure of the department store is constructed of steel and glass, the building contains many applied adornments which lessen the harshness of its rigid structure.^[20] The building's exterior has two domes made of glass brick that light up in the nighttime.^[21] The extended verticals of the domes, sectioned into eight sides, accentuate the height of the building and draw the viewer's eye to the top of the store.^[21] The facade of the building consists of ceramic panels in brightly colored hues of yellow, white, green, and gold.^[1] The word "Samaritaine", as well as some of the available merchandise and ware, are displayed around the facade of the building in colorful enamel using an elaborate lettering.^[20] Dispersed around these signs are colorful naturalistic flower motifs, which continue to the interior design of the building as well.^[1] The interior features decorative iron staircases, glass tile floors, and frescoes using the repeated floral motif.^[20] These elements encompass both ornament and functionality which are core principles of the Art Nouveau movement.^[20] The foundational ideas of Art Nouveau, and the Samaritaine, led the way to the modern movements of the 1920s.^[1]

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The main fundamental difference that distinguishes the department store from other stores is its offering of low-priced, mass-produced goods of a wide variety.^[6] Prices were able to be placed just slightly above wholesale as the volume of sales was able to compensate for the small margin.^[6] Typically, department stores are located centrally within a city and are in close proximity to transportation.^[6] Different department stores targeted people of different class distinctions.^[6] However, their main audience is the middle-class city dwellers who were highly conscious of their status.^[6] The Samaritaine, in particular, targeted the working class who constantly traveled through the first arrondissement for work.^[6] The goal of the department store is to move the consumer through the building and to its upper floors in order to maximize the number of counters an individual has to pass.^[1] This posed as a bit of a challenge as their target audience was so used to shopping along the street level at various small boutiques.^[6] Architects had to entice these shoppers by utilizing grand and decorative elements to allure consumers to explore the building.^[1]

The department store is constantly changing to keep up with the architectural trends, yet remains somewhat constant in its appearance as a building type.^[6] The design and decor of the building played a major role in enticing the human desire for the consumption of material goods.^[6] The common use of iron allowed for minimal skeletal structure and therefore maximized the amount of light that could flow through the interior and allowed more room for the circulation of customers.^[6] Many of the structural elements utilized reference to the international exhibition halls built a few years before the original department stores.^[6] Another common feature is the monumental stair design, a design element of the first department store, Bon Marche.^[6] It was later installed in the Samaritaine as well as other department stores constructed at the turn of the century.^[6] The Samaritaine also had the common department store design feature: the light court.^[6] The skeletal steel structure allowed for a maximum square footage of glass windows which was intentionally located at the center of the building to bring in ample natural light.^[6] The glazed corner rotunda became another crucial element of Parisian department store architecture.^[1] It served as a large space for display cases that could be seen by many pedestrians waiting on the street corner.^[1] The corner rotunda was also utilized as the entrance of the building, leaving the consumer with two options of vastly-stretching display windows upon entering the building.^[1] Finally, the use of a dome structure, and their strategic placement, was useful in identifying the department store as a type.^[1] The two domes of the Samaritaine create a sight line between the Seine and the left bank.^[21]

The organization of each individual department within the stores is based on consumption patterns.^[6] For example, impulse items, such as jewelry and cosmetics, were placed on the street floor.^[6] This would encourage consumers to make quick impulse buys upon entering or right before leaving the store.^[6] Also, demand items, such as children's clothing or household goods, were located on the upper levels.^[6] This would force consumers to move past all of the lower level departments before they reached their desired location, maximizing the opportunity for the individual to make an unplanned purchase.^[6] Once the Samaritaine consisted of four Magasins, the first was dedicated as a department store solely for women's clothing while the other three were for items such as supplies and tools.^[1]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to La Samaritaine.

• Official website