Merci

Merci was founded in 2009 in Paris by Marie-France Cohen, Bernard Cohen, and their daughter Marie-France Bernard as a multi-brand luxury concept space at 111 Boulevard Beaumarchais in the Haut-Marais district, conceived as a deliberate philanthropic-anchored alternative to traditional luxury retail. The brand's foundational thesis was specific and ethically rigorous: 100% of the store's profits are donated to a Madagascar-based charity that funds children's education, with the retail operation conceived as a sustainable economic vehicle for the philanthropic mission rather than as a profit-maximising business. The Merci vocabulary settled around several distinguishing things: the iconic three-floor concept-store building with its central red-Fiat-500 entrance installation (a permanent fixture that has anchored the brand's visual identity since 2009), a buyer-led brand list anchored to French heritage menswear and womenswear brands (A.P.C., Maison Kitsuné, Sessùn, Bensimon, Mellow Yellow) plus a particularly strong selection of homeware and lifestyle products (the iconic Merci-own-label cotton-and-linen tablecloths, ceramics, candles, books, and stationery), the Merci Café and Used Book Café restaurants in the central courtyard, and a continuous run of seasonal Merci × brand-collaboration capsules. Merci is independent and held by the Cohen family through the Merci foundation structure. The retailer operates the single Boulevard Beaumarchais flagship (which has expanded to approximately 30,000 square feet across three floors and the central courtyard) plus the Merci e-commerce platform serving France and selected European markets. The retailer has been one of the defining post-2009 Parisian-anchored multi-brand concept stores, with the philanthropic-funding model specifically anchoring the brand inside the contemporary 'ethical-luxury' conversation that has been continuously rewritten since 2015.