世界上最古老的购物中心（世界上最古老的百货商店感觉就像身处巴黎的街道）

世界上最古老的购物中心（世界上最古老的百货商店感觉就像身处巴黎的街道）In fact the Boucicauts published the world's first department store catalog and included fabric swatches for customers to select the color and material of their attire. They enabled — and empowered — shoppers to customize their designs. 事实上，布西考特夫妇出版了世界上第一份百货商店目录，并附有面料样本，供顾客选择服装的颜色和面料。 它们使购物者能够定制自己的设计，并赋予购物者权力Mail order catalogs à la Ikea and J. Crew? 宜家和 J.Crew 的邮购目录？Le Bon Marché was founded

As the cradle of high fashion Paris gave the world designers like Coco Chanel Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior who in turn gifted the world some of fashion history's most enduring iconography including the LBD or little black dress. 作为高级时尚的摇篮，巴黎给了世界设计师如可可香奈儿，圣罗兰和克里斯汀迪奥，他们反过来又给了世界一些时尚史上最持久的图像，包括 LBD，或小黑裙。

But there are two other French figures who don't get nearly as much credit in the fashion and retail world as they should given that they are probably more relevant to the average household than Chanel and Dior. 但还有另外两位法国人物在时尚和零售界没有得到应有的信任，因为他们对普通家庭的影响可能比香奈儿和迪奥更大。

At Le Bon Marché department store in Paris which was founded in 1852 and holds the title of the oldest and longest-running department store in the world Aristide and Marguerite Boucicaut pioneered retail concepts many people probably take for granted. 巴黎的 Le Bon march 百货商店成立于1852年，是世界上最古老、经营时间最长的百货商店。在这里，阿里斯蒂德和玛格丽特•布西卡开创了许多人可能认为理所当然的零售概念。

The husband and wife team were revolutionary in this fast-changing industry called retail.夫妻团队在这个快速变化的零售业中是革命性的。

Le Bon Marché was founded in Paris in 1852 making it the world's oldest and longest-running department store. Le Bon march 于1852年在巴黎成立，是世界上最古老、经营时间最长的百货公司

Yvan Matrat/Courtesy Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche Yvan matrat / courtesy Le Bon march Rive Gauche

The practice of returning merchandise for a refund? Le Bon Marché lays claim to the concept. 退货退款的做法？ Le Bon march 声称拥有这个概念

Mail order catalogs à la Ikea and J. Crew? 宜家和 J.Crew 的邮购目录？

In fact the Boucicauts published the world's first department store catalog and included fabric swatches for customers to select the color and material of their attire. They enabled — and empowered — shoppers to customize their designs. 事实上，布西考特夫妇出版了世界上第一份百货商店目录，并附有面料样本，供顾客选择服装的颜色和面料。 它们使购物者能够定制自己的设计，并赋予购物者权力

And the modern now-ubiquitous practice of free delivery for purchases of $25 or more? You could say Le Bon Marché was a forerunner in that department as well introducing home delivery 160 years ago for mail orders costing over 25 francs. 那么，现在普遍存在的25美元以上的购物免费送货的现代实践呢？ 你可以说 Le Bon march 也是这个领域的先驱，在160年前就引入了家庭递送服务，邮寄订单超过25法郎

While the retail industry has changed a great deal since 1852 Le Bon Marché has maintained a strong foothold evolving in response to industry changes and shoppers' proclivities. 尽管自1852年以来，零售业发生了巨大变化，但乐邦马奇一直保持着稳固的立足点，随着行业变化和消费者倾向的变化而不断发展

Revolutionizing the way we shop彻底改变我们的购物方式

It's a Saturday afternoon inside the ladies' department of the luxury department store on Paris's Left Bank and shoppers are performing time-honored rituals: sifting through designer dresses flipping over price tags and holding blouses up their necks to inspect their reflections in the mirror. 这是一个周六的下午，在巴黎左岸的一家奢侈品百货商店的女装部里，购物者正在进行一些历史悠久的仪式: 筛选设计师设计的服装，翻动价格标签，把衬衫举到脖子上，观察镜子里的自己

Customers looking for a deal rummage through the sales racks; the tactile ones run materials through their fingers while window shoppers with no agenda waltz through the store letting their gazes take in the goods. 顾客们在货架上翻来翻去，有触感的顾客用手指运送物品，没有日程安排的橱窗购物者在商店里跳着华尔兹舞，让他们的目光在商品中穿梭

It's a common enough scene that could be replayed across town at Galeries Lafayette Printemps or any other department store in any other city in the world. 这是一个很常见的场景，可以在巴黎老佛爷百货公司、 Printemps 或者世界上任何其他城市的任何一家百货商店重演

