My visit chez Merci

Oh la la, what a store! I spent almost an hour with a friend at Merci and I was speechless the entire time I believe. How can I describe? Pure beauty, deliciousness, industrial heaven, creative mix of yumminess... There is no word in the vocabulary to clearly describe this amazing concept store. A 3 level showroom, an herb and vegetable garden, a cafe, a restaurant.... I could have spent my day [and money I don't have] there. Seriously.

But the best about Merci is not their product line, it's the concept the store is based on. Merci was born with founders Marie-France and Bernard Cohen, previous owners of the Bonpoint brand. Both work fully pro bono, asking their suppliers to reduce their margin or designers to offer their services for free (gold medal products). Thanks to this great chain of hope and charity, all Merci profits go toward helping poor kids on the [very poor] Island of Madagascar. So when you shop Merci, you actually do something good for humanity. Hence the name, Merci.

I asked a Merci rep' about their expansion plans. Yes, they will expand, no they don't have a date but are debating between opening more Merci stores or selling the concept to distributors. I can hardly wait. A suivre...

{Photos by me with the kind permission of Merci}