Skip to main content

Felix Potin in Paris: under wraps


On one of the loveliest and longest shopping streets in Paris, the rue de Rennes in the 6th arrondissement, is a turret: a magnificent turret.
Along the street from the Boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Pres to the 55 floors of Montparnasse’s black tower, is a stylish suite of shops. Rue de Rennes was originally designed to connect the Gare Montparnasse (the railway station) with the Left Bank. When trains depart the Gare Montparnasse, one of their destinations is Rennes in Brittany, north-west France. Hence the street was named after the town Rennes.
Baron Georges Haussmann, the town planner of Paris, wanted the street to reach the River Seine in 1853, but by the late 1860s it had only reached the Boulevard Saint-Germain. The northern extension was blocked by the Institut de France, the cultural institute. The plans resurfaced every few years to knock down the institute to continue the road, but by 1976 the idea was abandoned. British historian, Richard Cobb, described rue de Rennes as “the most desolate, inhuman street in Paris” because its construction led to the destruction of many historical buildings.
On rue de Rennes is a department store built in 1904 as part of the Felix Potin grocery empire. Designed by Paul Auscher in Art Nouveau style, the six storey building has an exterior of moulded concrete casts. On the top is a turret – a free-form bell tower embellished with the name of Felix Potin.
French architect Paul Auscher (1866-1932) designed several buildings for Felix Potin. The distinctive turrets bearing Felix’s name can still be seen on the Boulevard de Sebastapol (now a Monoprix store) and rue de Rennes (now a Zara store).


Potin (1820-1871) was an innovative retailer who pioneered the manufacture of goods under one brand to sell in his own stores – mass distribution retail. He opened his first shop in Paris when he was only 24 years old. By 1860 he opened the first two-level retail store on the Boulevard de Sebastopol and in 1861 the Felix Potin factory in La Villette. In 1870 he started a home delivery service.
After his death, the business continued and another department store was built on rue de Rennes in 1904. By 1923 the business had 70 branches, 10 factories, 5 wine stores, 650 horses, and almost 8,000 workers. The Woolworth’s chain of stores was based on the Potin retail model.
The business collapsed in 1996 and in 2003 the Societe Philippe Potin acquired the right to use the Felix Potin name its distribution network in south east France.

For further information: http://buttes-chaumont.blogspot.fr/2010/08/rue-de-rennes.html








MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...
1 comment
Read more