Le Bon Marché bills itself as the small big department store a play on words in French (le petit grand magasin). Le Bon march 将自己标榜为一个小型的、大型的百货商店，一个法语单词的游戏(Le petit grand magasin)

Except that were it not for the trailblazing concepts pioneered at Le Bon Marché today's contemporary shopping experience might not be as easily recognizable. 除此之外，如果没有 Le Bon march 开创性的概念，今天的当代购物体验可能不会那么容易辨认

For starters let's begin with the one-stop shop. Finding everything from trousers to bedsheets and dishware to hairdryers and lipstick under one roof was an idea popularized in large part at Le Bon Marché under the Boucicauts' leadership. 首先，让我们从一站式服务开始。 从裤子到床单，从餐具到吹风机和口红，在布西考特夫妇的领导下，在 Le Bon march 大规模推广了这个想法

In the 19th century if you needed an umbrella you went to a shop specializing in umbrellas. Same for women's clothing or shoes. 在19世纪，如果你需要一把伞，你会去一家专门卖伞的商店。 女人的衣服和鞋子也是一样！

Most shops specialized in one single item explains Eléna Fertil Le Bon Marché's head of cultural events and all merchandise was stocked behind the counter. 大多数商店只卖一种商品，Le Bon march 的文化活动负责人 el na Fertil 解释说，所有商品都放在柜台后面

While this way of procuring items may sound romantic it was also a bit tedious. 虽然这种获取物品的方式听起来很浪漫，但是也有点乏味

"The customer saw nothing. If they needed pink sheets they would have to ask the sales clerk who would then pull out the closest thing they had to pink sheets " Fertil said. “顾客什么也没看见。 如果他们需要粉色床单，他们就得问售货员，售货员会拿出最接近粉色床单的东西

When Aristide joined the small shop on the corner of rue du Bac and rue de Sèvres in 1852 as a partner with the Videau brothers he introduced modern little-known practices that brought merchandise out into the open for customers to browse and touch. He also attached a fixed price to the goods. 1852年，当阿里斯蒂德作为合伙人加入位于巴克街和弗雷斯街拐角处的这家小店时，他引进了现代化的、鲜为人知的做法，让顾客可以浏览和触摸商品。 他还对货物附加了固定价格

"Before prices were at the discretion of the sales clerk so the same product could be sold for two different prices to two different clients " Fertil explained. “以前，价格由销售员决定，因此同一产品可以以两种不同的价格卖给两个不同的客户，” Fertil 解释说

Previously when customers walked into a shop it was understood they would walk out with a purchase. But at Bon Marché entry was "free." 以前，当顾客走进一家商店时，人们都知道他们会带着购买的东西离开。 但是在 Bon march 的时候是“免费”的

Customers were invited to enter and browse at their leisure. No purchase necessary. And if they had buyer's remorse — too small too big too expensive — they could exchange or return the item for a full refund. 我们邀请顾客在闲暇时进来浏览。 无需购买。 如果他们感到后悔(太小、太大、太贵) ，他们可以更换或退货，换取全额退款

Goods were also priced at a smaller profit margin (bon marché is French for a "good deal") but inventory turnover was high. 商品的定价也是利润率较低(bon march 在法语里是“ good deal”的意思) ，但是第一存货週转的利润率很高

A gathering space for the female bourgeoisie女性资产阶级的聚集空间

Along with rewriting the codes of commerce the store would become a "haven of freedom and pleasure" for Parisian women of the bourgeoisie writes Monica Burckhardt in 随着商业法典的改写，这家商店将成为巴黎中产阶级妇女的“自由和快乐的港湾” ，莫妮卡 · 布克哈特在年写道"Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche: The Invention of the Department Store " Le Bon march Rive Gauche: 百货公司的发明 published in 2013 and commissioned by Le Bon Marché.2013年出版，由 Le Bon march 委托出版

There monied wives could spend an entire day daydreaming and socializing independent of their husbands. 在那里，有钱的妻子可以独立于她们的丈夫，花一整天的时间做白日梦和社交

"Back then cities were men's spaces " adds Jan Whitaker a consumer historian from North Hampton Massachusetts who authored the 2011 book 2011年出版的这本书的作者、来自马萨诸塞州北汉普顿的消费史学家简•惠特克(Jan Whitaker)补充道: “那时候，城市是男人的空间。”"The World of Department Stores." “百货公司的世界。”

"If you were an upper middle-class woman the streets were a vulnerable place to be. So department stores became women's spaces and that was really significant." “如果你是一个中上阶层的女性，街道是一个容易受到攻击的地方。 所以百货商店成了女性的天下，这一点非常重要。”

