Aristide Boucicaut
Aristide Boucicaut (born July 14, 1810 in Bellême , † December 26, 1877 in Paris ) was a French retailer and pioneer of the modern department store .
Life
Aristide Boucicaut began his professional life in his father's hat shop. In 1828 he became a short-term partner of an outpatient cloth merchant, in 1829 a salesman in the scarf department of the “Petit Saint-Thomas” in the Rue du Bac, a “magasin de nouveautés” (novelty department store), a forerunner of the later large department stores. In 1852 he associated himself with a partner, Paul Videau, owner of a shop called " Le Bon Marché " in Paris' rue de Sèvres. Boucicaut's expansion of the house towards mass distribution, as sole owner from 1863, temporarily made Au Bon Marché the largest department store in the world.
The impression of the Paris World Exhibition of 1855 with its overwhelming abundance of goods played an exemplary role in Boucicaut's conception. Free access, labeled fixed prices and a calculation with relatively low margins characterized the Au Bon Marché and soon also its competitors. Home delivery, attractions such as balloons for the children and systematic advertising were part of Boucicaut's modern approach. In 1856 he started the mail order business using a catalog.
Aristide Boucicaut gave his employees a share of the turnover and profits; his widow, who continued to run the Au Bon Marché , offered them insurance cover, music and language courses. Boucicaut's innovations soon caught on - in Paris, but especially in the USA. Jules Jaluzot , founder of the Printemps department store, and Marie-Louise Jaÿ , co-founder of the La Samaritaine department store, were former employees of the Bon marché .
Aristide Boucicaut was married to Marguerite Boucicaut (1816-1887), who ran the department store after his death.
Aristide Boucicaut was a literary role model for Octave Mouret in the novel Au Bonheur des Dames (German: The Paradise of Women ) by Émile Zola .
literature
- Michael B. Miller: The Bon Marché. Bourgeois Culture and the Department Store. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1994, ISBN 069103494X .
- Heidrun Homburg: Department store companies and their founders in France and Germany or: A discreet elite and all sorts of myths . In: Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte 33, 1992, pp. 183-219.
Movie
- Wishes come true - the creation of the department store. Documentary, docu-drama , France, 2011, 86 min., Script and director: Sally Aitken, Christine Le Goff, production: arte France, Telfrance, Essential Viewing, German first broadcast: October 22, 2011 in arte, film information on the website of 3sat on the occasion of a repetition.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Boucicaut, Aristide |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French retail entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 14, 1810 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bellême |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 26, 1877 |
| Place of death | Paris |