Aristide Boucicaut

Aristide Boucicaut (* July 14, 1810 in Bellême; † 26 December 1877 in Paris) was a French retail entrepreneur and pioneer of the modern department store.

Life

Aristide Boucicaut began his career in his father's hat shop. In 1828 he was a partner in a short outpatient draper, 1829 seller at the Petit Saint -Thomas, in Paris. In 1852 he associated himself with a partner, Paul Videau, owner of a shop called Le Bon Marché in Paris rue de Sèvres. Boucicauts expansion of the house in the direction of mass distribution, from 1863 as a sole owner, made the Bon Marché temporarily to the largest store in the world.

The impression of the Paris Exposition of 1855 with its overwhelming abundance of goods played an exemplary role in Boucicauts conception. Free admission, labeled fixed prices and a cost estimate with relatively low margins marked the Bon Marché and soon had competitors. Home delivery, attractions, such as balloons for the children who were part of the advertising systematically represented by Boucicaut modern concept. In 1856 he began the shipping business by catalog.

Aristide Boucicaut involved its employees in sales and profits, his widow, who led the Bon Marché further, offered them insurance coverage, music and language courses. The innovations Boucicauts soon made school - in Paris, but particularly in the U.S.. Jules Jaluzot, founder of the department store Printemps and Marie -Louise Jay, co-founder of the department store La Samaritaine were former employees of the Bon marché.

Aristide Boucicaut was a literary model for Octave Mouret in the novel Au Bonheur des Dames ( German: The Paradise of Women ) by Émile Zola.