BHV MARAIS Celebrates 160 years ( September 13th 2016)
BHV Marais
The Bazar de l’Hôtel-de-Ville (the “bazaar of city hall”) is located in the historical and fashionable Marais neighborhood. It is facing the Hôtel de Ville and it is served by the Metro station Hôtel de Ville.
Opened in 1856, four years after the “Bon Marché”, The Bazar de l’Hôtel-De-Ville is one of the very first department store of the capital.
In 1991, the BHV is bought by the Galeries Lafayette group.
In 2012 the bazar de l’Hôtel-De-Ville was rebranded BHV Marais.The Gallerie Lafayette group undertook major renovations in order to give a new identity to the store
The store slogan is “style as a lifestyle”.
The success story of François-Xaviel Ruel
Xavier Ruel was an ironmonger from the city of Lyon. In 1852, he decided to settle in Paris to seek fortune.
He recruited street vendors to sell his stock of hosiery and he noticed that the best selling point was in the city hall area.
Therefore, François-Xavier Ruel and his wife Marie-Madeleine decided to open a hosiery shop at the corner of rue de Rivoli and rue des Archives.
The anecdote (The stroke of luck !!)
In 1855, Empress Eugenie’s horses are racing right in front of his shop and Xavier Ruel quickly mastered them. His act of bravery was financially rewarded and he decided to expand his shop.
François-Xavier Ruel diversified in the hardware store and sale of toys and trinkets and acquired adjacent shops just two years after the opening of his business.
Xavier Ruel : A philanthropist
Department stores were popular in Paris during the second empire, the best known was “le Bon Marché” whose founder was Aristide Boucicaut.
Xavier Ruel took a close interest in social issues which will set him apart from his competitors.
In 1866, the bazar de l’hôtel-de-ville was the first store in Paris to offer labeled items sold at fixed prices and low enough to attract popular and middle class.
He created pension funds for his employees and a free clinic.
During the Paris Commune (revolutionary government) he distributed bread to the poor.
tripadvisor
More than I expected - Fabulous experience that began as soon as we landed. We received a text from our driver saying that he was outside the baggage area waiting for us. A big surprise... read more was a sign with my name on it and that we were in a car and not a huge passenger bus. He helped with our bags, provided bottled water, stopped by an ATM so that we could get Euros, and promptly got us to our hotel. I would definitely call on them again.
Rebecca F 17 April 2019
On time, very nice, spoke English which helped. Super affordable for our group. Would for sure recommend.
jessicarD713UF 21 May 2018
Stayed in Paris for 3 nights and we booked this airport taxi service through TUI in the UK as part of our holiday package.
The moment I landed and... read more was in the arrivals dept they sent me a WhatsApp instructing me where to wait for them
The actual driver couldn't speak English but it was a problem.
On the way to departures again they sent me a WhatsApp and picked us up earlier than intended. The drivers were professional and the cars were clean and nice
Thank you
SillyRabbit7368 6 September 2022
Good service, good driver but the car was a “tiered” old Peugeot... not suitable for “business” services
A_Andrei_2021 4 June 2019
Paris Black Cars was easy to order and the driver arrived on time. It saved us the trouble of finding a cab and the driver knew exactly where to... read more drops us off at the airport. Great