The business model was much the same then as it is now: to get as many people of the socio-economic spectrum through the door as possible — and get them to stay. 当时的商业模式与现在大致相同: 让尽可能多的社会经济阶层的人进入公司，并让他们留下来

"It was luxury for the masses " Whitaker said. "These were grandiose buildings that lower classes would otherwise never be invited into. The fact that they could go in there freely and that somebody would wait on you was not something to be taken for granted." “这对大众来说是奢侈品，”惠特克说。 “这些都是宏伟的建筑，否则下层阶级永远不会被邀请进入。 他们可以自由地进去，有人伺候你，这些都不是理所当然的。”

Patrons of the arts艺术赞助人

The Boucicauts also understood the importance of customer loyalty and time spent inside the store. 布西考特夫妇也明白顾客忠诚度和在店内花费时间的重要性

After buying out the Videau brothers and taking complete ownership in 1863 the couple expanded the space and added new features and services that were deemed game changers at the time: a reading room for waiting husbands a salon offering complimentary food and refreshments billiard room hairdressing salon travel office and live concerts events. 1863年，在收购了 Videau 兄弟的全部所有权后，这对夫妇扩大了这个空间，并增加了当时被认为是改变游戏规则的新功能和服务: 为等待丈夫的人提供阅览室，提供免费食品和点心的沙龙，台球室，美发沙龙，旅行办公室和现场音乐会活动

Another claim to fame? Gustave Eiffel was one of the contributing engineers who helped design the building's steel structure. 另一个成名的理由？ 古斯塔夫 · 埃菲尔是帮助设计大楼钢结构的贡献工程师之一

But one of the Boucicauts' biggest legacies which is given special honor to this day is their support of the fine arts. 但是，布西考特夫妇留下的最大遗产之一，是他们对美术的支持，这一点至今仍被赋予特殊的荣誉

Avant-gardists the couple opened an art gallery in 1875 within the department store offering artists who had been turned away by the Paris Salon -- the official art exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris -- a home for their works and a large public audience Burckhardt wrote. 布克哈特写道，作为先锋派艺术家，这对夫妇于1875年在百货商店内开设了一个艺术画廊，为那些被巴黎美术学院(Academy of Fine Arts)的官方艺术展——巴黎沙龙(Paris Salon)拒之门外的艺术家提供一个展示他们作品和大量公众观众的场所

Stroll through the store today 145 years later and you'll note that paintings photographs drawings and sculptures — a contemporary art collection curated over the last 30 years — line store walls and are placed strategically amidst the luxury goods. 145年后的今天，漫步在这家商店里，你会注意到，过去30年里策划的一批当代艺术藏品——油画、照片、素描和雕塑——排列在商店的墙壁上，战略性地摆放在奢侈品中间

In 2016 the store invited Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei to launch a new art program designed to pay homage to Aristide's creation of the annual White Sale in January. 2016年，该店邀请中国艺术家和活动家艾未未推出一个新的艺术项目，旨在向阿里斯蒂德在一月份创作的一年一度的白色拍卖表示敬意

As the story goes Boucicault was walking around despondent at seeing the shop so empty following the Christmas holidays. After looking out the window and seeing it snow he decided to pull out all the white merchandise in the store and hold a big sales event Fertil explained. 据说，布西科在圣诞节假期过后，看到商店空无一人，沮丧地四处走动。 在看到窗外下雪后，他决定把店里所有的白色商品都拿出来，举办一个大型的促销活动，Fertil 解释说。

In a nod to this tradition the store launched a program inviting international contemporary artists to create customized pop-up installations for Le Bon Marché every January. 为了表示对这一传统的认可，该店推出了一个项目，邀请国际当代艺术家为每年一月的 Le Bon march 创作定制的弹出装置

Their only request? That it center around the color white. Everything else is carte blanche as they say for the artists. 他们唯一的要求？ 以白色为中心。 正如他们所说，对于艺术家来说，其他一切都是全权委托

"These exhibits are really meant as a gift to our visitors " Fertil said. "The idea is that by strolling through the Bon Marché they'll be moved by the artist's vision. Some loyal customers come every year to seek out our exhibits but we know that others who've come just to shop may be pleasantly surprised to discover expositions like these." “这些展品实际上是给参观者的礼物，”费尔蒂尔说。 “我的想法是，通过漫步在 Bon march，他们会被艺术家的想象力所感动。 一些忠实的顾客每年都会来参观我们的展览，但我们知道，其他只是来购物的人可能很快就会发现这样的喜欢·一个人。”