La Samaritaine, Department store in Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, Paris, France
La Samaritaine is a department store in the Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois quarter of the first arrondissement of Paris, stretching along the Seine near Pont Neuf. The complex brings together different building sections with steel-and-glass construction, Art Nouveau elements, and Art Deco details spread over eleven floors, now housing not only retail but also a hotel and office spaces.
Ernest Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jay opened a small shop on the right bank of the Seine in 1870, which grew over the following decades into a large department store with several connected buildings. Following financial difficulties and a long renovation between 2005 and 2021, the site was redesigned and expanded to include residential and hotel spaces.
The shop takes its name from a former water pump that once stood on the same site and drew water from the Seine to the Louvre. Visitors today can admire the restored Art Nouveau facades and interiors, where light filters through colored glass windows and staircases with wrought-iron railings display the original turn-of-the-century elegance.
The shops open daily between 10 in the morning and 8 in the evening, with different departments offering fashion, cosmetics, and food. Access is through several entrances on Quai du Louvre and Rue de la Monnaie, and most areas are accessible for wheelchair users.
The store's advertising slogan from the 1960s, "On trouve tout à La Samaritaine", stayed in collective memory, and television spots showed an actress playing Queen Elizabeth II buying a crown there. Another had King Kong climbing the roof. When Christo wrapped the Pont Neuf in September 1985, the store answered with the line "Moi, La Samaritaine m'emballe !"
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